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Directors’ Report

The DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Food Security (CoE-FS) presents the Directors’ Report for the 2023 academic year.

Established in 2014, the CoE-FS has grown in stature and prominence on the African continent and beyond. In 2022, the most recent report of the University of Pennsylvania’s Global Go-To Think Tank Index once again ranked the CoE-FS in the top 100 global think tanks in food security. In addition, in 2023, UNESCO renewed our Chair in Science and Education for African Food Systems for a further three years. And in July 2023, the CoE-FS was invited to exhibit at the United Nations Food Systems Summit +2 Stocktaking Moment (UNFSS+2) in Rome, the only South African exhibitor and the only university-based institution to be included.

This showcased our work alongside that of prominent international agencies such as One United Nations for Nutrition, the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as NGOs such as the Agroecology Coalition, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), and the UK Research and Innovation Action Against Stunting Hub.
The work of individual CoE-FS researchers has also been acknowledged: Professor Rina Swart received the prestigious 2023 Nutrition Society Award, while the Association for Dietetics in South Africa (ADSA) Recognition Award was given to Dr Chantell Witten, a CoE-FS alumnus and former Project Lead (PL).

Given the socio-political shifts in 2023, these achievements are important. Record levels of acute food insecurity were noted that persist due to the protracted food crises, and which have been exacerbated by new shocks such as conflict, weather extremes, and economic and global food trade challenges. According to the Mid-Year Update of the Global Report on Food Crises, 48 countries and 238 million people (10% more than in 2022) are facing high levels of acute food insecurity. The economic resilience of poor countries has decreased dramatically, and they now face extended recovery periods following the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, as the timeframe for implementation of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) moves towards the halfway mark, it has become clear that urgent steps must be taken to meet our food-, nutrition- and agriculture-related targets, many of which have stagnated and even reversed.

In light of these challenges, the CoE-FS is well-positioned to play a leading role in the future, having completed its first 10 years of scientific excellence on the continent. What makes the CoE-FS unique is that it operates as a virtual centre of excellence hosted by the University of the Western Cape (UWC), a historically disadvantaged institution (HDI), and co-hosted by the University of Pretoria (UP), crossing traditional socio-political and disciplinary boundaries. As a result, we have been able to create new pathways to transdisciplinary research and new ways of collaborating across most South African universities and research institutes, as well as with civil society and government.
The CoE-FS has developed into a distinctive science platform where integrated research in plant and food science, political economy and development studies, as well as food safety and nutrition, can flourish. Our emerging focus on ‘One Food’ further contributes to knowledge building and addressing the persistent challenge of at-home food insecurity. Our mission has always been deeply rooted in the pursuit of the co-creation of sustainable food systems to achieve food security for all vulnerable people, aligning it with the belief that food and nutritional security are essential for human survival, dignity, and pride. We remain committed to this purpose, emphasising the right of all human beings to be free from hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition. To this end, we have also worked with human rights researchers and advocacy groups.

Overview of the CoE-FS

The CoE-FS functions as a collaborative hub, uniting expertise through Collaborative Agreements (CAs) and Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with universities, research institutions, public institutions and civil society organisations. With 49 of these in place, the CoE-FS is creating an opportunity to re-form as a national institute. We already work with 10 of South Africa’s 26 universities, of which seven are HDIs. We collaborate with other key stakeholders in South Africa, including the Agricultural Research Council (ARC), the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), and the African Research Universities Alliance’s (ARUA) Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Food Systems (ARUA-SFS).

As examples of the benefits of these collaborations, during 2022 and 2023 Professor Julian May chaired the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) of a national survey on food security implemented by the HSRC, and serves on the Council of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf). Both directors served as mentors and advisors on the Food Systems Network (FSNet) programme of ARUA-SFS. Professor Lise Korsten was appointed as the first female president of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS); she also chaired the International Society for Plant Pathology Task Force on Global Food Security. Each of the Principal Investigators (PIs) plays similar boundary-spanning roles through their collaborations with partner universities and other stakeholders.

At a grassroots level, the CoE-FS engages with local government, communities and NGOs, including the Breede Valley and Witzenberg municipalities, the cities of Cape Town and Johannesburg, the national fresh produce markets, the Gauteng Department of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment (GDARDE), the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (SAFCEI) and the Western Cape Economic Development Partnership (EDP), among others.

At an international level, the CoE-FS has well-established links with the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD); the World Bank; the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO); the FAO; the WHO; and the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), as well as academic institutions such as the University of Sussex’s Institute of Development Studies (IDS), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU-A), the University of Hohenheim, Ghent University, the University of Missouri (MU), and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Elsewhere in Africa, during 2023, we built strong links with the University of Ghana, Moi University and the University of Constantine.

Capacity-building

Our commitment to capacity-building is evident in the support provided to 94 students in 2023, including NRF-funded, leverage-funded and non-bursary holders. In 2023, the CoE-FS had 116 active researchers, maintaining an almost equal representation of men and women. Notably, the number of black researchers has increased significantly, from six at our inception to 71 in 2023, enriching our research with diverse perspectives. We continue to explore avenues for equal representation. A total of 31 students graduated in 2023, contributing to our goal of growing research capacity in South Africa. In addition, seven students benefited from leveraged funding that provided them with doctoral placements in Europe and the USA.

Research output

In 2023, the CoE-FS produced 93 articles in accredited journals, chapters in peer-reviewed books, and books, with 48 having an impact factor (IF) of three or more. This remarkable output showcases our dedication to research excellence and knowledge dissemination. A review of our citations conducted in mid-2023 found that our cumulative work since inception had been cited 11 022 times in Google Scholar and 5 760 times in Scopus. The CoE-FS has exceeded its targets for the 2018–2023 review period, and excelled in areas such as face-to-face policymaker engagements (achieving 1 358% of the 2022 target), contributing more than R100 million (238% of the target) in income diversification, achieving an H Index of 56 (almost 200% of our 2022 target), publishing more than 160 accredited papers (145%), and targeting >160 accredited journals with an IF greater than three (487%).

Research impact

The most immediate impact of our research is through its use and citation by the academic community, as noted above. However, achieving a high research impact requires showing that the findings of our research have made a meaningful contribution to knowledge, practice, or decision-making in the relevant field. To this end, we are in the process of establishing a position for a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) officer using our leveraged funding.

However, some instances of our research impact can already be reported. For example, one of our recent and highly cited papers in food science was used in 2023 by research teams in India working on recent trends in food preservation, as well as by researchers in Iran working on biocontrol bacteria. Another study on food insecurity among farmworkers was used by researchers looking at the impact of socioeconomic conditions on compliance with stay-at-home rules during the COVID-19 pandemic, in a paper published in The Lancet that has already been cited over 400 times. Another recent paper on antibiotic resistance in the agricultural ecosystem was picked up by a Spanish research team working on antimicrobial resistance in Escherichia coli strains, while a paper on the use of social media platforms by breastmilk substitute manufacturers authored by one of our PhD candidates was picked up by the WHO in their 2022 report on the digital marketing of such products.

In addition to the impact of our publications on their own, much of our impact is achieved through our communication and engagement activities. During 2023, our research team served on national and international advisory groups, including the National Planning Commission (NPC), the National Food and Nutrition Security Coordinating Committee, the Global Food Equity Centre, and the scientific committee of the fifth Global Food Security Conference. Our expertise was also drawn on for the National Food and Nutrition Security Survey (NFNS) and the National Dietary Intake Survey (NDIS), as well as during an outbreak of cholera in Hammanskraal. At the local level, we have contributed towards the inclusion of the effects of climate change and support for nutrition at early childhood development (ECD) centres in the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) of the Breede Valley Municipality (BVM).

Knowledge-sharing and transfer

The CoE-FS has prioritised science communication since its inception, and has made its research, events and activities available through various communication channels, including the foodsecurity.ac.za website, social media channels (Facebook, Instagram and X, the platform formerly known as Twitter), external media, video and audio platforms (YouTube and SoundCloud), as well as media and general mailing lists. Through these channels, content is distributed to a diverse group of stakeholders, including students, researchers, host and affiliate institutions, government bodies, funding agencies and the media. In addition, our UNESCO Chair in Science and Education for African Food Systems was an important channel for our knowledge brokerage and networking KPAs during 2023.

Highlights of our science communication work in 2023 include:

• Participation in and exhibition at the UNFSS+2
• Participation in and exhibition at national conferences including the National Nutrition Congress and SAAFoST
• Extensive external media coverage of the CoE-FS’s contribution to draft regulations for front-of-package labelling (FOPL) warning labels
• Hosting the South African launch of the 2023 Lancet Series on Breastfeeding, and our researchers’ participation in the publication itself
• A plenary presentation on the Learning Journey approach at the World Sustainability Forum held in Singapore in September.

To celebrate our achievements over the past decade, we are pleased to announce that the CoE-FS will be hosting a conference on food security in Africa as part of our 10-year celebrations. This conference will be attended by our alumni and many other stakeholders, and will be held in Cape Town on 22 to 24 May 2024. It will showcase our research, capacity building, science communication and societal engagement since our inception, and we are delighted that we will be joined by members of the board of the IDS-based Food Equity Centre and the editorial committee of the Food Security journal. We are already in discussion with scientific journals to identify opportunities for a special edition to commemorate 10 years of excellence in the field of food security.