Dr Makgafele Lucia Ntsoane
Nominee's Province:
Gauteng
Project Name/Description:
Ntsoane on a mission to improve safety, quality of food Dr Makgafele Lucia Ntsoane is a post-harvest crop researcher in the Department of Crop Sciences at Infarm based in Berlin, Germany. Ntsoane’s mission is to research post-harvest physiology, quality and shelf life of fresh produce grown at Infarm, where they use a developed smart modular farming system that allows distribution of vertical farms throughout the urban environment, growing fresh produce practically in any available space, without chemical pesticides and with less water. Ntsoane and her multi-disciplinary team at Infarm are growing a worldwide farming network to help cities become self-sufficient in their food production, while significantly improving the safety, quality, and environmental footprint of our food. She might just be a young 31-year old from the rural community of Ga-Mphahlele, Seleteng, in Limpopo but she is definitely chasing her dreams, while enhancing her skills and knowledge. Ntsoane’s career in agriculture post-harvest started in the academic space, when she was appointed as a lecturer’s assistant at Tshwane University of Technology, Crop Sciences Department in 2016. She was pursuing her M-Tech degree funded by National Research Foundation (NRF), which was awarded cum laude at the same university. Her career highlights include The Women in Science Doctoral Fellowship award by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) for her outstanding research in 2016. She was awarded a scholarship to participate in the International Research and Development course on Postharvest Physiology, Pathology and handling of fresh commodities by MASHAV, Israel’s Agency for International Cooperation. Lastly, she secured the opportunity to pursue a PhD research project at Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB) based in Potsdam, Germany, for three years from 2017-2020. The research formed part of the iPostTech project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture – BMEL. The study focused on providing solutions for food and nutritional security, particularly in sub-Saharan African countries. Ntsoane pushed her boundaries and completed her PhD degree in less than three years through supervisors’ guidance and family support in 2019. After completion, she continued as a post-doctoral researcher at ATB. In 2020, she took up DST/NRF Innovation Post-doctoral Research Fellowship Programme and Post-harvest Technology lecturer position at Tshwane University of Technology, where she co-supervised students. She continues to use her personal and career experiences to mentor and empower young people in the agricultural field.
