ADVERTORIAL
Cape Town was bought by Roche Pharmaceuticals for R4 billion a few years back. We have a range of indigenous knowledge-based products that are becoming available in shops around the country. We have a homegrown malaria candidate drug that demonstrates great promise
THE DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND INNOVATION HAS BEEN INVESTING MORE THAN R200 MILLION PER YEAR IN BIO-INNOVATION.
in clinical trials, and a variety of diagnostics, devices and software that are assisting with infectious diseases and maternal and child health. We have partnerships with industry that are producing higher yielding wheat, maize and soya varieties, and keeping our forestry industry at the forefront of biomass production. Most of the maize, soya and cotton in South Africa are genetically modified,
We have to change the very patterns of our daily
allowing primary production to match South Africa’s needs
existence, and ensure carbon capture for all energy
without increasing agricultural land space.
use – personal or business-related. This is, in the opinion of the Global Bioeconomy Summit’s International Advisory
We should not be naïve. The world that our children will
Council, a last chance for humanity.
inherit will not be one in which sleek cows walk happily through sun-graced pastures with human herders and
The South African government has taken several
vast tracts of pristine nature in the background. Humans
steps to promote the bio-economy. The BIO Africa
have already destroyed so much of the planet with our
Convention is one of these. South Africa is also one of
burgeoning population and ever-increasing impact on
only a handful of countries across the world that has a
the environment that I am of the view that – with early
Bio-economy Strategy.
stage climate change already starting to buffet the planet – there is no way back. We will have to move
Since 2003, the Department of Science and Innovation
forward and use the technologies and the skills we have
has been investing more than R200 million per year
amassed to create a new future. But this future is about
in bio-innovation, setting up technology platforms,
life. It is about understanding the incredible diversity
creating financial instruments to support technology
evolution has bequeathed us, and working with this
innovations, establishing facilities and centres that
knowledge to find a gentler way of continued existence.
have been churning out new knowledge and skills, supporting bio-entrepreneurs, making the national system of innovation more enabling of biotechnology, and encouraging the private sector to come to the party. And yet we are merely scratching the surface. The demand for both financial resources and biotech
Ben Durham is the Chief Director: Bioinnovation at the Department of Science and Innovation, and a key implementer of the South African Bio-economy Strategy. He also serves on the International Advisory Council of the Global Bioeconomy Summit.
solutions hugely outstrips what we have available. We need far more commitment to the bio-economy – not just from government, but also from the private sector. A bio-economy is also not just a national effort. One country alone is not going to save the planet. We need international partnerships to ensure that the best technologies are used across the globe to have the
CONTACT DETAILS:
greatest possible impact. We need to put the best minds
Switchboard: +27 12 843 6300
together to forge a future in which our children can survive.
Address: DST Building (Building No. 53) (CSIR South Gate Entrance)
We have had some great bio-economy experiences in South Africa. For example, a biotech enzyme startup in
Meiring Naudé Road, Brummeria Postal Address: Private Bag X894, Pretoria
