President Cyril Ramaphosa has acknowledged CSIR’s Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) programme and its pivotal role towards achieving biodiversity at the Inaugural Biodiversity Economy and Investment Indaba held at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg on 26 March 2024.

Delivering his keynote address, President Ramaphosa called on industry, finance institutions, philanthropists, civil society, traditional leaders, healers and practitioners to collectively embrace the country’s vision for a transformed biodiversity economy.

“The scientific, research and academic community also has an important role to play. The CSIR, for instance, is doing important work around identifying and developing the use of traditional plants and plant-based remedies for commercial use. Therefore, a collective action can shape a future in which both nature and people thrive,” the President said.

Hosted by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), the Indaba took place from 25 to 27 March 2024 and brought together stakeholders from the biodiversity sector, including government officials, traditional leaders and healers, academia, business, communities and youth structures. The theme for the indaba was “Collective Action for Thriving Nature and People.”

The CSIR was represented by Professor Sechaba Bareetseng, Programme Manager on IKS at the CSIR Advanced Agriculture and Food cluster. He is responsible for community engagement in identifying medicinal plants. Sechaba facilitated a session on IKS focusing on innovation.

On the special mention by the President at the event, Sechaba says: “The public acknowledgement of the CSIR and, particularly, the IKS programme means a lot, and it shows that the work we have been doing behind the scenes is gaining traction.”

The CSIR supports beneficiaries at the community level in creating and commercialising high-quality products through partnerships with other entities. Communities are being trained to become entrepreneurial, generate income and create jobs, not only in South Africa but globally.

The programme, which is funded by the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), leads research and development efforts to ensure that IKS products are safe and of high quality in accordance with the country’s regulations for medicinal use in humans, and comply with the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, 2004 and Protection, Promotion, Development and Management Act, 2019 and the respective regulations under these legislations as well as international standards on access and benefit sharing such as Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing.

“Through research and development, we add value to plant-based traditional medicines to support the traditional healers in standardising their traditional medicinal products so that they can be readily accessible to the wider public through appropriate commercialisation models,” Sechaba explains.

Innovators who want support from the CSIR through the programme sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement [with the CSIR] to protect their confidential information and explore opportunities to collaborate. Subsequently, a Research Collaboration Agreement, which deals with intellectual property protection and management roles and responsibilities of the parties, is entered into when there is an opportunity for development into a research and innovation proposal that can be funded by the DSI or any relevant government department such as the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, and the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment or public funding agencies such as Technology Innovation Agency and Industrial Development Cooperation.

Embracing indigenous knowledge also creates invaluable economic opportunities for small businesses run by youth, women and people living with disabilities who endure high unemployment, especially in rural areas.

Sechaba concluded by stating that young people can start agro-processing facilities in their communities using CSIR technologies and create IKS products to sustain their livelihoods and benefit the rural economy.