Several staff and students from the Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development participated in the 59^th Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA) conference that took place in October 2022. The 2022 AEASA Conference, which took place in Namibia, focused on the topic, How recent value chain disruptions shaped agri-food systems in sub-Saharan Africa.

This conference saw a number of noteworthy achievements, the first of which was that Dr Moraka Makhura, who is a lecturer in the department was made an honorary member of AEASA.

The University of Pretoria was well represented by the staff and students who contributed posters and presented their research papers. Olwethu Loki and Lelethu Mdoda presented their paper, Contingent valuation of Smallholder farmers’ willingness to Pay for Extension Services in South-Eastern South Africa. Bernard Manganyi, Dr Selma Karuiahe and Dr Damien Jourdain presented their paper, Preferences for index-based pasture insurance: a choice experiment in Limpopo Province, South Africa, and came in third place for the Best Contributed papers. Additionally, Dr Lerato Phali won the award for Best Publication in a Professional Journal other than Agrekon. 

Well done to all of those who participated in the event!