The Enactus University of Johannesburg team, made up of students from various UJ faculties, competed against 21 South African universities in Johannesburg last week. The team’s projects explored solutions to the mounting unemployment crisis through enterprising business innovation.
Their entrepreneurial stealth demonstrated in reinventing strategies, finding innovative solutions to complex real-world issues and well-executed presentations clinched them the prestigious title.
The Enactus University of Johannesburg team was lauded for two multi-stakeholder engagement projects – an urban farming project and a project aimed to create entrepreneurial opportunities for refugees.
Under the stewardship of Joyce Sibeko (Lecturer in Business Management, UJ), and Christa van Zyl (Lecturer in Communication Design, UJ), the team embarked on a multi-stakeholder engagement project that aims to create opportunities for urban agriculture in a sustainable food system in Soweto. Amidst a global concern over food security, this project highlights the impact of urban farming.
In collaboration with Dr Naude Malan (Lecturer Development Studies, UJ) the team was instrumental in providing a platform for entrepreneurs to satisfy a customer base in their own community. The Izindaba Zokudla (Conversations about Food) project was established as a result.
“The Izindaba Zokudla project advocates specific approaches to urban agricultural development in Johannesburg. It draws on participatory research to build the capacity of farmers’ organisations; to facilitate engagement with food enterprises in the city; and to use design and technology development as a means to improve agricultural practices,” said Sibeko.
“The project not only markets urban farmers in Soweto but also increases the urban farmer’s opportunities for retail,” she elaborated.
Another global challenge that the UJ team tackled is the refugee influx into economies. The focus is on the development of a business model to secure a sustainable stream of income for foreign nationals in Johannesburg and Pretoria which could curtail xenophobia and be exploited in other global societies.
“Looting and xenophobia attacks on foreign nationals were some of the reasons for the Enactus UJ team to explore solutions to better the standard of living within our communities. Training on how to run small informal trading outlets were held in Gauteng. The team assisted foreign nationals with business plans that enabled them to generate start-up capital,” she said.
“Our students’ performance was exceptional, as the level of competition was incredibly high. Our team competed against teams representing top South African universities,” says Sibeko.
At the World Cup Competition in Canada, they will go up against the national winners from the 35 other participating countries. Each team will be given 17 minutes to showcase their projects to the judging panel of business leaders, which includes J.P. Bilbrey, president and CEO of The Hershey Company, Andrew Cranston, global chief operating officer of KPMG International and Kees Kruythoff, president of Unilever North America.
For more information on the Enactus World Cup 2016 in Toronto, Canada, visit:
www.enactus.ca/enactus-world-cup-2016/
