Dr. Moses Osiru, Manager of the RSIF Regional Coordination Unit of icipe and external advisor to AgriFoSe2030, gave a keynote presentation at the Agri4D conference held late September this year, where he emphasized the role of science in advancing policy implementation and development of the African continent. Dr. Osiru means that the low current research output from developing country research institutions, particularly for Africa, is a challenge for development.
“A large portion of research being undertaken on the continent is done in partnership with northern academic institutions which has implications for who is ‘driving’ the research agenda and potential usefulness of the knowledge produced.”
How to make Africa a player in the global arena
The Agenda 2063 originated from the need to refocus Africa’s agenda from the struggle against apartheid and achieving political independence and instead prioritise inclusive social and economic development, democratic governance and peace and security aimed at repositioning Africa to becoming a dominant player in the global arena.
Agenda 2063 is Africa’s overall framework to guide the development and implementation of activities that will lead to the transformational outcomes envisaged. A 10-year implementation plan to drive the realisation of the agenda has now been developed and is in place.
“It is the continent’s strategic framework that aims to deliver on its goal for inclusive and sustainable development, and the SDGs can be mapped directly to the 20 goals of Agenda 2063 and its priority areas,” said Dr. Moses Osiru.
Science based decisions
To reach the goals it is thus important that the decisions are based on scientific findings, originating from local contexts.
“There is currently a weak research culture, and even weaker linkage between research and its use in responding to local challenges. At universities, researchers are challenged with teaching loads, research and consulting responsibilities that limit the quality and quantity of research. The projectized nature of funding also limits the ability of researchers to respond directly to the needs of policy-makers.”
Dr. Osiru emphasised that programs and networks for leveraging the uptake of science for policy-making are increasingly needed, but he also pointed out that things are happening. For example, the Bioinnovate Africa program, one of Africa’s largest bio innovation programs which is managed by icipe, is helping to provide pilots of how knowledge can be harnessed for innovation through links with the private sector/industry.
Moreover, icipe was last year selected by the Partnership for skills in Applied Science, Engineering and Technology (PASET) to manage the Regional Coordination Unit of the Regional Scholarship and Innovation Fund (RSIF). PASET is a partnership of African ministers in charge of higher education, science and technology who recognise the important need to build research and innovation capacity on the continent that will contribute directly to economic growth.
A growing research capacity
The research capacity in Africa is growing and will help to ensure that the “ownership” remains with Africa, but international programs and development cooperation organisations can help facilitate the process.
“The AgriFoSe2030 programme has supported capacity building and knowledge sharing events for South and Southeast Asia as well as sub-Saharan Africa on bridging research, policy and practice. Sida’s support to the programme and other parallel work by Sida and similar institutions will continue to be important in terms of knowledge generation relevant for Africa. For example, Sida’s bilateral capacity building programs in Africa have contributed significantly to training of research capacity on the continent.” Dr. Osiru concludes.
As soon as AgriFoSe2030 has a decision from Sida regarding a second phase, work will again begin on the important task of bridging research, policy and practice, this time with robust experiences of what works and strengthened partnerships in SSA and South and Southeast Asia from the first phase.
Linda Hansson