News

Africa’s food systems face urgent challenges. In a commentary published in the South African Journal of Science, Prof Frans Swanepoel and Dr Melody Mentz-Coetzee, affiliated with Future Africa, reflect on FSNet-Africa as a model for training new scientists to drive sustainable change.

Future Africa at the University of Pretoria is proud to host the first United Nations University (UNU) Hub in Africa and the Global South. The UNU Hub will drive solutions to climate, agriculture, environment, and health challenges through African-led collaboration.

Future Africa recently hosted Ambassador Delphine O, Ambassador-at-large and Secretary-General of the Generation Equality Forum at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for a guest lecture on the relevance of Feminist Foreign Policy (FFP) in today’s global and digital context.

Future Africa, in collaboration with the National Zoological Garden’s ZooClub, hosted a three-day Youth in STEM (YiSTEM) Career Exposure Tour from 30 June to 2 July 2025. The programme introduced 25 high school learners to exciting career opportunities in health, veterinary, and agricultural sciences at the University of Pretoria, inspiring the next generation of STEM professionals.

Future Africa hosted French Deputy Director for Global Affairs Jean-Sébastien Conty for a guest lecture exploring France’s contributions to addressing global challenges. The session highlighted international cooperation on climate action, health, food systems, and gender equality.

Sustainability science must shed inherited assumptions and embrace African-centred approaches grounded in justice, imagination, and relational thinking. This was the message from Future Africa’s recent transdisciplinary dialogue, where Prof Lesley Green and Prof Maano Ramutsindela called for a new language of science rooted in African thought.

Conservation is often viewed as a moral good, but speakers at a Future Africa panel revealed how its history in Africa is marked by dispossession, invisibility, and colonial violence. The discussion called for reparations that address intertwined ecological and human injustices.

Africa must develop its own answers to the climate crisis or risk deepening existing inequalities. This call to action emerged during a panel discussion on equitable and just climate actions hosted by Future Africa in partnership with IRD-CNRS-CIRAD joint office in Southern Africa.