Image: Supplied

Today, we celebrated the launch of UKUDLA through its inaugural summer school. In isiXhosa, ukudla means food. That meaning could not be more fitting, because this African-German Centre for Sustainable and Resilient Food Systems is all about nourishing lives, communities and futures.

UKUDLA is more than an acronym. It is a vision.

It brings together the University of Hohenheim in Germany with four African partners: the University of Pretoria, the University of Mpumalanga, LUANAR in Malawi, and the University of the Western Cape.

Each institution contributes its own expertise, its networks, and its unique perspective. Together, they form an international hub of excellence in scope, but deeply rooted in African realities.

Image: Supplied

In her opening address, Prof José Frantz, DVC: Research and Innovation, highlighted that the heart of ukudla is partnership. Just as food sustains life, partnerships sustain progress. “The challenges we face in food systems and in society are too complex for any one institution, nation, or discipline to solve alone,” she said. “They demand collaboration, where our different strengths are shared for a common purpose. Knowledge must not remain in journals or lecture halls; it must change lives, empower communities and advance justice,” she said.

Prof Hess from Hohenheim University echoed this message, emphasising that ukudla reminds us of nourishment that comes from diverse ingredients. “Our different perspectives are building blocks for solving challenges. The problems of the 21st century require interdisciplinary approaches, and they require the creativity of young minds,” he said.

Adding to this, Prof Francis Petersen, from the University of Pretoria, linked UKUDLA to the global stage. “The timing of this summer school is significant - it aligns with the G20,” he noted. “In these disturbing geopolitical times, UKUDLA demonstrates how Africa and Europe can work together to solve societal problems.” He called for partnerships that reimagine communities not as beneficiaries, but as central actors in shaping solutions. Linked to Prof Frantz’s comment in her welcome, “Knowledge must not remain in journals or lecture halls; it must change lives, empower communities, and advance justice.”, Prof Petersen encouraged us to “reimagine partnerships so that communities are key role players.”

Prof Aldo Stroebel: DVC Research, Innovation and Internationalisation from The University of Mpumalanga, highlighted this resilience and relevance. Just as food nourishes, this partnership strengthens both local relevance and global reach. He noted that the project’s focus on postgraduate students and early career researchers ensures that the next generation of scholars can move research forward. “With the G20 agricultural ministers meeting in Cape Town this week,” he added, “the launch of UKUDLA underlines the urgency of our work.”

Prof José Frantz, DVC: Research and Innovation. Image: Supplied

Dr Thandi Mgwebi, the Group Executive for Business Advancement of the National Research Foundation SA. (NRF), said: “UKUDLA is more than food — it is life itself. It connects with spirituality, with health and with living,” she reflected. She urged early-career researchers to embrace their role in building collaborations for a sustainable future: We must foster partnerships that cross borders and respond to national and international imperatives.”

Finally, Prof Julian May, CO-PI UKUDLA and Director of Centre of Excellence in Food Security (CoE), spoke to the students and described the summer school as “a laboratory of ideas, a space to debate, argue and share.” He encouraged them to see this as more than a programme: “It is an opportunity to learn with, from, and about each other. The bridges you build here can carry knowledge and relationships far beyond this place.”

As the Summer School unfolds, UKUDLA provides a platform for young researchers to exchange ideas, test solutions and forge lasting connections. The work started here in Cape Town extends far beyond these ten days; it is about shaping resilient food systems and building partnerships that endure well into the future.

So the launch of UKUDLA - food, in every sense, was not only a ceremonial opening. It was the planting of seeds. Seeds of partnership, of resilience and of shared purpose. Seeds that will grow into sustainable and resilient food systems for Africa, for Europe and for the world.