NOLUKHOLO MABHARWANA

Agriculture

Senior Researcher in the Equitable Education and Economies Division at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC).

Nolukholo Mabharwana is a senior researcher at the Human Sciences Research Council where she works on the Climate, Land and Agri-Food Systems Working group. She received her academic training at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) where she completed degrees in Bachelor of Arts, BSc (Hons) Population Studies, Postgraduate Diploma in Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) and Master of Development Studies. Nolukholo served as a student leader up to the capacity of Deputy President and subsequently President of the Student Representative Council (SRC) in the period 2016/2017.

What is/was your work about?

She led a student leadership delegation to the University of Missouri in the United States of America with the UWC to celebrate a 30-year strategic partnership between the two institutions. It was during her student activism days where her interest in student food security was stimulated, which inspired her Master’s research investigating food security at the UWC, and focusing on actions and programmes to address student hunger at the UWC. Her masters project investigated the perception of student hunger and the level of involvement of university academic staff and students in programmes / actions / interventions that address food insecurity / hunger and identified the challenges the food security programmes at UWC experience.

How is it impacting your community?

The academic and leadership foundation from the UWC became a launching pad to becoming a research leader in her own right with interests on food production systems in South Africa. Nolukholo has done research in the policy domain ranging from social protection, the rural household economy, the impact of Covid-19 on agriculture to informal trade, food and nutrition security. This area of research is important to her because it highlights and documents the scourge of poverty, hunger and ensuring sustainability.

How has your work contributed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?

These are the core pillars of Agenda 2030 of the sustainable development goals and the National Development Plan. Her work contributes profoundly to the body of knowledge and informs policies that change people’s lives and ensure a sustainable future. Nolukholo plans to do her PhD studies at the UWC where she will be researching food security in rural households.