HARARE - The private sector has been challenged to take a leading role in the promotion of research and development in the country for Zimbabwe to keep abreast with what is happening globally, Science and Technology minister, Professor Heneri Dzinotyiweyi has said.

In an interview with The Changing Times, Minister Dzinotyiweyi said it was worrying to notice that the companies in the private sector in Zimbabwe did not have a well defined policy on research and development. “We have very little research taking place in the private sector.  There is a substantial need to address that area,” he said.
However, the minister also admitted that the government was not doing enough to attract the private sector in the area of research and development.

“I however, admit that as government we have not done enough in attracting the private sector to take a leading role in this area.  The Science and Technology ministry is as a result drafting a Research and Development levy that will see companies that undertake serious research being assisted by the government,” said Minister Dzinotyiweyi. “It is critical for Zimbabwean scientists to come up with new ideas, be at the forefront on how best the ideas can be developed, pushed forward and ensure that results are transformed into a format that is usable,” he added.

He also bemoaned that Zimbabwe had been seriously affected by flight of most of the countries scientists abroad as this had negatively affected the growth of science and technology. For the past 10 years the country has been facing a serious brain drain of qualified personnel due to the mismanagement of the economy by the then Zanu PF government.

However, the minister said although an inclusive government was now in place in Zimbabwe, it was remained difficult to expect these scientists back in the country as they were working in countries that had first class research facilities. But all hope was not lost as the minister said he had personally got in touch with various Zimbabwean scientists who are living abroad and they had made a commitment to assist where possible in improving and rebuilding the country’s science and technology.

 “Due to the fact that the country has not been performing well for sometime there is need for companies to short circuit there operations so that they are at par with what is found internationally,” he said. Minister Dzinotyiweyi is the MP for Budiriro in Harare and also a respected mathematician who has worked as a university lecturer at several leading universities including the University of Zimbabwe where he was a dean of science.

He said his ministry was addressing a number of issues under difficult circumstances.  “We have done reasonable according to our expectations.  Since I became the minister, we have managed to reorganise the ministry into four major departments,” said the minister.  The four departments are commercialisation, research, development and innovation; science and technology integration and administrative.

 “The situation in Zimbabwe in terms of science and technology is bad but we understand it and it is something that we can reverse,” he said. He explained that the commercialisation department’s mandate was the transformation of available results into a format that is understood and which makes sense to the industry. The research, development and innovation department liaised with various institutions to raise priorities and assess their needs and come up with innovations that need diversification.

The department of science and technology integration is to make awareness among the general populace so that science has a meaning and impact on the people.  The department also looks at policy requirements, creating an ideal environment for science development and ensuring that science it taught in all schools. 
The administrative department is a back-up section of the ministry and works closely with the three above departments and is also involved in securing funding to support the ministry’s science research efforts.

Some projects the Science and Technology ministry was undertaking was on coming up with cheaper and easily available mini science kits that would be available to any science student from primary school to tertiary college. The ministry is being assisted in the project by the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

Minister Dzinotyiweyi also said his ministry was working on increasing the growing of the jatropha plant as this would go a long way in improving the supply of cheaper fuel in the country. The project has been on the cards for years but, Minister Dzinotyiweyi is convinced that if it is done on a massive scale the country will be able to produce its own fuel.

“The jatropha plant can be grown in areas that are not popular for growing food.  We are working on how we can get at least 250 000 ha in each province in order to make meaningful volumes,” he said. Minister Dzinotyiweyi said the ministry had set up a company Finelty Oils to promote the jatropha project across the country.