A RESEARCH partnership between local universities and two French organisations has been extended under a programme aimed at improving the conservation of natural resources.
BY SILENCE CHARUMBIRA
The third phase of the Research Platform-Production and Conservation in Partnership memorandum of understanding between the University of Zimbabwe, the National University of Science and Technology and French organisations, CIRAD and CNRS, was signed in Harare yesterday.
Speaking on the sidelines of signing ceremony at the residence of the French ambassador to Zimbabwe, the chairperson of the initiative, Eddie Mwenje, said the programme sought to improve the livelihoods of people living on the periphery of the conservation areas.
“The initiative helps provide scientific information on diseases that are found in the areas around national parks, among many other issues, while the main aim is to stabilise skills flight from the country,” he said.
Mwenje said the initiative would now partner more local universities to enable more students to benefit from the programme.
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Mwenje said since its inception in 2007, the programme had seen over 80 papers published in scientific journals around the world, while the budget had grown from around €60 000 to over €4 million.
“Now we have various partners that have enabled us to increase our capacity and we are now inviting more universities to partner us,” Mwenje said.
The platform currently involves an international multi-disciplinary team of more than 70 researchers, academics and post-graduate students from a wide range of disciplines including social sciences, agronomy, ecology, geography and veterinary science.
The platform is aimed at contributing to development, conservation and improved livelihoods in Southern Africa through strengthening national research capacities, multidisciplinary approaches and institutional partnerships with a focus on protected and neighbouring production areas.