Finland and South Africa have recently taken a step further in deepening relations between their countries with the launching of the BioFISA partnership program on bioscience research support early this year. The agreement was signed on the 10th of December 2008 by the Finnish Ambassador Heikki Tuunanen and South African Minister of Science and Technology Mosibudi Mangena.
In most African countries conditions for research in the biological sciences have always been unfavorable because of the lack of proper facilities and funding. There is also a shortage of experts in this field and disinterest by the private sector in supporting bioscience R&D. The lack of awareness regarding the benefits that come with research has left South Africa and its neighboring countries at a loss for methods and solutions in addressing problems on substandard health-care and unsustainable agricultural practices.
BioFISA aims to strengthen cooperation and information-sharing between research institutes, universities and non-government organizations from participating countries under the South African Network for Biosciences (SANBio) Network. SANBio is a part of the NEPAD African Biosciences Initiative established in 2004. NEPAD has put much effort on research on biodiversity, biotechnology and the utilization and study of local environmental knowledge. The twelve countries officially under SANBio are Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland, Seychelles, Republic of South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Finland is investing 3 million Euros (41.2 million Rand) and South Africa, 9 million Rand, for the funding of this three-year support project that would benefit SANBio.
Through BioFISA, various international research institutions together with the Finnish government are now able to assist in developing the bioscience research capacity of SANBio countries, as well as bringing in people who have the expertise in these fields. Not only would they play a primary role in carrying out the research projects, they would also be imparting knowledge to the people working in their respective teams and those people will be trained to manage various projects in the future.
The first move of the project this year is on the development of private-public cooperation that would build on existing SANBio research projects. One of these would be research on affordable anti-inflammatory drugs as part of HIV treatment. Other projects that are being launched this year are the survey of biodiversity of inland freshwater fishes and development of novel mushroom production techniques. Commercial applications will then be developed from the results of these projects.
Major areas of future research will focus mainly on agriculture since it makes up around 35% of the African continent’s gross income and 40% of its exports. The agricultural industry also employs 70% of its labor force and hence, improving farming methods and gathering more knowledge on sustainable practices would mean a significant improvement in production quality and quantity as well as conditions for the local farmers and the African population in general. The project is looking into research on the development of crop varieties that are resistant to extreme weather conditions, diseases and pests.
BioFISA is only one of many Finnish support projects in South Africa. From the late 1990’s up to this day, Finland has supported South African development in areas such as environmental technology, forest industry and technology, renewable energy technology and most importantly on information technology and solutions. Taking the next step in supporting bioscience research new doors have opened for South Africa’s efforts on self-sustainability and on becoming a research hub in the African continent.
