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Brief welcome... Dear Friends Welcome to this first edition of Development Brief: isixaxambiji for 2011. Since you have received a copy of this newsletter, it means that you have some interest in our work and I thank you for that. The world is now needier than ever and grantmakers globally have contesting demands, varying from natural disasters and rebuilding economies on the brink of collapse to requests for support after civil unrest. I am, therefore, grateful for your continued interest in our developmental activities, some of which are featured here. I do hope that you enjoy the articles in this issue of Development Brief which again highlight the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s social engagement agenda and its firm links with the local context and community. Should you wish to discuss any of the featured projects, or indeed make contact for any other reason, please email me at vandyk@ukzn.ac.za. Sincerely Bruno van Dyk Executive Director UKZN Foundation About the UKZN Foundation Status The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) Foundation Trust is a registered charitable trust (number IT589/ 03), a public benefit organisation (number 930016101) and a non-profit organisation (number 030-967-NPO) under South African law. The Trust is associated with independent charitable entities in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. Motif The Forest Mahogany (Trichilia dregeana), known as uMathunzini in isiZulu, is found in Pondoland and KwaZulu-Natal on the southern African coast through to Swaziland, Zimbabwe and further north into tropical Africa. Its bright flowers, oil-rich seeds and lush evergreen foliage harbour a diverse ecology, with bees, several species of butterfly and birds, and monkeys among its most regular visitors. Oil from the seeds is used for cooking and to manufacture soap and body ointment, whilst the soft pale pink timber is a popular medium for wood carving, furniture and domestic implements. The seeds, oil, leaves, roots and bark of the tree are all used widely in southern and central Africa for medicinal purposes, particularly for kidneyrelated ailments and cleansing the body. Firmly rooted in Africa, and with its rich diversity of habitat, ecology and use, the Forest Mahogany is a fitting symbol of the development and growth which the UKZN Foundation exists to nurture and promote. It is our intention to feed the roots of development at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and to seek the means of extending these fruits of these endeavours to all of Africa’s people. Vision To be the leading social investment partner in African higher education. Mission The mission of the UKZN Foundation is to secure investment in the advancement of the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). It achieves this by procuring bequests, endowments, grants and gifts that advance the goals and aspirations of the University and satisfy the objectives of its partners and benefactors. The Foundation prioritises institutional development projects that are responsive to societal, economic and technological needs and problems, aim to advance human, environmental and global well-being, and are of immediate relevance or benefit to the local, national and regional communities served by the University. Contact Connie Israel UKZN Foundation University of KwaZulu-Natal Durban 4041 South Africa 8 israel@ukzn.ac.za ( +27 (0)31 260 2395 7 +27 (0)31 260 3209 Development Brief is produced by the UKZN Foundation and Corporate Relations. It won the Unitech/MACE Excellence Award for the Best External Newsletter three years consecutively in 2005, 2006 and 2007, was runnerup in 2008, and won the award again in 2009 and 2010. Cover picture by Guy Stubbs 2 UKZN Foundation www.ukzn.ac.za/ukznf
FACULTY OF SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE Pollution Research Group Gates Foundation funds pollution research Professor Chris Buckley and his Pollution Research Group (PRG) are working handin-hand with the eThekwini Water and Sanitation Utility (EWS) on a joint project with the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag). The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is providing a grant of US $3 million to continue developing and researching the relevance and economic viability of urine nutrient recovery tools and technologies. The foundation grant follows a visit by Mr Bill Gates and his team to Durban towards the end of 2009 when they met with members of the PRG at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Professor Buckley and Dr Kitty Foxon, together with senior representatives of EWS. The visit involved a tour of on-site sanitation initiatives in the Durban area in order for the team to understand more about water, sanitation and hygiene interventions and the work of the partnership. The project, which will be supported by the grant for a period of four years, will further the development of technical solutions for urine processing for nutrient recovery. The grant will also enable the researchers to examine ways in which the costs of providing sanitation can be reduced by the production and sale of urine-based fertiliser. Eawag comes with many years of experience in the technology used to separate urine as a sanitation solution. In recent years it has successfully completed urine separation projects in China and Nepal. According to the Eawag researcher leading the South African project, Dr Kai Udert, “This experience, plus the collaboration with an extremely progressive administrative department in Durban, were important reasons for developing our project in South Africa for the next four years.” Part of the project thus far has involved testing processes for the separation, purification and recovery of the nutrient components in urine in the laboratory. The researchers now plan to take these successes and implement them on a larger scale. Durban will be the test site for this evaluation due to the large number of urine Dr Kitty Foxon (right) and Professor Chris Buckley (centre front) in discussion with Mr Bill Gates (left) on his visit to Durban. diverting toilets which have been installed in the area. By the end of 2010 a total of 90 000 units had been installed as part of the city’s initiative to provide universal sanitation. Human excreta contain millions of tons of fertiliser equivalents – 20 to 30 percent of what the global fertiliser industry produces annually – which, to a large extent, end up in water bodies via wastewater and surface runoff. According to Professor Buckley, “Such misuse of plant nutrients from human excreta is currently a neglected aspect of health in relation to sanitation.” In low and middle income countries malnutrition constituted approximately 14 percent of the global burden of disease, measured as Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), overshadowing the contribution from sanitation-related diseases, which constituted 3.4 percent. The use of plant nutrients from human excreta offers great potential to increase crop production and nutritional status in countries with limited use of other fertilisers. In sub-Saharan Africa, the annual excreta production corresponds to more than 100 percent of the local application of mineral fertilisers. Adapted from an article originally published in UKZN Online Volume 4 Issue 28. For further information about the Pollution Research Group and its partnership with Eawag, kindly contact Professor Chris Buckley by email at buckley@ukzn.ac.za or telephone on +27 (0)31 260 3131. www.ukzn.ac.za/ukznf UKZN Foundation 3
Page 4 and 5: Brief Interview UNIVERSITY COUNCIL
Page 6 and 7: Access Programmes FACULTY OF ENGINE
Page 8 and 9: Foreign Internship UNIVERSITY OF KW
Page 10 and 11: Recent Awards, Acknowledgements and
Page 12: New Pharmaeconomics Programme FACUL

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