Celebrating Graduates Furthering Sustainable Rural Livelihoods and Rural Public Service

An important milestone was achieved when two postgraduate students under the SARChI Chair in Sustainable Rural Livelihoods in the College of Law and Management Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) graduated.

The achievements reflected the Chair’s commitment not only to advancing scholarship on rural livelihoods but also to building the capacity of public servants serving rural communities and institutions.

The two students were:
• Ms Sanelisiwe Moloi, an Agricultural Advisor in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, who completed her master’s degree. Drawing from her background in agricultural sciences, her study demonstrated that effective agricultural support extends beyond the mere provision of farming inputs, depending equally on the strength, fairness and responsiveness of the public administration systems that guide allocation and delivery processes in rural areas.

• Dr Mkhuseli Qumba, a public servant at Alfred Nzo District Municipality on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, graduated with a doctorate focusing on women’s entrepreneurship in rural areas during disasters and pandemics. Qumba’s study developed a support model to strengthen the resilience and sustainability of rural women-led enterprises under conditions of crisis and uncertainty. Significantly, the achievement also reflects a long-term academic mentorship journey as he completed his master’s degree under the same supervision team as he did for his doctorate.

Supervisor Professor Betty C Mubangizi of the SARChI Chair in Sustainable Rural Livelihoods; continues to demonstrate how research can move beyond academic knowledge production to directly strengthen the capacity of rural public institutions, inform policy and practice, and develop a new generation of practitioner-scholars committed to resilient and sustainable rural livelihoods.

Words: NdabaOnline
Photographs: Sethu Dlamini