Page 71 - UniZulu Annual Report 2020

creating more small businesses. The focus, as it relates to the rural and township entrepreneurial RNA, will be the development of new businesses, improvement of existing small businesses and thereby creating more job and improving the economy. In South Africa, research has concluded that the rate of unemployment is increasing. Government has also noted that strengthening entrepreneurial activities and increasing women-owned businesses will help to reduce unemployment, poverty and inequality.
UNIZULU is also embracing its categorisation as a comprehensive university to blend the provision of academics with professional qualifications in support of the local and national economies. Students find direct articulation between diplomas and degrees challenging, hence the University is working on a more explicit articulation relationship between the two. In pursuance of its comprehensiveness, the University has a new Business Plan for the Richards Bay Campus, which was developed with the support and buy-in of the business community of Richards Bay and Empangeni, the local authorities in the region and the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) college. This plan will be integrated into the KwaDlangezwa Master Plan.
Sustainable Goal 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production
As part of embracing and leveraging new technological platforms, most of UNIZULU’s lecturers use Moodle, WhatsApp and emails for their course offerings. Academics post videos, links for Google books, lecture notes, audio
lectures, YouTube videos, etc. to students. The zero-rating arrangement currently allows for the free viewing of lecture videos on Moodle. This teaching option will be promoted going forward. Although Moodle is mobile, writing tests on mobile phones is a challenge. UNIZULU has, nevertheless, managed to have some assessments with the students already using different methods. Various other initiatives were implemented to ensure responsible consumption. Budgets are constantly monitored, and projects are prioritised by importance.
The Department of Consumer Science is engaged in food innovation through the promotion of a locally-grown and indigenous food items project that is focused on IKS and commercialisation. There is a noticeable declining utilisation of indigenous foods though they are more nutritious compared to exotic crops. There is a need to promote the optimum utilisation of indigenous foods at the household
level and for commercialisation. The project started in 2017 and will come to an end in 2021. As a means of promoting the declining utilisation of indigenous foods to sustain and improve livelihoods, while also preparing for a more inclusive, environmentally-sustainable and resilient food system, the department has trained around 15 students and five community members on interfacing indigenous foods with modern methods of food production (including processing, quality assurance and food safety from production to the plate and marketing). The department also hosted over 50 traditional leaders, researchers in IKS and smallholder farmers – workshops on IKS production, management and utilisation in collaboration with the research office, UKZN/ DST Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research CSIR as part of indigenous foods promotion. For innovation, the project produced prototypes of biscuits and rusks with other Amaranthus food items, featured them at local community festivals such as Amaganu and Innovation Hub, and showcased them at international conferences.
Sustainable Goal 13 – Climate Action
Currently, South Africa faces uncontrollable droughts and rising sea levels due to the effects of climate change. Rising sea levels could have a devastating impact on South Africa. To combat the burning issue of climate
change, UNIZULU’s Department of Chemistry has deployed strategies to not only assist industries to manage waste but to build and develop highly skilled human capital in this area for future job placement. Waste plastics were recycled to develop new innovative products. Also, industrial wastes such as sugarcane ash, fly ash, lime, to name a few, were collected from local industries to develop robust green bricks for sustainable cities and communities. BioBricks, which meet all the requirements according to South African National Standards, were successfully developed. This project was funded by Technology Innovation Agency (TIA).
Since 2018, UNIZULU’s Department of Geography, in collaboration with the Physics Department, has been researching climate influence, particularly the impact of the recent drought on various natural and cropping systems using remotely-sensed data. These include the publication of the recent drought influence in the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park, commercial plantations and natural forests. Currently, the departments are investigating the Dukuduku natural forest’s response to climate variability. Research has focused on the impact that climate variability has, particularly in the eastern
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13 CLIMATE ACTION