Students use study abroad trip to focus on food security in South Africa
Virginia Tech students worked in communities across Cape Town.
The two greenhouses Isaac Turpin helped install at an elementary school outside Cape Town, South Africa, as part of a winter break study abroad were the culmination of everything he'd learned through his Pathways minor, global food security and health.
For 900 students at Encotsheni Primary in the Khayelitsha township, the improved garden will provide fresh food in the cafeteria, an extended growing season, and a hands-on curriculum in life sciences.
“Not only was this the greatest experience I’ve ever had as a student,” said Turpin, a senior majoring in international trade and development, “I think this was the greatest day of my life.”
A dozen of the 14 students who traveled to South Africa were part of the global food security and health minor housed in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Ozzie Abaye, professor in the School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, led the trip along with Mark Reiter, professor of soils and nutrient management at the Eastern Shore Agricultural Research and Extension Center, and Peter Ziegler, research assistant professor in the college.
“I think it’s very important for students to understand that what they’ve learned in the classroom can be applied globally and that their work has value,” Abaye said. “These students now understand that they’re part of a global community and have built relationships during this program that will be part of their lives moving forward.”
The students worked in Cape Town, a city of contrasts where microclimates are measured in feet of elevation and huge disparities in wealth and poverty are separated by just a few kilometers. Their work, which focused on community service and food security, resulted from months of planning and dialogue with their South African partners and hosts.
Working in small teams, the students also designed projects for an orchard and garden for a school for deaf and hearing-impaired children, created interpretive materials for a community garden and after-school program, and led a lecture on soil health at a demonstration farm for regenerative land management.
Designed to increase access and affordability
“We know study abroad can be a great experience for students, but we also know there are a lot of barriers to participating,” said Stephen Biscotte, assistant provost for undergraduate education and a faculty member on the trip. “So part of this trip was to rethink how we design international programs, so more students can take advantage while getting credit for a Pathways General Education minor.”
Unlike semester-long study abroad programs, this trip took place for 14 days during winter break so it wouldn’t interfere with course planning for students with demanding schedules. The shorter winter trip was also more affordable. Experiences like these are also part of Virginia Tech Advantage, a university commitment to offer broad educational opportunities to undergraduate students from Virginia who have financial need.
“I always knew I wanted to study abroad but I was never able to make it happen financially,” said Evan Stanfield, a senior horticulture major with minors in global food security and health and agribusiness management and entrepreneurship. “I work three jobs - two on campus and one off campus - so having this trip happen over winter break meant those jobs would be there for me when I got back to Blacksburg and didn’t create a situation where I’d have to pay for housing in addition to my lease for the semester.”
Career development
The trip also allowed students to see different models of urban agriculture, mixing entrepreneurism and social activism, adding depth to their undergraduate experience.
During a visit to the Observatory neighborhood, the students helped upgrade a small citrus and apple orchard in the garden of the Mary Kihn school for deaf and hearing-impaired children. The garden provides fresh produce for school meals and serves students who come from under-resourced communities in the city’s surrounding townships.
The school grounds are headquarters for Urban Harvest, a company that has installed over 500 gardens, many of which grow fresh produce for school cafeterias.
“We don’t sell any produce. We’re an edible garden service, helping people grow their own food in many contexts,” said Ben Getz, the company’s founder and a local partner for the program. “Our community gardens not only teach learners about growing food, which they do mostly through osmosis, they provide important meals with nutrition they may not get elsewhere.”
Urban Harvest’s clients range from large, downtown Cape Town corporations with rooftop gardens to small, socially conscious projects in underserved communities. The novel business model, called social entrepreneurship, leverages relationships with companies such as Woolworth department stores, ABSA financial services, and the Shoprite groceries chain to fund projects and community development.
For example, the garden at the Mary Kihn school is supported by a Cape Town supplement company that has paid for the installation and maintenance of four school gardens in the city.
The semester-long work with Getz, along with the site visit, allowed students to expand their vision of possible career paths.
“Eventually I want to pursue development economics, namely partnerships between the public and private sectors,” said Miru Yim, a graduate student in agricultural and applied economics. “Here they’re partnering with schools, their own client base, and the government, so this was a great opportunity to see how all those things can be integrated into a successful program to tackle food insecurity.”
Students as teachers
For two students, the program in South Africa was an opportunity to apply and share everything they’d learned in the classroom and on the soil judging team in the School of Plant and Environmental Sciences.
Joe Paterson and Grace Bartlett, both members of the soil judging team, led a talk about the soil health of the operation, which led to a conversation with farm staff about farm regenerative programs.
The students and faculty spent two days at the Living Soil Community Learning Farm in a regenerative land-management project that serves as a public and private partnership in the Lynedoch Valley, about 25 miles east of Cape Town.
The 4-acre farm is a partnership between Woolworths department stores, Spier vineyards, and a local nonprofit organization, the Sustainability Institute.
“The past two semesters I’ve been on the soil judging team and gone to the past two competitions, which gave me a lot of hands-on experience in terms of soil color, texture, and structure of healthy soil,” said Paterson, a senior majoring in crops and soil science. “It made all the experiences of judging feel real and gave us a chance to apply them to help people, which is why I’m grateful for this experience.”
More information about the study abroad program in South Africa is available online and on the web page for the Pathways minor global food security and health.
