Africa-Press – Lesotho. Technology and innovation are the future in agriculture and natural resources hence the best pathway to adopt to enhance Botswana’s food production given the country’s semi-arid climate.
This was revealed by Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (BUAN) Vice-Chancellor Professor Ketlhatlogile Mosepele during the institution’s satellite event in Gaborone on Monday.
Professor Mosepele said the country’s semi-arid climate should not be seen as a barrier to food production but an opportunity to devise innovative strategies hence the need to take note of events that form part of the Month of Science that promote science public education.
BUAN and other institutions are hosting satellite events as part of the month of science and a build up to the national Science week which will be commemorated in Letlhakeng from August 21 to 25.
Sponsored by the Ministry of Communications, Knowledge and Technology, The Month of Science aims to increase public understanding and appreciation of the importance of science, technology and innovation in daily lives. It also seeks to stimulate interest in STEAM education across schools as well as to expose the public to scientific and technological achievements.
Professor Mosepele said BUAN wanted to lead in making Botswana self-sufficient in food production, adding that it was natural that their philosophy was food and nutrition security premised on the principles of environmental sustainability.
He said what was critical was to also encourage the youth to enter the food production space as the country’s ability to be self-sufficient depended on the involvement of the youth in the food production systems across the entire value chain.
“Our aim as a university is to develop strategies that would facilitate youth involvement in the agriculture and natural resources sectors. We want our youth to take advantage of opportunities that exist in the entire value chain of these two sectors,” he said.
He said to become a research-intensive university, they intended among others to generate new solutions for agriculture and natural resources, to conduct impactful research and to develop productive partnerships at local, regional and international levels.
He said the university recently launched two research centers; Bio-economy and Sustainable Resources to intensify research as part of contributing to the country’s socio-economic growth.
Professor Mosepele highlighted that future plans included the development of a school of veterinary medicine and a school of hospitality and tourism as stated in the strategic plan.
He said they were developing new programmes to cater for artificial intelligence to achieve academic excellence, adding that it would not only be attractive to potential students but also offer solutions to key questions in the agriculture and natural resources sectors.
He said they were gradually integrating digitization into their university operations to streamline their processes and procedures in line with the national fourth industrial revolution.
Acting Chief Executive Officer at Botswana Digital and Innovation Hub (BDIH) Mr Diane Mongudi said the Month of Science provided an opportunity for stakeholders to share experiences in the field of Science and celebrate achievements made in Science, Research Technology and the innovation landscape.
He said this year’s events were celebrated in line with the National Science Month theme: Leveraging STEAM Education for Social-Economic Development. He said STEAM had a holistic collaborative approach to teaching and learning that provoked problem-solving, and improved students’ emotional intelligence and social skills.
“They learn how to work with others and be expressive, to become more socially adaptable such that they can deal with various personalities and cultural backgrounds,” he elaborated.
Mr Mongudi said at the BDIH they facilitated all players within the innovation ecosystem, where they collaborated with partners to incubate and commercialise innovative solutions.
He also said they facilitated access to funding to their innovators through the Botswana Innovation Fund and most importantly provided the physical and virtual environment to enable innovators to develop their products and solutions.
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