Speaking at the signing ceremony in Gaborone, BIUST Vice-Chancellor, Professor Otlogetswe Totolo expressed excitement that the University will be working with one of the most established scientific research installations in Botswana.
He noted BVI has a long, impressive track record in the field of scientific research and boasts a reputation that continues to grow from strength to strength.
“Fairly a new university as BIUST is, we stand a great opportunity to learn from the BVI story, particularly in the pursuit of sustainable animal health solutions which have created a solid anchor for the production of particularly cattle vaccines over long decades,” declared Prof Totolo.
Under the MoU, Totolo revealed both parties have proposed a flagship project which will focus on the production and characterization of a recombinant Newcastle Disease Virus Vaccine.
“The main focus of this project is to work towards local production of various poultry vaccines,” explained the BIUST VC.
Prof Totolo said the poultry business is growing rapidly in the country, with a substantial number of small and subsistence farmers venturing into the industry.
“These farmers stand to benefit from this vaccine to safeguard their chickens against diseases,” he added.
For his part, BVI General Manager, Andrew Madeswi said they are keen on this collaboration with BIUST because of its research focused nature, specifically on Transboundary diseases and other diseases of public health and socio-economic importance in Botswana.
“As a self-funding Institute, we at BVI consider mainly collaborations that we believe will support us to drive our business strategic focus and support the delivery of our solutions to our nation and other customers in the region and world,” he stressed.
