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National Agricultural Research and Development Institute

 

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The National Agricultural Research and Development Institute (NARDI) is a Research Technology Organization (RTO) under the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA). It was established as a company limited by Guarantee in January 2015 under the Botswana Companies Act of 2003. NARDI was formed to merge the operations of the Department of Agricultural Research (DAR), National Veterinary Laboratory (NVL) and National Food Technology Research Centre (NFTRC), in compliance with Presidential Directive CAB 4(A) 2011 of February 2011.

NARDI Mandate

NARDI is set to engage in high quality, innovation-intensive and needs-driven research and development; as well as commercialization and technology transfer activities across the agricultural value chain, to benefit consumers, farmers, industry, government and science. The Company is configured to carry out its work from decentralized, cluster-focussed, commodity-based specialized Research & Innovation Centres; Testing and Diagnostic Laboratories; Field Stations; Experimental Sites (R&D Ranches & Farms), Technology Test-beds, Agri-business Incubation Centres and Technology Spin-Offs around the country.

NARDI aims to increase the contribution of Agriculture to Botswana’s GDP by improving utilisation of agricultural produce and natural products; fostering inclusion and knowledge transfer initiatives; and providing innovative solutions and adaptations to climate change, yield improvement and commercialization of agriculture across Botswana’s Agro-Ecological Zones. Overall, the Company has a vision to be a renowned transformative agricultural Research and Development institute, and a mission to generate innovative solutions for the agricultural sector.

NARDI aims to optimize use of existing national facilities, infrastructure and installations of the DAR, NVL and NFTRC to decentralize agricultural research, development, knowledge transfer and innovation support services across the country to encourage growth of local agricultural input industries and diversify value-adding agro-processing industries.
The specific objectives of the entity are:
a) To conduct high quality and needs based research and development across the whole agricultural value chain, for the benefit of industry, government and science.
b) To understand and promote research, development and technology transfer for optimal beneficiation and commercialization of agricultural resources.
c) To utilize and improve existing techniques and technological expertise for improvement of agricultural productivity.
d) To engage in such partnerships, programs and activities that will enable the company to achieve its objectives nationally and globally.
To achieve these objectives NARDI operates through the following thematic areas;
i) Field Crops & Horticulture
ii) Animal Production and Health
iii) Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
iv) Food Science & Technology
v) Agricultural Economics and Statistics
vi) Innovation, knowledge management & intellectual asset beneficiation
vii) Technology transfer and commercialization
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