Kholeka Mtshali

I spent many of my school holidays in Midrand – an area described as Johannesburg’s ‘in-between’ suburb. With its lavish gated communities, malls, and rapid developments, Midrand always felt removed from the grittier and more historic parts of the city. Having spent years in the suburban areas of Johannesburg, I had a vague sense of what the Central Business District (CBD) was like. I had ideas about its robustness and chaos, but I hardly ever went there…mostly as I was concerned about my safety.    

Then came my PhD. My doctoral research focused on how Urban Ecological Infrastructure (UEI) can be used as a tool to adapt to climate change impacts in the City of Johannesburg. Consequently, I spent much time in the CBD!

UEIs include green spaces/parks, wetlands, urban forests, and even green roofs. Essentially, UEIs are natural or semi-natural features within cities that provide environmental and social benefits to those living in them. I wanted to find out if such infrastructures exist within Jo’burg’s CBD. I also wanted to understand if and how these UEIs could aid with better responses to heatwaves, flooding, and other climatic threats.

To answer these research questions, I used a mixed-methods approach. As such, I incorporated the use of satellite imagery, climate data from the South African Weather Services (SAWS), and interviews with municipal stakeholders, private consultants, and researchers/academics who helped guide decisions on using UEIs for climate adaptation. I was keen to better understand how the city viewed UEIs and what their plans were for effective climate adaptation. Relatedly, I wanted to know what plans for UEIs were in motion, and how many UEIs existed, if any?

The analysis of my climate data from SAWS indicated that between 1993 – 2023, minimum and maximum temperatures in Johannesburg increased by 0.03 °C and 0.025 °C respectively. I attributed this increase to declining vegetation cover in the metro due to rapid urbanisation caused by a rising population. The unequal distribution of green UEIs across different economic and racial groups further contributed to the increasing temperatures. Annual precipitation over the period increased by 5.407 mm due to increased deforestation, land use changes, and the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO).

I am sure you want to know more about what I found! But for this blog, I actually want to focus more on my experience in the field and less about reporting on my findings.

My research involved interviews with various stakeholders, which meant I met with some very senior people. My interactions with city officials were interesting and felt daunting, as I was basically asking them if they were delivering on the policy promises they had made! I asked them for the locations of the UEIs, as well as who managed/maintained them? I was also asking them whether there were any inequalities amongst the upper and lower economic classes when it came to the distribution of UEIs in the city? For this doctoral researcher, being in these spaces and asking such direct questions to such senior officials felt bold and nerve wrecking, but also, empowering. And in one particular interaction, I knew that what I was doing was important, as my one participant remarked, “You researchers and academics think you know it all”. Under ordinary circumstances, such a statement would have offended me, but in that moment, I realised I was asking all the right questions. That feeling pushed me to persevere and conduct the research as best I could. Not only for the sake of my research integrity but also to critically engage with the matter at hand, “how (if at all) is the city preparing for and adapting to the increasing climate challenges?”

Through my time in the field, I began to realise something strange: the more I studied the city, the less I felt I truly knew it. My coming in as a researcher meant that I had to view the city through a new lens – one shaped by critical analysis, policy frameworks, and institutional interviews. The reality is I wasn’t merely observing it; I was interrogating it. Consequently, my experience, although necessary and fruitful, felt very alienating. The alienation came from the swift realisation that my doctoral work would expose serious challenges within the metro. Although unpublished as yet, my findings demonstrate that climate action is being sidelined. However, what stood out the most was that despite the weight of bureaucracy and inequality impacting on a swift response, I saw a city trying to be resilient. A most memorable example is the rehabilitation of the Jukskei River which is one of the ways they aim to harness UEIs for climate resilience in the area by scaling nature based solutions for climate resilience in the city. That got a thumbs up from me!

My experience also meant discovery as I began to understand that Johannesburg not only carried childhood memories, but it was a complex and living system that required remediation and urgent attention. I understood that being a researcher in your own city means sitting with the discomfort of certain realities.

I’ve come to learn that simplifying science doesn’t mean avoiding jargon; it means being honest about how science changes and influences us, how it unsettles us, and teaches us to see differently. For me, my fieldwork wasn’t about collecting data, it was about unlearning, relearning, and reconnecting with my city in a deeper and more meaningful way.

While much in the way of cross sector collaboration is needed to prioritise climate change, Johannesburg is still home and is, as far as I could ascertain from my research, ready to adapt to climate change through UEIs.

Zamancwane Pretty Mahlanza

When travelling, incorporating Indigenous edible foods into our diets provides a wonderful way to connect with the land and the cultural legacy of different native populations. Indigenous foods are frequently grown responsibly and are very nutrient-dense. Some of these items include underutilised and neglected food groups, such as cereal grains and wild edible plants. Understanding these crops origins, techniques of harvesting, methods of preparation and processing, and their nutritional benefits for people is necessary to get these foods from the land to our plates.

The consumption and usage of Indigenous food sources offers nutritional and health-promoting benefits. Cereal grains such as the finger millet are rich in calcium, dietary fiber and are gluten-free grains (figure 2). In addition, the spekboomplant leaf (figure 1) are, also referred to as the  carbon capture powerhouse is an edible and medicinal plant leaf rich in vitamin C and antioxidants.  Furthermore, these crops and edible plants aid in diversifying the food supply and enhance global food security. By expanding the range of crops and foods we rely on, we reduce the risk of food shortages due to pests, diseases, or changing climate conditions.

Figure 1: Spekboom plant leaves

Figure 2: Finger millet grains

Our global food systems are interconnected, and I believe that this phase of my academic research where I develop instant food products and 3D printed snacks (figure 3) by using traditional and novel food processing techniques in underutilised and Indigenous food sources to improve nutritional value, functionality and health promoting benefits. Sustainable foods and technology are some of the key themes that my research topic focuses. Additionally, these are the two factors that will directly reshape consumer’s food perception in the immediate and near-term future.

Figure 3: 3D printed biscuit

Growing up I watched my father working hard in planting and harvesting crops in our community garden. At the time, I didn’t realise I was witnessing an unspoken knowledge system, one that held nutritional, ecological, and cultural value. It wasn’t until I began my studies in food and consumer science that I recognised how indigenous foods, long overlooked, could help reshape our global approach to food security and sustainable diets. Despite increasing interest, the rediscovery of indigenous foods remains fragmented. Much of the scientific literature is limited to isolated case studies, and not entirely on the of efficiency of safe processing that can increase the nutritional value and health promoting benefits. What’s needed is an interdisciplinary approach, one that combines food process engineering, food chemistry, and new product development.  

At the Centre for Innovative Food Research, were my current PhD research is based on food processing engineering, food chemistry, new product development and sensory analysis. The hands on experience here has been invaluable, shaping me into a researcher who thinks outside the box, pushes boundaries, and develops real-world solutions. I’ve made progress in focusing in identifying the metabolite profiles of processed finger millet and edible cricket whereby the study’s findings provide a crucial framework for tracking and controlling the metabolite composition of FM and EC flours during traditional and novel processing https. In addition, highlighting the application of efficient processing (traditional and novel) techniques have made improvements that suggest that combining the processed flours could yield a composite product rich in protein, with improved nutritional content, functional properties, and potential health-promoting benefits https://doi.org/10.1093/ijfood/vvaf056. As we journey back to our roots through the rediscovery of Indigenous foods, we uncover more than just forgotten flavours and implement new food processing techniques, we also reclaim stories, wisdom, and a deep respect for nature’s rhythm. The future of food may just lie in the past rich, resilient, and rooted in tradition.