Sidwell Sihlangu, a PhD student in the Department of Agriculture on the North-West University’s (NWU’s) campus in Mahikeng, will present a training workshop in Windhoek, Namibia on the cultivation of mushrooms.

The aim of the workshop – taking place from 25 to 30 September 2017 – will be to promote food security and human health in rural and peri-urban communities of the SADC. It will also address unemployment and encourage entrepreneurship through mushroom cultivation.

Sidwell was invited by the University of Namibia’s (UNAM) Zero Emission Research Initiative (ZERI) office, a research division within the UNAM’s Multidisciplinary Research Centre that executes the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)/ Southern African Network for Biosciences (SANBio) Mushroom Project. This project promotes research and developmental work on mushroom production and value addition in six countries—Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland and Zambia.

Sidwell is expected to talk about the research and methods he described in his master’s thesis on the cultivation of mushrooms.

“I would like to express my humble gratitude for this wonderful gesture I received in recognition of my research work,” says Sidwell. “It is my mission as a young leader to assist people in implementing the skills and knowledge stemming from my research to improve their livelihoods.”

 Sidwell Sihlangu (on the right) with his supervisor, Dr Ramachela.