Dr David Ortega visited the University of Pretoria (UP) from 28 September to 3 October 2024 as the international mentor for Dr Rejoice Tobias-Mamina from the Department of Marketing Management at UP, as part of the African Futures Research Leadership Programme at Michigan State University.

 

The purpose of the visit was mainly to connect with the MSU awardee, Dr Tobias-Mamina, as part of the research team between UP and MSU. The research team includes a UP researcher (Dr Tobias-Mamina) and two mentors – one from MSU (Dr Ortega) and one from UP (Prof Yolanda Jordaan).

 

Dr Ortega is an Associate Professor at MSU in the Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics. His research focuses on understanding consumer, producer and agribusiness decision-making to better inform food policies and marketing strategies. This three-person research project between UP and MSU involves an interdisciplinary study on the effects of naming conventions and information on South African consumer preferences for meat alternatives. The research aims to assess consumer preferences for meat alternatives such as insect-based, plant-based, and cultured meat.

 

During the visit, Dr Ortega engaged with several departments at UP, including the Department of Marketing Management, the Department of Consumer and Food Science and the Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development. On his first day at UP, he was taken on a campus tour and met the staff in the Department of Marketing Management. Much of his time was allocated to finalising their research paper on meat alternatives, resulting from the African Futures Research Leadership Programme partnership.

 

Dr Ortega presented a session on “The effectiveness of misinformation corrective strategies and implications for consumer food choices and policy attitudes” to the South African Association for Food Sciences and Technology (SAAFOST), as arranged by the Department of Consumer and Food Science. He also presented a Brown Bag lecture to the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences (EMS), titled “Exploring experimental methods in academic research”, which was well attended by colleagues in the Faculty of EMS, but also by staff and students from the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences.

As the collaborative research topic between UP and MSU is on consumer preferences for meat alternatives, specifically plant-based, insect-based and cultured meat, the research team ensured that Dr Ortega had the opportunity to taste mopane worms – in true South African style.

 

On the last day of the visit, Dr Ortega was taken on a field trip under the guidance of Deon Scheepers from the Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development to view some of UP’s agricultural facilities.

 

A huge thank you to the African Futures Research Leadership Programme at MSU for making the visit by Dr Ortega possible.