Professor Michael Chimonyo, a Research Professor in the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Agriculture, was recently elected to be a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf). The Academy, which is internationally recognised and globally connected, is the apex organisation for science and scholarship in South Africa. ASSAf aims to generate evidence-based solutions to national problems. Its membership represents the collective voice of the most active scholars in all fields of scholarly enquiry.
Michael has also set up and joined other trans-disciplinarity research teams for research centered on livestock science for sustainable productivity and production, mainly positively impacting the lives of resource-limited farmers. With his research teams, he has co-supervised and co-published scientific papers with ecologists, food scientists, biochemists, microbiologists, rural development practitioners, veterinarians, parasitologists, sociologists, economists and Indigenous Knowledge System experts, to mention but a few.
Michael has successfully supervised nearly 50 PhD graduates, a substantial number of these currently serving in various influential capacities, with almost 70% of his research stud-ies have been based in the rural areas. The studies have evolved around improving reproduc-tion efficiencies, health, nutrition and adaptation of cattle, goats, sheep, pigs and chickens.
Michael remains motivated to exploit the indigenous knowledge and Afri-can heritage that exists and contribute to the knowledge economy through build-ing the capacity of farmers, postgraduate supervision, and mentorship of peers.
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University of Venda
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