ARC CEO Shadrack Moephuli says a delegation from the UKTI Agri-tech organisation, under leadership of its CEO Janet Bainbridge, visited the ARC in Pretoria last week. He says the partnership will span various research areas, including work done in animal production, animal diseases, crop technologies and biotechnology areas:

'Shadrack Moephuli - partnership'

He says one of the areas of expertise the UK hopes to draw on has to do with South Africa’s work on live vaccines:

'Shadrack Moephuli - vaccines'

Moephuli says the partnership also will facilitate access to expertise at some of the world’s most state-of-the-art research institutions. Moephuli describes it as a ‘one-stop shop’ for access to advanced science and technology that will enable local scientists to accelerate the rate at which they are learning, as well as accelerating the rate of new product development. 

He says commercialisation opportunities will also open up additional income streams, which will then be ploughed back into further research aimed at ensuring food security.

Sabrina Dean/OFM News