Namibia Workshop SANUMARC Univeristy of Namibia, Hentiesbay 3 - 5 June 2010

Presenter Biographies

OPPORTUNITIES FOR BIOFUEL

Capacity building remains one of the most challenging functions of global development. It can be linked to training. However, it is well known that training may benefit individual without strengthening the capacities of institutions and of countries to perform their responsibilities more efficiently. Thus unless capacity building is targeted at both individuals and institutions, its benefits may be uneven and unreliable.

Namibia has two big institutions of higher learning, namely the University of Namibia and Polytechnic of Namibia. Therefore the opportunity for biofuels capacity building in terms of research, technological development, training, and dissemination of information does exist. Because field of study in natural resources are already well established in both these institutions’ structures at undergraduate, post-graduate, and post-doctoral level. Therefore the biofuels research, technological development, training and dissemination of information could well be integrated into these fields of study.

Hence the benefits of biofuels can only be realised if the two institutions becomes the driving force in striving to overcome the challenges of technological development through research and training and later disseminate relevant information to the industry.

Presented by:

Mr. Mwazi graduated with a MSc. in Geo-information Science and Earth Observation (Sustainable Agriculture) from the International Institute for Geo Geo-Information Science and Earth bservation, ITC, (Now  University of Twenty, Faculty of ITC) Enschede, Netherlands in 2006. His MSc thesis research was Spatial Analysis of Land Suitability to Support Alternative Land Uses at Excelsior Resettlement Project, Oshikoto Region, Namibia.

He is a Namibian professional scientist with 11 years practical working experience in plant propagation, research and the academic environment. He has been a Tutor/Lab Assistant at the Polytechnic of Namibia from 2000 to 2006. He was appointed as a Lecturer at the same institution from February 2007 to June 2008. He has supervised several undergraduate students’ research projects in plant production related studies at the Polytechnic. In collaboration with the industry and community services, he served on the committee of the MAWF by representing the Polytechnic from 2006 to 2008, with the objective to promote the sustainable utilisation of Namibia’s indigenous plant resources. He is a member of the Agricultural Scientific Society of Namibia (AGRISSON) since 2007. He joined the University of Namibia in July 2008, and is currently the Coastal Agriculture & Plant Biodiversity Research Scientist at SANUMARC in Henties Bay. Current projects include the farming of vegetables in arid and semi-saline conditions using hydroponic systems.