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A preliminary analysis of satellite data on air pollution shows a decrease in the concentrations of pollutants over South Africa during the national lockdown caused by the outbreak of the Coronavirus in the country.
This is according to a team of researchers at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) who are working in collaboration with Dr Eloise Marais from the University of Leicester, in the United Kingdom, to understand the impact of the lockdown on air quality in South Africa. These air quality experts say some parts of the country have been showing a decrease in the concentration of pollutants during this period.
Using satellites data, the team can explore the impacts of the lockdown on the concentrations of the pollutants in the atmosphere.
The CSIR is collaborating with Mobile Agricultural Skills and Development Training (MASDT), a non-profit company that assists small and medium enterprises in the agricultural sector, to introduce an accessible and affordable mobile food safety testing facility for commercial and small rural farmers in the South African rural agro sector.
“Many farmers (commercial and small-scale) in South Africa’s rural areas battle with access to food safety testing facilities for their farm produce. This is mainly because they are located far from laboratories and the transport of samples to these laboratories are challenging. The process of handling and transporting samples also compromises the quality of the samples. This challenge results in the farmers losing out on lucrative export opportunities because they cannot provide the required food safety proofs required by rest of the supply chain,” says Inocent Makuwaza, Acting CEO of MASDT.
Proposals are hereby invited for the following three separate and independent elements within the RISP:
A. Regional Innovation Networking platforms aimed at establishing networking platforms to bring together research, development and innovation communities, technology SMMEs, industry and government.
B. Feasibility study or business plan support for innovation enabling mechanisms such as: a. Science and Technology Parks, Techno Parks, Innovation Hubs or other similar concepts. b. Other innovation enabling mechanisms and initiatives.
C. Innovation Baseline Studies to assess and analyse the status of Regional Innovation Systems (RISs), in a particular location, in terms of their effectiveness and readiness to promote and support innovation in the regions (including provinces and local municipalities). Read more...
The research focus of the CSIR has been centred around creating a more inclusive and sustainable approach to future road construction, particularly through increasing the potential for job creation, increasing economic benefits, producing better performing roads and trying to resolve South Africa’s environmental challenges.
Read more on page 44 - 45
The decadal SOCCO science plan focuses on the hypothesis that fine-scale ocean dynamics are key to understanding the role of the Southern Ocean i
The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and WWF South Africa are spearheading a five-year project to support the development of circular plastic packaging and systems to reduce plastic pollution from the food and beverage industry.
It is widely acknowledged that plastic pollution is not only an environmental challenge, but it also includes socio-economic and potential human health and human rights challenges. Yet, while much of the attention has focused on improved waste management, this project will focus exclusively on upstream and midstream interventions in the plastic packaging value chain – looking at how to turn off the tap on problem plastics at source. Read more...
The South African government commitment to fight against the scourge of AIDS and TB received a massive unprecedented boost with the unveiling of state-of- the- art HIV and TB laboratory facility in Pretoria today.
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world," Nelson Mandela.
The CSIR Meraka Institute selected a Neotel/Broadband Infraco partnership to install a 10 Gigabit per second network to the South African Large Telescope (SALT) and Square Kilometre Array (SKA) sites in the Northern Cape.
PRETORIA, GAUTENG, SOUTH AFRICA, June 27, 2011 – CSIR Meraka Institute today announced it has been awarded a grant to participate in the HP Catalyst Initiative, a global social innovation program designed to develop more effective approaches to scienc