Frequent meetings with project grantees is key – NCRST

ONE of the key lessons Namibia’s National Commission on Research, Science and Technology (NCRST) has learnt from implementing projects funded by the Science Granting Councils Initiative (SGCI) is that holding frequent physical meetings and maintaining active communication with grant winners is very useful.

Manager of human development and institutional development at NCRST, Angelique Philander, says meetings and active participation result in better efficiency, especially for cross-country research projects, while sufficient time is required with regards to the response period for potential applications and proposals.

The challenges created by the Covid-19 pandemic period highlight the importance of the institution transforming its operational processes from manual to online, especially in grant management, Philander says.

She recommends that the SGCI’s future projects consider funding joint projects targeting research for post-pandemic recovery, rapid responses, preparedness and emerging diseases.

Between 2018 and 2019, Namibia and Mozambique implemented a joint collaborative research project titled ‘Processing, up-scaling and commercialisation of food products derived from underutilised indigenous fruits, vegetables and plants in Namibia and Mozambique’, with funding from the SGCI.

The project, funded under Phase I of the SGCI, was managed by the NCSRT and the Fundo Nacional de Investigacao (FNI) in Mozambique.

The NCSRT say some of the challenges encountered in implementing this project included sending samples to external laboratories in South Africa, and obtaining results from accredited laboratories, as there are no accredited laboratories in Namibia and Mozambique to carry out food analyses.

There were also delays in procuring vendor services and establishing logistical arrangements, as well as substantial delays in procuring reagents, additives and packaging.

According NCSRT, one of the lessons learned from the implementation of this project was that arrangement and delivery of samples to outside laboratories requires substantial time.

Incorporation of students in the project work can sometimes hamper timelines of activities, as student’s availability is not always guaranteed, and the use of science masters students or part-time research is recommended.

It was also recommended that engagement in the project be widened to include different actors in the value chain, and that there is a need for the establishment of accredited food analytical laboratories in Namibia and Mozambique to ease the cost and eliminate the complications in transporting samples abroad and obtaining validations of products.

The aim of the project was to extract the phytochemicals of wild orange fruits (Strychoss ssp), Hibiscus sabdarrifa (Mutete), Vanguesrista infausta (wild medlar), wild spinach (Amaranthus) and sweet potato, to incorporate them into different dairy and fruit-derived products with increased nutritional and medicinal properties.

As part of its capacity building project, a large number of women from Namibia were trained to make food products from underutilised indigenous fruits, vegetables and plants. Some of these women now have businesses selling sweets, jam and bread spreads made from natural, indigenous fruit, vegetables and plants.

Established in 2013, the mandate of the NCRST is to ensure coordination, monitoring and supervision of research, science and technology in Namibia, to promote and develop research, science and technology, and to promote the linkages between Namibia and international institutions and bodies on the development of research, science and technology.

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