Scientific Roots

Scientific Roots are social entrepreneurs who source, develop and scale innovative technologies and approaches that strengthen economic and environmental resilience and increase opportunities for income generation in rural areas.

Expertise

The Scientific Roots team are highly experienced in:

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Agricultural and Rural Enterprise Project conception, business planning, implementation and project management.

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Training, assessment, moderation and development of learning material in both the development and scientific space.
(Fully Accredited Training Service Provider and Institute of Sectoral and Occupational Excellence of AgriSETA, with the NQF 4 New Venture Creation programme registered with ServicesSETA and a provisionally registered Private Training Provider with the Department of Higher Education and Training)

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Agricultural research
(contract and ad hoc research regarding indigenous resources, nutrition and agricultural economics) and

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Development and incubation of innovative new products and services through AgriBioTech,
a Non Profit Company established to encourage agripreneurial development in the AgriBioTech space at our AgriSPACE campus.

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Our experience includes:

SAQA aligned and Unit Standards-based Learnership and Skills Programme training and assessment
(We have trained more than 3000 learners/farmers/ entrepreneurs/co-operative members in vegetable, livestock and poultry production and enterprise development (New Venture Creation) since obtaining accreditation from AgriSETA in 2004),

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Conducting feasibility studies for various rural development enterprises
(we understand the constraints that rural beneficiaries face regarding transaction costs, lack of up- and down-stream linkages and economies of scale),

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Community liaison and social facilitation
(we acknowledge that project failure is usually due to poor communication, lack of participatory approaches, exclusion, and poor institutional arrangements),

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Implementation and management of rural and enterprise development initiatives
(our experience is that mentoring, business knowledge and day-to-day business management and communication with beneficiaries is key to rural enterprise success).

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The team are experienced agricultural training facilitators, registered assessors and moderators
(our team are all qualified and experienced agriculturalists having, not only, theoretical knowledge, but practical work-place and personal farming experience).

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