Food systems in a world in crisis

“The immediate impact of the public health crisis has revealed the deep fragility of the South African food system and exposed the injustices that underpin it. This has clearly been a disruption, presenting a period of deep uncertainty and change, creating an opportunity for a recalibration, one either based on the powerful actors and networks of the old, dominant system or, possibly, something new and emergent built on local, more equitable, food systems offering divergence and resilience. “ (Editorial: “Challenging False Narratives in a Global Crisis: Reflections on Human Rights, Inequality and Securing Food Systems”.)

Now, more than ever, we need to have a conversation about building trust and democratising decision-making across the food system in a world in crisis. This relates to new forms of governance that are transparent, adaptive and collaborative in order to achieve cross-cutting coordination between different societal actors.

The Southern Africa Food Lab, hosted by Stellenbosch University (SU), invites you to join this important conversation.

Chair: Dr Tsakani Ngomane, Deputy Director-General, Department of Environmental Affairs, Forestry and Fisheries
Panelists: Prof Thuli Madonsela, Law Trust Chair in Social Justice at Stellenbosch University & Mr Kevin O’Brien, Group Sustainability and Risk Executive at The Spar Group Ltd
Date: Tuesday, 28 July 2020
Time: 18:00-19:30

Click here to RSVP to be part of the conversation.

More about the participants:
Professor Thuli Madonsela is a law professor at Stellenbosch University where she conducts and coordinates social justice research and teaches constitutional and administrative law. She is the founder of the Thuma Foundation, an independent democracy leadership and literacy public benefit organisation and convener of the Social Justice M-Plan, an initiative aimed at catalysing progress towards ending poverty and reducing inequality by 2030, in line with the National Development Plan and Sustainable Development Goals.

Mr Kevin O’Brien is the Group Sustainability and Risk Executive at The Spar Group Ltd.  He is a Member of the Risk and Social and Ethics Committees at SPAR and co-chairs the Food Safety Initiative of the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa dealing with issues relating to food safety, waste and nutrition. In addition, he chairs the Steering Committee of the South Africa Plastics Pact and is a director of the SPAR Guild of Southern Africa which provides a collaborative platform for Independent SPAR Retailers and the SPAR Wholesaler. He has served on the Food Lab Board since 2016.

Dr Tsakani Ngomane, who will be chairing the session, is a Deputy Director General: Climate Change, Air Quality and Sustainability Development in the Department of Environmental Affairs, Forestry and Fisheries. Prior to this she was Deputy Director General at The Presidency, Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation. She has served on the Food Lab Board since 2016.

The Southern Africa Food Lab is housed in the Faculty of AgriSciences at Stellenbosch. It was established in 2009 to promote creative responses to the problem of hunger through multistakeholder dialogue and action. The Lab team is one of unprecedented diversity in the region, comprising stakeholders from corporate, grassroots, NGO, academic, and government sectors, all working together to transform the food system from farm to table. Over the past decade the Lab has successfully facilitated collaboration and dialogue, not just raising awareness, but effectively catalysing action to foster innovations and experimental action towards a thriving, just and sustainable food system.

This event is presented in collaboration with the Development and Alumni Relations Division of Stellenbosch University.