Agro-processing is the focus of the third edition of the National Competition of Innovations for Community Development, launched this Monday (12.02) in Maputo, which covers the entire national territory. The Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Daniel Nivagara, who led the opening of the competition, challenges young students from all over the country to show their skills and contribute to development through dialogue between creativity and knowledge of local problems.
The 3rd edition of the National Competition for Innovations in Community Development has the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Mozambican Insurance Company (EMOSE) and the National Research Fund (FNI), and aims to exploit the country's potential in the area of agro-processing, with a view to establishing sustainable value chains in the production of various foods with a major nutritional, social and economic impact.
During the launch ceremony, Daniel Nivagara pointed out that food processing not only stimulates agricultural production and adds value to products, but also has the potential to create jobs in various value chains considered to be priorities for the country.
"With this theme, we hope to identify innovations or technologies developed in Mozambique that can stimulate the processing of cereals, roots, tubers, meat, fish, fruit and vegetables," said the minister.
On the occasion, the minister invited innovators, both Mozambican and foreign, who have innovations in the area of agro-processing, to submit their proposals for innovations to be known, registered and disseminated for collective use in various sectors of society, with a focus on rural communities.
"We encourage the participation of young students to translate the scientific knowledge they acquire in the teaching and learning process into technological products that can boost the development of our country and that have innovation as a tool to enter the labour market, in a world that is increasingly demanding innovative solutions that add value to products, services, processes and procedures," said Nivagara.
In his speech, the minister explained that the competition is a national movement that begins in the districts, through the District Services for Education, Youth and Technology, which are responsible for disseminating information about the competition in the villages, towns and administrative posts, providing all the necessary support in the application process. In addition, the Provincial Social Affairs Services (SPAS) will be in charge of providing all technical assistance to the District Services and ensuring good coordination with the Centre for Research and Technology Transfer for Community Development (CITT) and the members of the jury for this national innovation competition.
Remember that in 2018, the Centre for Research and Technology Transfer for Community Development (CITT) conceived the National Competition for Innovations for Community Development, contributing to the identification of 109 innovations in the first two editions (2018 and 2019), totalling 398 innovations to date. These innovations have contributed to improving people's lives in various ways, such as access to healthcare, food processing and access to information, among other areas of community impact.
The innovations identified are included in the catalogue of innovations and have contributed to improving people's lives in various ways, such as ambulance bicycles which, in rural areas, help communities to access distant health facilities; multi-functional machines for processing tubers, cereals and peanuts, which help reduce the time needed to process food, increase income and raise people's standard of living; radio transmitters developed by innovators, which facilitate access to information; and manual irrigation pumps, which help facilitate irrigation of agricultural fields in communities.
Source: MCTES
