Sustainable Agriculture

The overall purpose of the programme is to contribute substantially to a Sustainable Agriculture debate through learning, organic farmer networks, Indian links and leading research

Core Focus Areas

To this end, the Sustainable Agriculture programme has derived these core strategic focus areas:

Masters Programme: BPhil and MPhil Sustainable Agriculture courses
Research and review of the Sustainable Agriculture field to build a compendium of case studies and articles that can add value to the students in the class, primarily using students to build this knowledge, but not specifically limited to student writing. This research would also extend beyond the class.
The development of networks specifically aimed at supporting the Sustainable Agriculture programme and the development of partnerships that could lead to long term collaborations across a variety of areas within the debate. Support is also offered to those already doing excellent work.
Working with emerging farmers and land reform participants in order to develop capacity and competency within the field of sustainable agriculture and specifically to be an alternative voice to the predominant genetically modified, petro-chemical, extension-type paradigm that is usually presented to emerging farmers.

Modules offered at BPhil Level:

Biodiversity and Sustainable Agriculture
Systems and Technologies for Sustainable Agriculture
Managing Sustainable Agriculture Enterprises
Policy and Legal Framework for Rural Development in the Agricultural Sector
Food Security and Globalised Agriculture

More information on these modules can be found here.

Bursaries may be offered to students taking all of the Sustainable Agriculture modules who have adequate financial need or show outstanding academic results, as well as those who wish to register for the Masters’ research level.

An exciting group of lecturers has been assembled for these modules, which has been a challenge considering the lack of focus on sustainable agriculture within this country. We have Dr Tarak Kate from India, who comes out for a few months each year to run the Biodiversity and Sustainable Agriculture module, as well as conduct research here in SA. He runs an NGO in India which is helping over 1000 small-scale farmers convert from chemical to organic farming. We also have successful small and large-scale sustainable farmers as lecturers, as well as A-grade researchers in fields as diverse as urban food security and agricultural economics.

Organic Farm

In a partnership with the Spier Wine Estate, the Sustainable Agriculture programme works closely with an emerging organic farmer, Eric Swarts, who farms on municipal commonage near the Institute, adjoining Spier. Eric provides a learning space for students, who spend community work time during their modules working on the farm, as well as interviewing him and assessing his farm for assignments. Eric also allows us to conduct larger action research projects on his farm, such as our Animal Traction project where we have purchased 6 Nguni cattle for his farm and one of our Masters’ students is conducting his research on the cost-benefit analysis of animal draught power versus tractors. In early 2009, a partnership with Slow Food Cape Town bore fruit, when we jointly set up South Africa’s first CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) programme with Eric. A CSA involves members of the public investing in a crop at the beginning of the growing season. This allows the farmer to purchase inputs upfront and means that the members of the CSA take on the risk with the farmer of crop failure. It also means that members can visit the farm and build a relationship with the person growing their food. The CSA has been hugely successful and more are currently being planned.