Heita hola!
I am Itumeleng Mafatshe a South African from Soweto, Johannesburg South Africa.
I am currently studying towards a Master of Science in Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security at the National University of Ireland Galway funded by the Irish Aid.
My background is in Political Studies and my passion lying in the intersections of Political theory and developmental practice from a gender perspective.
I hold a Masters in Arts degree from the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa). My research thesis titled ‘Gender politics and activism: A comparative study of ANCYL branches in Seshego (Limpopo)’.

I got into this course because I am passionate about Africa and women’s development particularly. I have for a long time thought about the intersections of women’s vulnerability and the roles they play in the home as the main providers of food among other things. I was really bothered, and to some extent continue to be bothered by how inaccessibility to land ownership affects women and the stability of their livelihoods. I wanted to combine my understanding of gender with research that looks at food insecurity and women’s resilience to climate change broadly.
This course has equipped me to answer questions about climate change and how communities can adapt to and mitigate climate change and impacts in response to projected increases food demand by double the world’s current population by 2050. The course focuses on the least developed countries (LDC’s) formerly known as the ‘third world’ considering that it is these countries that are mostly impacted by climate change. It covers various topics including, but not limited to climate change intersections with gender and climate justice, health and nutrition, risk management, policy scenarios and low emissions and climate smart agriculture.
In this blog, I will write about the research that I am currently working on in collaboration with the International Livestock Research Institute, as a Graduate Fellow. The title of my research project is Gender analysis of dairy intensification and climate change adaptability of men and women farmers in Tanzania.

I am definitely looking forward to the fieldwork and hope that you will also find the findings and research interesting to follow. Please stay tuned and feel free to ask questions or comment on the entries made.

A selfie of me at the Burren. One of the most breathtaking national sites in Ireland.