Raymond Auerbach, George’s own doyen of organic farming

Prof Raymond Auerbach completed his Doctorate in Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (Integrated Catchment Management, Rainwater Harvesting, Sustainable Farming and Experiential Learning) at Wageningen Agricultural University in the Netherlands. He has an MSc from the University of Natal (Sustainable Farming Systems) and an Apprenticeship in Organic (Biodynamic) Farming in Australia, specialising in soil fertility and dairy science.

Auerbach was the Africa representative on the board of the International Association for Farming Systems Research and Extension, and is associate professor of

Soil Science and Plant Production at the NMU George Campus, where he manages a long-term comparative farming systems agroecology research programme, which includes work on campus and by postgraduates in Uganda, Zambia and Tanzania.

He has done extensive research with the SA Water Research Commission and the Energy for Development Research Centre at the University of Cape Town. He is an African Earth Observatory Network Research Fellow, and Extraordinary Associate Professor at Stellenbosch University's Sustainability Institute. Auerbach was declared a Champion of Ecological Organic Agriculture in Africa by the African Union Commission, and received the Engagement Excellence Award for 2016 from his university, NMU.

He farmed organically for forty years in KwaZulu-Natal with his wife Christina, and they still own a small coffee farm there.