Abstract
This article investigates water-related research in the Southern African Development Community. Water issues are part of the region’s science and technology priorities as 4countries receive less rain than the global average of 860 mm/yr – Botswana with 400 mm/yr, Namibia with 254 mm/yr, South Africa with 497 mm/yr and Zimbabwe with 652 mm/yr. Furthermore, the international literature indicates that joint or internationally coordinated research has the potential to improve the scientific–technical quality of international agreements, prevent conflict and shape the way for appropriate management of the shared resources. Scientometric analysis using the Web of Science database is employed in order to identify the state of water research and collaboration in the SADC region. The Web of Science indexes a defined set of journals worldwide and the South African Government provides incentives/subsidies for publications indexed by this database. The results show that South Africa is the main producer (80%) of research publications in the region. Similarly, in the field of water research South Africa produces 75% of the region’s research. The SADC collaboration matrix in water-related research reveals that there is minimal, if any, collaborative research on the topic. Some seed-level research exists between South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. The main funders of research are the South African National Research Foundation (NRF) (acknowledged in 180 publications), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (72 publications), the National Institutes of Health (64 publications) and the Wellcome Trust (60 publications). Policy implications are discussed (e.g. the establishment of SADC Common Water Research Area; research support for the region, etc.).
Highlights
The Southern African Development Community is a Regional Economic Community consisting of 15 member countries
Following international best practice evaluative scientometric analysis was employed in order to identify the state of scientific/ research capabilities related to water research in the SADC region
South Africa produced the majority of research publications in both periods: 80% during 2012–2014 and 81.2% during the 2002–2004 period
Summary
The Southern African Development Community is a Regional Economic Community consisting of 15 member countries. A number of countries are small in terms of population. Lesotho, Mauritius, Namibia and Swaziland have populations around or below 2 million (CIA, 2017). SADC is committed to regional integration and eradication of poverty in the member countries. The Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (2001) presents a list of priority intervention areas, including the topic ‘Science and Technology’. This article aims to analyse a priority area under the topic of ‘Science and Technology’, viz., water research in the SADC region. Together with the need to ease the disease burden and enhance food security, is among the priority areas shared by the whole of the African continent (Pouris et al, 2014)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
