Online Reporter
Wallace Ruzvidzo-Herald Reporter
As the SADC region pushes toward a prosperous, industrialised and integrated future, the bloc’s Secretariat says the regional body must better harness indigenous knowledge and local resources to spur innovation, drive value addition and support sustainable development.
Speaking on the margins of the Indigenous Knowledge-Based Technology Innovation Investment Summit, currently underway in Johannesburg, South Africa, at a SADC Secretariat Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) Policy hybrid meeting, the bloc’s acting senior programme officer for Science, Technology and Innovation, Mr Reaboka Morakabi, underscored the strategic importance of indigenous knowledge to the region’s development agenda.
“Indigenous Knowledge Systems are a strategic asset for the region. As SADC pursues its vision of a prosperous, industrialised and integrated region, it is important that we leverage our indigenous knowledge and resources as drivers of innovation, value addition and sustainable development,” said Mr Morakabi.
Key areas under consideration include the development of national IKS policies, advocacy and awareness, intellectual property protection and benefit-sharing mechanisms, commercialisation of indigenous knowledge-based innovations, integration of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies, and the development of value chains for indigenous foods and products.
In a communiqué, the SADC Secretariat said the meeting was also building on decisions of SADC Ministers responsible for Science, Technology and Innovation, who directed the secretariat to support in implementing approved IKS policy tools and to develop a regional IKS strategy and plan.
