Prof. Joseph Francis

Director, Institute for Rural Development (IRD), University of Venda, South Africa

An internationally recognized champion of community-engaged scholarship, bridging deep academic expertise with real-world development and poverty reduction strategies across Southern Africa.

Prof Francis is an academic and rural development practitioner who holds a PhD in Animal Science obtained from the University of Zimbabwe. His doctoral research focused on an examination of smallholder dairy farming as a vehicle for rural development within the context of integrated crop-livestock systems.

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Professional Mandate & Core Research Focus

As the Director of the IRD at UNIVEN, his core responsibilities encompass a seamless integration of:

Research & Teaching focused on Rural Development and Integrated Systems.
Community-Engaged Work & Resource Mobilization.
Leadership and Management of the Institute for Rural Development.

His academic contributions are substantial, having co-authored a book, four book chapters, and more than 30 peer-reviewed scientific papers, with a research focus that includes:

Climate Change and Household Vulnerability
Community Empowerment and Participatory Development
Smallholder Dairy Farming and Forest-Based Livelihoods

Award-Winning Community Impact (The ACV Programme)

Prof Francis has extensively worked with grassroots communities across Southern Africa as one of the champions of the WK Kellogg Foundation-funded Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP). His leadership in community-engaged scholarship is best demonstrated through the Amplifying Community Voices (ACV) Programme, which has garnered national and international recognition:

Awarded the Silver Award in the Impumelelo Innovation Trust competition (2008) and the Third Prize of the MacJannet Prize for Global Citizenship (2011).

The ACV approach is gaining widespread recognition as a potential roadmap for constructing community-owned municipal development plans, especially within the Vhembe District, showcasing the direct, transformative policy influence of his work.

Mentorship and Stakeholder Engagement

Beyond his academic and community roles, Prof Francis has a proven track record as a mentor and a facilitator of high-level stakeholder engagements:

Successfully supervised 27 research-based Master's and 14 PhD students to completion, building a strong legacy of mentorship.
Requested by the Vhembe District Municipality to facilitate stakeholder engagements that culminated in the establishment of the highly vibrant Vhembe District Land Development Forum.
Served as the lead facilitator of multiple stakeholder engagements on skills development for the Local Government Sector Education Training Authority (LGSETA) in Limpopo and Mpumalanga Provinces.

His career, marked by the seamless integration of academia, policy influence, and grassroots empowerment, perfectly embodies the spirit and objectives of the MUT Conference on Scholarship of Engagement.