An initiative of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD),
BioFISA after four years of operation can now boost of some achievements in
fighting hunger, curing diseases as well as livestock sustainability.
NEPAD revealed to NaijaAgroNet in a
press statement that BioFISA over the past four years has made effective
progress in the areas of the control of HIV infection, livestock disease and
development of plant genetic resources guidelines.
The Director of the NEPAD Southern African Network for Bioscience
(SANBio), Prof Luke Mumba attributed the achievements to the use of biosciences
at BioFISA's primary strategy and continued support from the governments of the
Finland and South Africa.
According to Prof. Mumba, BioFISA has helped small-scale farmers in
growing and preserving mushroom, developing fish farming and promoting
indigenous knowledge systems and scientific validation of traditional remedies.
“Now that we have started making use of the treasure in Africa, there is
an imperative need to now focus on preserving, protecting and responsibly
sharing indigenous knowledge within African communities to build synergies,”
Prof Mumba added.
Speaking about the achievements of BioFISA, a Senior Coordinator of
NEPAD's CEO’s Office, Mr. Abdoul Salam Bello said the programmes has affected
over 600 small-scale mushroom growers in Malawi, Namibia and Swaziland, while
training more than 100 agriculture extension officers and researchers from
Angola, Namibia, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland and Zambia in mushroom farming.
NaijaAgroNet
further gathered that BioFISA which is a Finland and Southern Africa
Partnership Programme to Strengthen NEPAD/SANBio currently covers eight
research and development projects in 12 Southern African countries in Angola,
Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa,
Swaziland, Seychelles, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Yinka Awosanya/LS
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