LUANAR Holds A Reasearch Dissemination Conference 2018
LUANAR on 30th and 31st January 2018 held a Research Dissemination Conference, an event in which various researchers had a chance to exhibit various research projects that they have been carrying out. The conference which took place at Bingu International Convention Centre in Lilongwe aimed at providing a platform for collaboration and networking for variety of research scientists, academics and other key stakeholders from a wider spectrum.
The occasion saw many high profile figures coming to witness the launch of the conference and the guest of Honor was the Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Hon. Bright Msaka SC. The other guests included the Deputy Norwegian Ambassador to Malawi, Bjarne Garden, LUANAR Council Chair Prof. James Seyani and the Vice Chancellor Prof. George Kanyama Phiri among others.
In his remarks, Hon. Msaka applauded LUANAR for contributing greatly to the improvement of living standards of people in the country through research. “On behalf of our President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika who is also the global champion on education; the government and people of Malawi, I wish to acknowledge with deep gratitude the huge public good that research from LUANAR has made to the Malawi society over the years. Research from LUANAR has improved the lives of millions of Malawians.” He said.
The minister went further to say that the education sector implementation plan by the government emphasizes the need to establish centers of excellence in research and development in order to improve the quality and relevance of higher education in Malawi. He therefore called upon all universities to take research seriously. Hon. Msaka encouraged all scientists in research work to act as critics and to validate their research findings. He however said criticism should not be associated with antagonism.
Speaking in an interview after the launch of the conference, Chair of Council of LUANAR, Prof. James Seyani said this conference was of paramount importance to the Nation of Malawi in as far as agriculture and climate change are concerned. “LUANAR has been involved in various research projects together with its partners. The results of these projects will help Malawi adapt the findings in agriculture.” He said. Professor Seyani also concurred with Hon. Msaka on the need for criticism by researchers.
And In his closing remarks on the second day, Director of Research and Outreach at LUANAR, Limbikani Matumba PhD, said the university has an opportunity that it has a lot of professors in its faculties and he believes it can do better in research. Matumba shared LUANAR’s plan to establish more research centres and incubation centres in the faculties. He said the professors at LUANAR will be collaborating with students in research projects that will have good impact to the nation, as some of its strategies in improving research work in.
During the event, different researchers presented their projects through both paper and poster presentations. Keynote speakers at the event were Prof. Lars Olav Eik, CABMACC coordinator at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences and Dr. Albert Changaya, controller of Agriculture Extension and Technical Services (CAETS).
The two-day event under the auspices of LUANAR and CABMACC programme, had a very good patronage and participants engaged in an open and constructive dialogue on various climate change- related topics under the theme “Framing Agriculture, Food Security, Livelihoods and Climate Change Nexus for Social-Economic Transformation.”