S&T DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA: Judi Wangalwa Wakhungu

1. S&T DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA:Judi Wangalwa Wakhungu The widening economic gaps between nations corresponds to gaps in science and technology (S&T). S&T needs to be highlighted and have a sufficient resource base. The absence of reliable statistics on S&T Education or R&D in Africa makes it hard to understand the true S&T picture. African countries need urgent support to gather statistics on science. This presentation will mention challenges, achievements, some of the key actors in S and T in Africa.

2. S&T ACHIEVEMENTS IN AFRICA • Average life expectancy increased by ten years between 1960 and 1994, from 39.9 to 49.9 years. • Infant mortality rate dropped by over 40 per cent in the same period, from 166 per thousand live births to 97 per thousand. • The percentage of population with access to safe water almost doubled in the past two decades, from 24 per cent in the period 1975-1980 to 42 per cent in the period 1990-1996. • Adult literacy rates doubled between 1970 and 1994, from 27 to 56 per cent. • Real GNP per capita has grown from US $990 in 1960 to US $1,377 in 1994.

3. S &T CHALLENGES IN AFRICA • limited R&D investment. • brain drain. • obsolescence and dilapidated infrastructure. • insufficient levels of numeracy and literacy. • few girls/women with SET education at all levels. • political instability .

4. AFRICAN CENTRE FOR TECHNOLOGY STUDIES(ACTS) • S&T policy research institution focusing on the application of S&T to sustainable development.  • contributes to capacity building in public policy analysis in Africa by offering training to government, private sector, & NGO officials. • provides inputs into policy reform processes to facilitate national efforts to implement global and national environmental agreements and programmes. • disseminate research findings through publication, public forums, and other means. • Biodiversity & Environmental Governance • Agriculture & Food Security • Energy & Water Security • Human Health • Science & Technology Literacy

5. ACTS: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY LITERACY PROGRAMME. • Strengthen S&T education with a view to making it more responsive to sustainable development challenges facing Africa. • It seeks also to contribute to strengthening the interface between science, industry and government so as to maximize benefits from emerging technologies. • Capacity building in policy formulation and analysis for science and technology development and networking • Post –graduate training to enhance S&T policy analysis of public personnel and stakeholders in Africa for improving access to results and benefits arising from technological advances.

6. NEPAD’s AFRICAN FORUM ON S&T DEVELOPMENT(AFSTD) • AFSTD was established by NEPAD to promote the application of S&T for economic growth and poverty reduction. • The AFSTD provides NEPAD and the African Union (AU) with high-level advice on S&T issues through analysis, dialogues and policy recommendations. • AFSTD is a regional platform for: -open and knowledge-intensive multi-stakeholder dialogues on ways and means of harnessing S&T for poverty alleviation, & wealth creation; -building strong political and civil society constituencies for the advancement of S&T in Africa. cont….

7. NEPAD’s AFRICAN FORUM ON S&T DEVELOPMENT(AFSTD)cont -improving the quality and intensity of bilateral and multi-lateral cooperation in fields of S&T. -promoting good practices of S&T policy development and implementation; -ensuring that Africa's needs and aspirations are articulated in international negotiations and UN processes on matters of S&T. -formulating projects, guidelines and recommendations on S&T issues within NEPAD and AU systems.

8. AFSTD PROGRAMMES INCLUDE: • Improving the quality of S&T policies. • Establishment of centers of excellence . • Increasing public expenditure on R&D. • Improving the quality of science and engineering education. • Gaining an African consensus and strategy on modern biotechnology

9. BIOSCIENCES E&C AFRICA( BECA) • Biosciences Eastern & Central Africa is one of NEPAD’s continent-wide network of Centers of Excellence. • Support Eastern & Central African countries to develop and apply bioscience research expertise to produce technologies that help poor farmers to improve their productivity, income, & increase their market opportunities. • BECA is envisioned as a means for enabling African scientists and institutions to become significant technological innovators as well as users. • Enable African scientists to undertake cutting-edge bioscience research targeted at priorities identified in the region by Africa’s NARS, including Universities & regional institutions such as the ASARECA, EAC, & the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA).

10. BIOSCIENCES E&C AFRICA( BECA) cont: • The new facilities will complement and support national agricultural research institutions and universities by providing access to state-of-the-art biosciences & related scientific services and training. • The facilities will be open to partnerships with the African research community at individual and institutional levels . • New discoveries will be sought through strategic research in a world-class scientific environment. • Seek creative ways to link new discoveries with product development and delivery so that scientific research ultimately benefits people living in poverty in Africa.

11. BIOSCIENCES E&C AFRICA( BECA) cont: • Outputs on people - Trained young African scientists to MSc and PhD levels, in association with African universities. - Continued professional development of young and mid-career scientists in African NARI and Universities. - Reduced brain-drain through provision of a powerful incentives for African scientists abroad to return home and for those working in Africa to remain professionally active in the region rather than leave for institutions in the industrialized world to pursue their careers. -Reduced gaps in biosciences knowledge, skills and technologies between Africa and the industrialized world.

12. INTERNATIONAL CENTRE OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY (ICIPE) • Advanced research institute addressing arthropod related issues of developing countries • 4-H paradigm: Human Health; Animal Health; Plant Health, Environmental Health • Enhancing national capacities for technology diffusion, adoption and utilization. • Facilitating dissemination and exchange of information • Postgraduate training ,at PhD and MSc levels. -The African Regional Postgraduate Programme in Insect Science (ARPPIS) -The Dissertation Research Internship Programme (DRIP) • Professional development schemes for scientists of any nationality .

13. AFRICAN AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY FOUNDATION (AATF). • The aim of AATF link needs of resource-poor, smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa with potential technological solutions through • Identifying and facilitating royalty free transfers of proprietary technologies through negotiation. • Entering into contractual agreements with existing institutions that will manage deployment of the technologies. • Ensuring that subsequent constraints after access are addressed

14. AFRICAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES • The Academy has developed strong core programmes in four principal areas: • Mobilization and strengthening of the African scientific community; • Publication and dissemination of scientific materials; • Research, development and public policy; • Capacity building in science and technology

15. THIRD WORLD ACADEMY OF SCIENCES(TWAS) • To recognize, support and promote excellence in scientific research in the South; • To provide promising scientists in the South with research facilities necessary for the advancement of their work; • To facilitate contacts between individual scientists and institutions in the South; • To encourage South-North cooperation between individuals and centers of scholarship; • To encourage scientific research on major Third World problems.

16. BIO-EARN • To build national capacity and competence in biotechnology, biosafety and biotechnology policy in the region.Specific objectives include; - Enable the countries in the region to develop biotechnologies and policies according to their own needs, abilities and opportunities . - Promote collaboration in biotechnology, biosafety and biotechnology policy . - Development to address key challenges and opportunities in the region. -Foster communication between scientists, policy makers, biosafety regulatory officials and private sector, nationally and regionally.

17. UNESCO • UNESCO and its partners are currently assisting African Member States to:- - pool of S&T facilities and expertise through regional and sub regional networks;-establish centers of excellence;-establish links between scientific research and industrial production; -use modern information technologies to improve communication within the S&T community; -promoting S&T teaching from primary school onwards; -providing strong support to women scientists and engineers; -encouraging the development of renewable energy sources; -capacity-building in the field of statistics .

18. THE INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (ISTS): • Enhance the contribution of S&T to environmentally sustainable human development around the world. The Initiative is based on an evolving vision of S&T for sustainability. • ISTS aims to make significant progress toward three broad and interrelated goals: - expanding and deepening the research and development agenda of S&T for sustainability. -strengthen the infrastructure and capacity for conducting and applying S&T for sustainability. -Connecting S, T, & policy more effectively in pursuit of a transition toward sustainability.

19. AFRICAN MILLENIUM INNITIATIVE FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (AMIST) • AMIST program's focuses on: -Setting up an online database of African scientists, academicians and technologists at home and in the Diaspora who are keen to utilize education and knowledge-sharing in science and technology to add value to Africa’s natural resources. -establish a mentorship programme that would link the African scientists, academicians and technologists at home with their counterparts in the Diaspora. - Establish linkages between African universities and reputable centers of learning in the developed world . -Procure resources that can be used to strengthen the “cells of excellence” that have been identified by UNU-INRA as its Operating Units.

20. RECOMMENDATIONS • There is a need to encourage consultations, linkages and networking among all S&T players • Measures have to be put in place to motivate scientists so that they are retained in their countries to reduce brain drain. • Continued & increased government support for S&T to meaningfully contribute to socio-economic development. The government allocation to R&D should be at least 1% of gross domestic product. • There is an urgent need to institute capacity-building programmes in emerging technologies such as biotechnology and information technology & policies geared to promoting their development and application. • Policies for private sector contributions to funding R&D. • Supportive S&T policies should be enacted and integrated in socio-economic development plans