Professor Nokuthula Sibiya, MUT’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Innovation and Engagements, has led the way in showing that when an institution has something to position on a global scale, nothing will be impossible. This week, Professor Sibiya was virtually globe-trotting on a few media channels in Nigeria, South Africa, and other African countries. In South Africa, Professor Sibiya has been given no less than 10-15 minutes airtime by eNCA, Channel 405, SAFM, and there are more requests pouring in for next week’s campaigns from many SA’s media houses. The media campaign is on MUT’s hosting of the EnergyWaterFoodClimate Nexus Summit from 1-4 July 2024, in Durban South Africa. This is the first time that the Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University’s (FAMU) home-grown summit conceptualised by Dr Victor Ibeanusi, Dean in the School of the Environment at FAMU, will be taken outside the USA.
Professor Sibiya’s ground-breaking interviews have centred on responding to why MUT and FAMU are collaborating on this global summit. Professor Sibiya said: “We want to recruit and train a new generation of leaders ready to solve the challenges of the environment and to promote cross-cutting discussion, scholarship, and collaboration among researchers, students, and entrepreneurs to advance a science, policy, and decision-making”. Professor Sibiya further added that the themes of the summit are:
- Zero Green House Gas Emmission (0GHGE)
- Climate resilient agriculture
- Let a new science enterprise lead the way
- AI-driven circular economy
- Achieving soil carbon goals
- Harnessing big data
- Microbeal systems and bio-informatics
- Water quality
The summit is drawing a huge media attention because these are pressing issues that Africa and the world are caught up on. Professor Sibiya also indicated that “we are inviting thought leaders from Africa to provide African solutions on the issues of EnergyWaterFoodClimate. There will be ministers from Africa who will present on programmes to mitigate issues of EnergyWaterFoodClimate and to influence policy development around these issues”.
Mbali Mkhize, Senior Director, Marketing and Communications, said plans are going well; the summit venue would be announced by Professor Marcus Ramogale, Acting Vice-Chancellor & Principal. “This is the VC’s flagship project and a result of the visit to a few USA universities. It is for that reason that we have all prioritised this and we are grateful of his foresight as the project keeps on ballooning each time we engage strategic stakeholder groupings”, said Mkhize.