The ManicaPost
Cletus Mushanawani
News Editor
THERE is no better way to ensure that sustainable development is achieved than through sustainable utilisation of the country’s heritage resources, says Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development, Professor Fanuel Tagwira.
Speaking during Mutare Polytechnic’s Research and Innovations Association Conference in Nyanga this morning, Prof Tagwira said: “The new Manpower Development Programme says innovation and industrialisation are important mandates of our colleges together with teaching, research and community engagement. These are the ingredients needed for industrialisation and modernising the country by 2030.
“Knowledge plays a pivotal role in economic transformation. Economies are transformed by knowledge; knowledge which can be converted into goods and services. Mutare Polytechnic has the responsibility of driving sustainable infrastructure development through research, innovation and synergistic relationships with industry.”
Prof Tagwira said gone are the days of doing research for the sack of just publishing papers.
“We must go beyond papers to produce goods and services. Our nation is under sanctions and is in need to quick interventions and solutions which can only come from applied research.
“This was the approached used by Department of Research and Specialist Services before and soon after independence to transform agriculture. At the beginning of every year, the researchers would sit down with farmers to find out the key challenges the farmers were facing and research would be formulated to solve those challenges. If farmers have challenges with grey leaf spot disease, let have research to solve that problem. If the country is not getting value for money because its exporting raw materials instead of finished good that should inform some of our research. In those early years we produced most of the varieties being used today.
“Seedco has made money and an international name from the sweat of those early scientists. We developed new fertilizer formulations that were compatible with the soil. Our biggest challenges as a country has been the brain drain,” said Prof Tagwira.
Mutare Polytechnic principal, Ms Poniso Watema said her institution has totally embraced the Education 5.0 policy and has embarked on a number of value addition programmes.
The college is producing cooking oil, flour and stockfeed from cowpeas (nyemba) which they are producing at their farm in Vumba.
They have also partnered with the Zimbabwe Prison and Correctional Services in their agriculture venture and the inmates are benefitting from training programmes being offered by the tertiary institution.
