INNOVATION FOR POVERTY ALLEVIATION PROGRAMME GETS UNDERWAY

The Department of Science Technology (DST) is supporting a number of exciting projects that intend to use science and technology to reduce poverty through job creation, the development of small and medium enterprises, economic growth and improved quality of life.

Projects

For this reason, the Department’s Innovation for Poverty Alleviation Programme, which the Department launched on 17 September 2010, is supporting the following projects with nearly €30 million in untargeted budget support from the European Union over four years:

• Aquaculture – establishment of abalone hatcheries
• Beneficiation of waste streams from primary processing operations: development of BIOMIN as a soil ameliorant; and Chemcity.
• Beneficiation of farmed produce into finished products – development of herbal products
• Community Wireless Mesh Network
• Demonstration agronomy – establishment of an African ginger nursery
• Demonstration agronomy – indigenous leafy vegetables
• Demonstration agronomy – new essential oil species
• Demonstration agronomy – Damask rose (Rosa damascene)
• Expansion of demonstration grow-outs to commercial scale in Pella, Onseepkans and KwaNobuhle.

Innovation for Poverty Alleviation Programme

The Innovation for Poverty Alleviation Programme is a partnership between the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the European Union’s (EU) Sector Budget Support Programme (SBS). (http://www.info.gov.za/speech/DynamicAction?pageid=461&;sid=13271&tid=20046). The SBS supports the use of science and technology (S&T) and innovation to develop small and medium enterprises in rural areas to contribute to improved quality of life.  The focus of the Innovation for Poverty Alleviation Programme is on:

• the creation of jobs through science, technology and innovation interventions
• the establishment of sustainable livelihoods through small-scale science and technology-based agro-processing and aquaculture industries in line with that sector’s bioeconomy objectives
• enhancing human settlements through appropriate technologies for such things as access to clean water, information and communication technologies and renewable energy
• supporting small and medium enterprises with demonstration technology
• improved access to online government services and science and technology knowledge through the application of information communication technologies
• developing and improving global environmental science and responses
• strengthening the science sector in South Africa.

The European Commission

The European Commission (http://ec.europa.eu/about/index_en.htm) is the European Union's (http://europa.eu/index_en.htm) executive body. It proposes and enforces legislation and represents and upholds the interests of Europe as a whole.

Sector Budget Support

The European Commission defines budget support as the transfer of financial resources of an external financing agency to the national treasury of a partner country. These financial resources form part of the partner country’s global resources, and are consequently used in accordance with its public financial management system.  Sector budget support takes the form of a transfer to the national treasury in support of a sector programme. This kind of support seeks to accelerate progress towards the partner country’s sectoral goals. http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/how/delivering-aid/budget-support/index_en.htm

The sector approach assists collaboration between government, development partners and essential stakeholders mainly with the aim of improving both government and national ownership of public sector policy and decisions about the allocation of resources. This means coherence between policy, spending and results. It also reduces transaction costs.

The first project to benefit from the SBS-funded Innovation for Poverty Alleviation Programme is the Community Wireless Mesh Network (WMN) project. This large-scale technology demonstrator project has progressed significantly since its inception. By the start of 2011, R40 million had been allocated to the WMN project.

Other SBS beneficiaries include agro-processing projects to the value of R38 million.  Select appropriately from the list below for more information concerning a particular project.