George Herald | First black woman gets PhD in Agricultural Economics

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First black woman gets PhD in Agricultural Economics
11:30 (GMT+2), Thu, 07 June 2012

AGRI NEWS - Dr Karabo Mabe is the first black woman in South Africa to get a PhD in agricultural economics.

Earlier this month it was reported that Dr Mabe qualified from the University of the North West, where she is a lecturer, research supervisor and programme coordinator for the agricultural economics and extension programme at the Mafikeng Campus of the same university.

According to a statement by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, which congratulated her, the success of Dr Karabo came at a time when the department emphasised the importance of the agriculture sector, and the urgency to attract more black people and specifically women and youth into agriculture. "We hope her success will be motivation for many others."

It is stated that Dr Karabo is another indictment on how agriculture has not done enough to attract women, especially black women. This does not bode well for a country that needs to grow its agricultural outputs. The department will be inviting Dr Karabo to join their consultative delivery forum which is hosted quarterly.

There is a lot of work that needs to be done to ensure food security in South Africa and education is at the heart of the work we need to do. As it is, South Africa is lagging behind in the production of agricultural extension officers, a matter that has direct impact in the country's ability to produce food both to feed itself and to sell for the betterment of our economy.

"The more Mabes we can produce the better," said the statement.