Sokoine University of Agriculture main campus
The Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) and Norway have set a special fund that would foot the costs of researches in innovation system and value chain approaches in agriculture.
The fund known as Enhancing Pro-poor Innovation in Natural Resources and Agriculture Value-chain (EPINAV) will dish out up to 60m/- for the best proposal per year, which will lead to bring in new innovations in the field.
SUA?s Intellectual Property Specialist, Prof Amani Kweka said the fund targets research proposals that directly contribute to realisation of the programme outputs and purpose.
?To qualify for funding under EPINAV, a researcher must not only enhance frontiers of knowledge but be applied and useful to end users who are mainly smallholder farmers and other value chain actors,? he said.
The Professor in agricultural and forest engineering said the fund span is four years and might be renewed depending on the result.
He said SUA would have patent rights on the innovations, adding that the aim is to help farmers to increase their produce. He added that the research must address a specific theme or priority commodity for a particular district, region or zone.
Agriculture is the main source of livelihood for more than 83 per cent of the poor with women accounting for more than 70 per cent of agricultural production especially food crops.
The sector is almost entirely driven by smallholder farmers who depend on hand hoe, rain-fed agriculture and animal husbandry practices.
It is characterized by limited access to and participation in input and output markets, extension services; access to knowledge, information and financial services.
SUA has over the years developed and tested a good number of productivity enhancing technologies and best practices in various pilot villages in the country.
By ABDUEL ELINAZA, Tanzania Daily News
Source: http://in2eastafrica.net/research-fund-on-agriculture-introduced/
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