CCARDESA Donates Virtual Conferencing Equipment to the Kingdom Of Eswatini

By Bongani Mvubu

The Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development in Southern Africa (CCARDESA) has, through support from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ), purchased virtual conferencing facilities for the Kingdom of Eswatini.

The Department of Agricultural Research and Specialist Services in the Ministry of Agriculture has received a donation of a Max Hub 3 in 1 of the art 65 inches conferencing equipment in and 7 Samsung Galaxy Tablet A 8 4G LTE black. The gift comes following the outbreak of the Covid 19 pandemic, which has disrupted the face-to-face interaction with key stakeholders. Like all other organizations in the SADC region, CCARDESA could not hold physical meetings with its stakeholders, including national focal point persons, for information, communication and knowledge management because of restrictions of COVID19. Such a predicament made the CCARDESA Secretariat explore and adopt virtual platforms for engaging with its stakeholders.

At the handover ceremony in Manzini,  Mr Louse Kuhlase, the Senior Agricultural Officer, from the Ministry of Agriculture, on behalf of the Permanent Secretary, handed over 7 Samsung Galaxy Tablets to 5 Regional Extension Officers and 2 CCARDESA ICKM focal point persons.

He stated that such a donation came at the right time when the Kingdom of “Eswatini” was experiencing the severe sting of the Covid 19 pandemic, which disrupted normal working arrangements and meetings, further resulting in the loss of some officers. He further mentioned that the donation would enable the Kingdom of Eswatini Extension Officers and CCARDESA focal point persons to collect data, capture farmers’ success stories. He also added that the tablets should boost the usage of the CCARDESA mobile app, including capturing success stories on climate-smart agriculture practices in Eswatini.

Mr Louse Kuhlase alluded that CCARDESA’s efforts are meant to improve food security and information and knowledge sharing. He extended his sincere gratitude and appreciation to the Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) for the donation made in kind.

Meanwhile, the Malkerns Research Station, through Dr Patricia Carmichael, the acting Chief Research Officer, warmly and joyously received the Max Hub 3 in 1 state of the art 65 inches conferencing equipment. She also extended her gratitude and appreciation to CCARDESA and GIZ for such costly equipment. She pledged that it should be utilized to conduct virtual meetings with CCARDESA and other stakeholders during the Covid19 pandemic era and beyond and will bear the intended fruits. The Max Hub 65 inches conferencing equipment has been mounted in one of the research institution conference rooms.

The Kingdom of Eswatini is part of the 16 member states in the SADC region and part of the CAADP-XP4 Programme implementing countries.

The author is CCARDESA National Information Communication & Knowledge Management  Focal Person for Eswatini.