An Analysis of Technology Transfer in Climate Change Mitigation in Zimbabwe

Abstract

This research effort explored technology transfer in Zimbabwe using climate change project as a case. The rate at which the technology transfer projects in climate change were failing inspired the research effort. The research sort to understand the effects of technology transfer frameworks used had on the successful implementation of the projects. A research framework was developed from literature to investigate the factors that influenced the implementation technology transfer initiatives for climate change mitigation in Zimbabwe.The first part of the study was quantitative which included the collection and analysis of survey data from stakeholders to test the proposed research framework and hypotheses. The second part of the study involved the collection and analysis of qualitative data related to a major players in technology transfer initiative to seek additional support for the findings of the quantitative data analysis and to identify additional factors that are not discovered in the quantitative part.The findings of this study suggested that characteristics of transfer media, characteristics of the transfer recipient, characteristics of the demand environment and characteristics of transfer object as well as the characteristics of the transfer agent tend to influence the implementation of technology transfer projects for climate change mitigation in Zimbabwe. This study has a number of theoretical and practical implications. It contributes to the state of knowledge in the technology transfer, climate change mitigation and intellectual property. The findings of this study are important and relevant to Government, Non-Governmental organisations, private companies and technology developers. Once the factors that facilitate or hinder the implementation of technology transfer projects for climate change are identified specific strategies can be developed to improve the success rate of technology transfer in climate change mitigation projects. Based on the finding of the qualitative and quantitative study a preliminary set of strategies is offered which could potentially increase success rate of technology transfer initiatives in climate change.