Science, technology and innovation (STI) are critical in the sustainable development of any country. In Zambia, STI has not been able to contribute significantly to national development due to a number of challenges namely inadequate human resource, dilapidated infrastructure, obsolete equipment, failure to fully actualise the provisions of the 1996 Science and Technology Policy such as allocation of 3% of the GDP to fund research and development (R&D) activities. Generally, there has been inadequate funding for R&D. These have resulted in the country lagging behind in STI development.

Most R&D activities have been conducted on a small scale, fragmented and uncoordinated in various centres/institutions and by individual researchers. Hence, little impact has come out of these research activities, leading to few intellectual properties (IP)being realized. The Government acknowledges that allowing this status quo to continue would be detrimental to national economic growth.

To address these challenges, in 2007, the Government established the Strategic Research Fund (SRF) to support basic and applied research in areas of national priority. This Fund is administered by the Fund Management Committee at the Ministry of Higher Education and implemented by the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC). The Fund targets R&D institutions/centres and individuals who must be affiliates of these institutions/centres.

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The Government policy on science and technology is to embed science and technology in the key economic sectors to promote competitiveness in the production of quality goods and services. In 2007, the Government created the Youth Inventors Fund (YIF) aimed at assisting youth to develop their scientific and technological innovations for possible commercialisation. The Fund is focussed on innovations that are relevant to the creation of wealth and employment for the improvement of the quality of life in Zambia. In 2013, the Youth Inventors Fund was transformed into the Science and Technology Innovation Youth Fund (STIYF), to enable young innovators play a significant role in the development of key sectors of the economy.

The STIYF supports the development, prototyping and piloting of youth innovations. Successful innovations that are commercially viable may be transitioned for upscaling by the National Technology Business Centre (NTBC), or any other institution that may be identified.

The Fund is administered under the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) through a Fund Management Committee (FMC) and a Technical Committee (TC). The implementation of the Fund is done through the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC).

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