AngloGold Ashanti and the University of Fort Hare in South Africa have established the AngloGold Ashanti Chair in Dairy Science and Technology.
The Chair is designed to drive research activities contributing to new knowledge in dairy science on a regional and national level.
AngloGold said the Chair is intended to support rural small-scale farmers in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa and the country’s eight other provinces over an initial 10-year period.
“AngloGold Ashanti has a proud history in South Africa, and the company remains committed to supporting communities with deep links to the country’s mining industry,” AngloGold Ashanti chief executive officer Alberto Calderon said.
“This is why we have deliberately targeted the province from which a significant proportion of our workforce was drawn for many decades.”
The Chair is expected to meet several of South Africa’s National Development Plan goals, such as:
- eradicating extreme poverty and hunger
- promoting gender equality and empowering women
- reducing child mortality
- improving maternal health
- ensuring environmental sustainability
- being part of the global partnership for development.
AngloGold will contribute $R12.5 million (about $1.04 million) to the Chair as part of its pledge to make large investments in South African education and agriculture projects over the next five years.
“This is the first endowed research chair for our university, ushering in a new dawn for knowledge production to support industry growth, food security, shared prosperity, inclusivity, socio-economic development and upliftment of stakeholders in the dairy sector value chain and rural communities,” University of Fort Hare vice-chancellor Sakhela Buhlungu said.
“This grant from AngloGold Ashanti does two important things: it sets us on a new strategic trajectory by helping the establishment of a faculty of veterinary science, and it ensures a lasting legacy for rural development in the Eastern Cape.”
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