Report | Amoako's Introductory Speech

Report of the First Meeting of the Ad-Hoc Group of Experts on Science and Technology for Food Security and Sustainable Development

A. Attendance and Organisation of Work

1. The First Meeting of the Ad-Hoc Group of Experts on Science and Technology for Food Security and Sustainable Development was held in the United Nations Conference Centre, Addis Ababa, (Ethiopia) from 9 to 12 February, 1998. The meeting was formally opened by Ms Lalla Ben Barka, the Deputy Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa on behalf of the Executive Secretary.

2. The meeting was attended by experts drawn from the following member States: Botswana, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, South Africa, Tunisia and Zimbabwe.

3. Two observers from the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), one expert from the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) and one participant from the private sector (Wanjohi, Consulting Engineers) also attended the meeting.

4. Participants from the following subregional organisations were also present: African Centre for Fertilizer Development (ACFD), AConférence des Responsables de Recherches Agricole en Afrique de l'Ouest@ (CORAF) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).

B. Account of Proceedings

Opening address (Agenda Item 1)

5. In her opening statement read on behalf of the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, Ms Lalla Ben Barka, welcomed the experts to the meeting, and thanked them for honouring the Commission's invitation inspite of their very busy schedules.

6. The Deputy Executive Secretary observed that the pivotal role of science and technology in the competitive position of enterprises and nations was yet to be fully appreciated in Africa, and that Africa's rich resource base was not a viable panacea to its competitive weakness. Noting that competitive advantage today and in the future is knowledge rather than resource-determined, she underscored the fact that firms and nations create and sustain their competitive advantage by continuous innovation, adding that firms or nations that ignore or stop innovating also fail to keep their standard of living and lose their competitive position in the global market place.

7. The Deputy Executive Secretary drew the attention of the experts to the fact that Africa is the only continent where per capita food production has stagnated or declined in the last three decades. She stressed that this has been compounded by a population growth rate which exceeded food production, and which contributed to an alarming rate of natural resources degradation that in turn resulted in further food production decline and to more food insecurity. Nothing that the inter-linkage between rapid population growth, environmental degradations and decreased food production is referred to as "nexus," alerted the experts to the fact that no cluster of issues has eluded effective public policy as much as those of the nexus and observed that science and technology has been recognized as a cross-cutting tool that has been brought to bear on nexus-related issues in Asia, Latin America and some parts of Africa.

8. The Deputy Executive Secretary explained the focus of the Food Security and Sustainable Development Division, which is to achieve food security through promotion of three transitions: transition from low to high productivity agriculture, transition from high to low population growth rates, and transition from a poor to a better stewardship of the environment. She then stated the objectives of the expert group meeting which were to:

(i) examine compendia of published and unpublished research, related applications, impacts and best practices in African countries which have been prepared for the meeting by various participating resource persons;

(ii) articulate critical science and technology issues facing the continent and help reorient and refocus ECA's S&T development and application approach; and

(iii) launch the ECA's S&T network for Africa.

She then expressed her confidence that the group of experts would rise to the challenge of advising ECA on how to help member States utilize the enormous potential of science and technology for an urgent food security achievement in Africa.

The meeting elected the following officers (Agenda item 2):

C. Agenda

10. Following the election of officers, the meeting adopted the agenda shown below (Agenda item 3).

1. Opening ceremony

2. Election of officers

3. Adoption of agenda and the programme of work

4. Presentations and discussions of country reports

5. Working group sessions

6. Launching of the ECA's Science and Technology Network for Africa (ESTNET)

7. Completion of questionnaires

8. Any other business

9. Adoption of the main recommendations of the meeting

10. Closing of the meeting

11. The meeting agreed to have two working groups: one on Critical issues that need to be addressed in connection with ECA's future science and technology programmes in order to ensure food security and sustainable development; the other on "science and technology needs of member countries of ECA. It was also decided that the reports from CORAF, ILRI, OAU and ACFD be examined together at the end of country report presentations. Each presenter was to have 20 minutes for his or her presentation.

Presentations and discussions of country reports (Agenda item 4)

12. Ghana - The compendia of science and technology related research and application including best practices for Ghana were presented by Dr Moses Ayiku, Deputy Director-General (Social Sciences), Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Accra. His presentation showed that technology adaptation and diffusion was good in primary agricultural production, but poor in processing. He said that there were fewer innovations in processing and that most attempts were at "re-inventing the wheel". Science and technology for waste management was also poor. Dr Ayiku enumerated the efforts of CSIR to disseminate technologies and to demystify science and technology through simple publications, fliers, manuals on products and processes along with public awareness campaigns on television and the use of the website to popularise and communicate activities. He narrated Ghana's attempt to replicate the innovative approaches on technology for livelihood of the Technology and Livelihood Resource Centre of the Philippines. He summarised some of the problems that faced Ghana in its effort to utilize the resources of science and technology. Some of these problems were poor linkage between research and industry; the poor interaction between producers and users of technology; the poor science culture of the people; the land ownership constraints; and the poor political commitment at the highest level. He concluded by highlighting some of the efforts of the Government of Ghana to alleviate the problems.

13. Zambia - The compendia for Zambia were presented by Professor C. J. Chetsanga. His reports emphasized the successes achieved with respect to maïze, sorghum and millet particularly in the area of hybrids development. He showed that sorghum was utilized in the brewing industry. He highlighted the rhyzobian innoculum facility which produced nitrogen fixing Rhizobia at the level of plant roots thereby providing fertilizer on a continuous basis. This was packaged in 250 kg packs and sold to farmers. Other success cases he discussed in his presentation were the advances in food processing which resulted in the production of jams and soft drinks from fruits; and the introduction of a health net that provides health professionals with information through radio communication transmitted by satellite since telephones were few and expensive, and medical libraries were poor.

14. Zimbabwe - Professor C. J. Chetsanga also presented the reports in respect of Zimbabwe. The success cases highlighted include the improved maïze seed; the acqua-culture; the Nyanyazi Irrigation scheme; the ventilated pit latrine; the Salmonela Diagnostic DNA probe; and the achievement of the tobacco industry. On the maïze seed, Professor Chetsanga showed that the seed corporation succeeded in bulking and commercialising good quality seeds that raised yields. Trout acqua-culture in the eastern mountains of Zimbabwe had many hatcheries from which fingerlings were sold to fish farmers who use streams and man-made lakes for commercial production. He said that this resulted in trout being available in Zimbabwe though it is normally a temperate region product. The Nyanyazi Irrigation Scheme had enabled farmers to have a winter wheat crop while fruits and vegetables were now available all year round. The ventilated pit latrine was a significant innovation because it eliminated odours, and flies and promoted rural sanitation. This latrine was also easy to construct and maintain. The Salmonela diagnostic kit allowed the quick determination of the existence of the strains of this micro-organism in food. He concluded by discussing the research and development efforts of tobacco farmers and how this had paid off in the development of the best strains of tobacco and boosted outputs, income and the evolution of one of the largest tobacco auction floors in the world.

15. At the end of the three country reports, questions were asked about how Ghana resolved the problem of post graduate training and research, and the role that farmer organisations played in the tobacco success story of Zimbabwe. Dr Ayiku explained to the participants that the problem of graduate research and training was resolved by redirecting the reward system so that students and teachers who chose to pursue higher education or carry out research in Ghana were allowed to earn much more income for doing so in Ghana than previously. On the other hand, Professor Chetsanga drew the attention of participants to the fact that the farmers' cooperatives were responsible for the research that generated the various strands of tobacco grown in Zimbabwe. He added that these co-operatives were so successful that they were willing to fund research into other promising commodities.

16. Cameroon - Dr David Mbah presented the country reports for Cameroon. He treated agricultural policy, agricultural research training, crop research, animal breeding research including, dairy farming, and agro-forestry. He drew the participants= attention to the fact that Cameroon had the unique experience of having been colonised by three colonial masters -- Germans, the French and the British. This had an impact on the science and technology system. He showed that colonial research was focused on cash crops, and that it was only after the colonial era that other crops came under serious research. He explained that crop research covered roots and tubers (cassava, yams, and cocoyams); cereals: (maïze, rice, sorghum and millet); plantains and bananas; fruits (plum and pine apples); legumes, coffee, cocoa, tea and oil palm. He showed that remarkable successes were achieved in yield increase as a result of major advances in plant breeding, horticulture, physiology, and good extension. He also showed that the research results were widely adopted by farmers. However, he noted that advances in processing were not as remarkable. Dr Mbah also summarized the problems of institutional changes and their effects on science and technology efforts in Cameroon.

17. Chad - The reports for Chad were also presented by Dr Mbah. He introduced them by calling attention to the political turmoil that had engulfed Chad since its independence till lately, and how this had affected many activities, including those of science and technology. He stated that the Veterinary and Animal Research Laboratory handled mainly livestock health research while the French Research Institute conducted research on cotton with associated crops. The research system was cotton-driven, so that the work that was done on sorghum and millet was a derivative of cotton research. He showed that the major achievement was in respect of the early warning system for food security. This helped data collection, built up human resource capacity for planning against the shortages and allowed a rapid detection and early warning of localities at risk. He also showed that there were successes in the agricultural services programme of Chad because research was adaptive and participatory. There was a fair amount of adoption and diffusion; liaison services were well developed and extension was very effective. The other successful programmes were the epidemiological surveillance of animals; the Pan African Rinderspest Campaign; the analysis of livestock feeds; and farmer organisation and self-help programmes.

18. Swaziland - The reports for Swaziland prepared by Professor Lydia Makhubu were presented by Dr Titus Adeboye of the African Technology Development Link, Nairobi as the author has not been able to attend the meeting. Professor Makhubu's papers highlighted the Swaziland science and technology efforts under four broad headings namely: crops, environment, women, and energy. She drew attention to the fact that although some science and technology activities were carried out by the private sector in Swaziland, she only covered research and development activities of the Faculty of Agriculture in the University of Swaziland; the Ministry of Agriculture; and the Malkerns Agricultural Research Station. Professor Makhubu showed that crop research in Swaziland was commodity and disciplinary rather than problem-oriented; that farmers were not linked to the researchers or the research problems; and that there was little link between university research and research done by the Ministry of Agriculture. She elaborated on two research projects relating to the environment: one on "Chemical Analysis and Studies on the Environmental Effects of Additives in Paper Products"; and the other on the measurement of lead (Pb) levels in hair and urine of school children in Swaziland. The studies showed that the concentration of resins and fatty acids in effluents dumped in streams and rivers were hazardous and that the lead levels in the hair and urine of school children in urban areas were much higher than those of rural school children. These studies also indicated that the land management practices of women in rural areas increased the degradation of the fragile soil of Swaziland and that women's access to and use of traditional technologies needed a lot more attention. She also reviewed a study on medicinal plants in Swaziland which showed their variety and a vast potential for drugs, food and propagation. She urged the need for greater phyto-chemical, analytical and biological screening of plants in the country. Other successes that she discussed were the pilot biogas plant using fruit and vegetable wastes; maïze and cowpea inter-cropping as alternatives to the "slash and burn" agriculture etc.

19. Presenters of reports on Cameroon, Chad and Swaziland were asked several questions at the end of the three presentations. A participant wanted to know why most of the reports covered agronomy rather than processing or other aspects of agriculture. It was explained that soil and water management practices had also been discussed. Participants also wanted to know how private sector support for research and development could be secured in view of the heavy dependence on donor funding. The presenters explained that the only way to have such a support is to show the private sector the important returns from research and development investment.

20. Kenya - The report in respect of Kenya were presented by Dr Titus Adeboye. He explained that his report was in two parts. The first reviewed the final year projects of 10 out of 40 graduates of the University of Nairobi, in 1997. The objective was to find out if their projects which were demand oriented, could be the basis for small and micro-enterprise ventures in Kenya, in view of the high graduate unemployment in the country. The second project examined the three award winners in the recently concluded UNIDO sponsored scheme to identify and reward the most innovative manufacturing firms in six African countries. Apart from Kenya, the other countries were Ghana, Ethiopia, Namibia, Mauritius and Zimbabwe. The graduate projects include many promising ideas such as a ferocement biogas plant, an air compressor project, a milk refrigeration plant, and a micro-hydro power plant. His conclusion from the review was that unless there was a scheme to move the laboratory successes to prototype and eventual commercialisation, it would be too much to expect the venture to succeed from a small capital investment. He stated that the experimental success was a very small fraction of the investment required to transform the projects into commercial success cases. He mentioned the factors responsible for the innovativeness of the award-winning firms (Steel makers Ltd; Power Technics, and All Parts Castings Ltd.): the three firms showed a high degree of closeness to their customers and to government policy makers; had very flexible production; showed a high degree of response to customer tastes and were tightly held by blood relations.

21. Tunisia - Professor Mohamed Chaabouni of the ASecretariat d'Etat à la Recherche Scientifique et à la Technologie@ presented the reports. He highlighted certain critical measures that were taken by Tunisia at independence, which were responsible for laying the foundation for the country's science and technology successes. These measures included the elevation of the status of women in the society; investment as far back as 1960 in education which raised school enrolment and cut the illiteracy rates drastically; the equitable and more even distribution of the country's resources, thereby building social cohesion; increases in university enrolments. He emphasized that these were long-term efforts which started at independence and are now yielding returns, decades later. The particular science and technology efforts were: creating a Ministry of Science and Technology under the Prime Minister's office; establishing a legal framework for science and technology; raising science and technology-related expenditure from less than 0.25% of GDP in 1991 to 0.34% in 1996; (the 1996 research and development budget stood at $62 million USD as against $35 million in 1991); expansion of the science and technology infrastructure to 4 agricultural research institutions and 8 agricultural colleges. He said that the research institutes included the Agronomic Research Institute, the National Institute of Rural Development, the Olive Research Institute, and the Institute of Veterinary Medicine. He enumerated the impressive science and technology achievements in cereal output, olive oil production, horticultural products, and animal production. He showed that the production of cereals, olive oil, fruits and vegetables more than doubled between 1960 and 1996. He concluded by underscoring the role of reforms affecting women, the investment in education, and social cohesion in what has been achieved in Tunisia.

22. Uganda - The compendia of science and technology reports were presented by Dr T. Adeboye. He noted that he had examined over 65 different science and technology reports and publications before selecting the 13 reports he reviewed in the compendia. Among the reports reviewed, were the environmental crises in the peri-urban areas of Uganda; a training workshop for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs); the strengthening of endogenous science and technology capabilities in Uganda; SME start-ups in Uganda; achievements of the Uganda National Council on Science and Technology; technological changes in indigenous root and tuber crops production and an overview of biotechnology advances and risks in Uganda. Dr Adeboye showed that the various reports underscored the importance of the informal sector small and micro enterprises in the turbulent economic history of Uganda. He raised the issue of political and policy instability between 1972 and 1986 and how economic decline followed the immediate post colonial years during which the economy grew by over 5% for more than a decade. He showed that the reports indicated a remarkable economic recovery and a vibrant science and technology activity in the country since 1986. The highlights of the achievements of science and technology in Uganda included the institutional and legal framework for science and technology, the increase in science and technology expenditure, and the increased government effort to reach out to small and micro-enterprise entrepreneurs and upgrade their technical and managerial skills. The country has also experimented with science and technology policy dialogues for several years and has benefited from these dialogues in terms of determining research priorities and SME training needs. He showed that most science and technology research activities were external donor-dependent and called attention to the need to seek new and innovative ways of securing greater sustainability of such activities.

23. A participant drew attention to the conflict between the objective of eliminating the water hyacinth in Lake Victoria and the use of it for manufacturing paper. The presenter agreed that it was the major shortcoming of the project.

24. Ethiopia - The reports on Ethiopia were presented by Dr Stephanos Ogbasellasie. Dr Stephanos gave some basic statistics on Ethiopia as an introduction to his reports. He stated that agriculture contributes about 50% of GDP; employs 85% of the population, accounts for nearly 90% of foreign exchange; that the country has a cattle population of about 30 million head and several million goats and sheep. He said that the country had a long history of droughts in spite of remarkable achievements of agricultural research. He showed that good results were obtained from cereals research - maïze, wheat, sorghum, millet, teff and barley. However, he noted that the diffusion of research results was poor; and that extension was not well connected to research and farmers because extension agents were too few. He highlighted some of the research projects that were successful. Among the problems that affected agriculture were poor infrastructure; heavy reliance on pack animals and human portage to transport agricultural products from farms to primary markets; the predominance of traditional technologies; and the inadequate development of irrigation, in spite of the country's enormous water resources.

25. Mali - The reports for Mali were presented by Dr B. Diallo. He discussed the science and technology policies of the country, and the various research activities of which he singled out three successful ones: the National Agricultural Extension Programme; the National Seed Project; and the Agricultural (rural) Credit Project. He showed that the objective of the first programme was to improve the production conditions and farmers' revenues by re-enforcing efficiency of extension activities, research-extension liaison, village organisation and the intensification of female participation. This programme was funded by the World Bank in 1992 and has achieved important results including coverage of 65% of villages, 67% of agricultural area, reaching 57% of the farming population with extension, and 55% of active women. Important lessons were also learnt: production increased, and the extension activities were adopted; duplication was minimized and appropriate technologies were introduced. The seed service achieved improved seeds which were widely disseminated, and farmers now produced the seeds. However, only 10% of seed needs were met. The rural credit scheme was successful when measured by increases in number of mutual credit networks (153 in 1993 to 265 in 1995); the increase in membership of societies from 29,000 to 79,000; the increase in the credit procurement which quadrupled and in the average repayment rate which reached 99%; the increase in bank loans which reached unprecedented levels in 1995.

26. Niger - Professor A. Yenikoye presented the reports on Niger. His reports discussed extension activities, local organisations, crop production, animal husbandry, and the management of natural resources. The extension activity highlighted demonstration of seed treatment, planting density, nursery management, deworming of animals, urea block preparation, feed preparation, land reclamation and plant thinning. The percentage of participation varied from 26% to 36.5%. Repeated participation was about half this rate for the demonstrations. Not much was achieved with local organisations. Agricultural production research activities improved millet and cowpea yields through the use of fertilizers and agro-chemicals. The achievements in animal husbandry was in respect of small ruminants whose quality improved substantially. The management of natural resources were limited to desertification control through the use of construction of barriers, sand banks, wind breaks, and stone hedges for soil conservation. Crop production research activities had mixed results. Reforestation activities have been boosted by increases in nurseries, fixation of dunes, and wind breaks in the valleys. Hydrological activities involve the construction of wells (104 villages) and boreholes for vegetable farming. Of such wells and boreholes, 523 have been constructed between 1984 and 1994.

27. Botswana - The compendia for Botswana were presented by Dr O. Ohiokpehai. She gave a brief background on the country. She stated that the country though small in population has a large geographical territory. It also has one of the highest per capita incomes on the African continent. She said that food research was focused on diversification of production through a number of activities. She highlighted the programme on genetic diversity, vegetable and fruit production, beekeeping, and the promotion of wild products. There was also a remarkable success in the harnessing of solar energy for drying, cooking, lighting and in industry. She drew attention to the many technologies that were developed for different parts of the food chain: baking, ovens, dehullers, hammer mills, and the development of weaning foods. In the area of water resources, she said that Botswana has developed different types of pumps for different terrains and uses, including bush jumps, hand pumps, wind pumps and electrically operated pumps. Irrigation had also been given a lot of boost. She described some of the efforts of the government to develop entrepreneurship. These included the provision of technology (hardware and software) credit at generous repayment terms and continuous training, and support. She also mentioned the welfare programmes of the State.

28. South Africa - Dr David Harcourt presented the country reports for South Africa. He emphasized the fact that statistics hide the vast disparities in the country, especially income disparities and access to food. Even when South Africa may be regarded as self-sufficient in food, many people were still food insecure because they have no means to access available food. He noted that the focus of policy at present is to ensure that vulnerable groups are reduced. He highlighted some of the major successes of South Africa such as maïze storage and distribution; maïze and cereal milling; sorghum malting and brewing; white meat production, canned fish and long-life juice production. He also noted that the Farmer Support Programme was very successful although problems still remained. He further noted that the lessons learnt were that the achievements were made possible through multidisciplinary approaches, adaptation of technology, and a good support engineering infrastructure. He suggested that the many best practices produced in South Africa be replicated in other parts of Africa.

29. Côte d'Ivoire - The Côte d'Ivoire reports were presented by Dr Diomande Mamadou. He noted that several research institutions exist in Côte d'Ivoire in many sectors of development under the umbrella of one Ministry. In the area of agricultural research, an important restructuring is underway to bring all the research institutes together into one National Centre of Agricultural Research (NCAR). With regard to food security and sustainable development, significant progress has been made by Côte d'Ivoire since its independence in 1960. Yield improvements and new high-yielding and pest-resistant plant varieties have been obtained for most of the important crops thanks to agricultural research. Among these were food crops (rice, maïze, millet, sorghum, yam, cassava), cash crops (coffee, cocoa, palm trees, cola trees, coconut, sugar cane, cotton), fruits and vegetables (pineapple, banana, mango, citrus, etc.). Dr Diomande pointed out, however, that research results are more important on cash crops than food crops and more in the area of production than in that of post-harvest

(storage, processing, packaging, marketing). In the latter area, most available results are not transferred to end-users. More and more attention needed to be on post-harvest activities and technology transfer mechanisms in this area. Research funding is another key issue brought up by Dr Diomande who added that new means are being explored in this regard in Cote d=Ivoire.

30. Nigeria - The Nigerian compendia were presented by Dr O. Oyeyinka. He introduced the two volumes of the report but only discussed one volume fully, stating that it was a continuation of a long-standing research that has been done for a different purpose. The author presented 61 research reports out of which a selection of success cases were discussed. He reminded the participants that although many of the experimental research results have not been commercialised, the percentage conformed with the experience in other parts of the world. Commercialisation ranged from 15% to 18%. The commercialized results were in respect of palm wine bottling (70%) which was not a significant food security activity. He said that the main challenge was in the development of a better capacity that takes inventions through the more difficult and expensive stages of development and commercialisation. He gave examples of devices that were developed in Nigeria but were taken over and commercialised by foreigners (Japanese for yam pounder). He noted that the only example where remarkable success has been achieved in commercialisation was in respect of the sorghum malt project. This was so because major multinational companies, facing a ban on barley malt imports, were ready to invest the large capital required to bring inventions to the market. The lesson was very clear.

31. Morocco - The country reports for Morocco were presented by Professor Chaabouni. He highlighted the main successes of the science and technology programmes in cereals, vegetables, citrus fruits, dates and irrigation. On cereals, he showed that genetic improvements has been responsible for increased yields and outputs. Vegetable outputs has increased also while the nearness to Europe has enabled the country to develop off-season varieties of orange and other citruses for exports to Europe. This has allowed research and development to pay off handsomely. On date palm, Morocco was able to address the outbreak of a serious parasitic disease in 1997. He concluded by showing that Morocco has the best drop-to-drop (drip) irrigation on the continent, and other countries could learn from its achievements.

32. Sudan - The reports in respect of Sudan were presented by Dr A. O. Hassan. He informed participants that he has prepared a lengthy report covering population, food production, transport and infrastructural constraints, but has to limit his presentation to best practices. He noted that Agricultural Research Institute has 20 research stations scattered throughout the country. Some of the 25 universities in the country were also carrying out agricultural research. He highlighted the achievements recorded with nitrogen fixation by Rhizobia that increased yields by up to 25% in legumes and grains, which was achieved by the National Centre for Research. He also mentioned achievements in pesticide research, drought-resistant tree species, and the advances in solar energy research and solar cookers. He drew attention to the vast amounts of cultivable land (83.1 million ha) out of which only 10 million ha were under cultivation in Sudan.

33. OAU - The paper from the Organisation of African Unity was presented by Mr Atef Ghabrial, Chief, Science and Technology Section of the Organisation. He drew attention to the drop in per capita income of the continent in the last decade, due to political instability, policy inadequacy, population pressure, poor support infrastructure, disease outbreaks and recurrent droughts. He recalled the various continental attempts to harness science and technology for Africa's problems. These included the Lagos Plan of Action, the Economic Recovery Plan, the Abuja Treaty etc. He informed the group that the OAU has spearheaded the African common position on food security as presented by African Heads of State in Rome in 1996, and has always promoted measures for conflict resolution, political stability and safety net for food security. He informed the group about OAU's subregional offices on science and technology in Lagos, Yaounde, Zanzibar and the gold prize award for food security instituted recently by the organization. He concluded by urging the experts to seek ways of raising the value added to raw materials from the present low level to a much higher one.

34. ILRI - The report from the International Livestock Research Institute was presented by Dr S. Ehui. He showed that Africa's access to meat and milk was decreasing due to various factors. He suggested that the technology proposed to the farmers must be in line with the farming system being used. He felt that certain constraints must be addressed in order for Africa's agriculture to advance. Population density, transportation and other infrastructural development issues must be addressed along with those regarding the trend towards urbanisation. Dr Ehui drew attention to the various subregional institutions of which ECA should seek membership on their steering committees in order to better catalyse her science and technology efforts. These included ASARECA, CORAF, SACCAR, etc.

35. CORAF - The report from the "Conférence des Responsables des Recherches Agricoles en Afrique de l'Ouest et du Centre (CORAF)" was presented by Dr Ndiaga Mbaye. He briefly traced the history of CORAF which started with 15 member countries and now has 24 members. Its Secretariat is based in Dakar (Senegal) and its General Assembly meets once a year with its Secretariat in Dakar. CORAF shares experiences with National Agricultural Research Systems in member countries. The pooling of their resources has rendered effective the regionalization of agricultural research institutes and programmes. To amplify efficiency, a veritable partnership with scientific institutions of the North and International Agricultural Research Centres based in the subregion has been established. At the subregional level, CORAF has affirmed itself as the principal institution for organising concerted action and coordination of agricultural research. After the Conference of Ministers of Agriculture of West and Central Africa, it fulfils the role of operator, defines research priorities and organises them into projects. CORAF together with ASARECA and SACCAR, created the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) at Bamako on February 18, 1997 for the coordination of African initiatives and positions.

36. African Centre for Fertilizer Development (ACFD) - The report from ACFD was presented by Dr S. Muchena. He highlighted the centre's priorities which were the formulation and initiation of agri-business and the better use of organic nutrients as alternatives to inorganic fertilizers. He informed members of the achievements of the centre in high yielding maïze, and the Pilot Agro-Dealer Development project. The dealer project was designed to ensure input availability, lack of which was identified as a major constraint. He also showed that the centre had succeeded in training a number of dealers and getting loans for them. However, as such a number increases, it is increasingly difficult to secure banks= support for dealers' activities.

37. FAWE - (Forum for African Women Educationalists). Dr Rosalind Mutua presented a paper on a number of issues including women participation in agriculture, the cost of commercial fertilizers and the need for developing organic alternatives and for women friendly agricultural machinery. She drew attention to the constraints that confront women in their effort to attain food security and called for the need to seek new ways of empowering women to contribute to food security.

38. Wanjohi Consulting Engineers, a civil engineering consultancy firm presented a paper which was read by Eng. Isaac G. Wanjohi. As a background, the paper underlined the importance of agriculture citing its contribution to the Kenyan economy as an example. In 1995, agriculture contributed 25% of GDP, generated 60% of foreign exchange and provided 70% of employment. Food crops occupy 80% of the 3.0 m ha under crop plantation and is mostly grown in small holdings of less than 5.0 ha with the women as the dominant players. Food security has been enhanced by provision of a network of roads comprising 64,000 km of classified roads and 80,000 km of unclassified access roads. Poor road conditions create post harvest losses of 25% of total production. Recent studies of the Rural Access Roads Programme have shown crop production increase of 25% following completion of a road. Also the farm produce sales increase to 51%. Another study carried out by Egerton University on 8 districts in Kenya has shown that road improvements resulted in high farm productivity with major increases being on the "time-sensitive" crops and other farm products.

39. All the above papers from institutions were discussed by the group. The presenter from CORAF was asked to state what the acronym stood for. He did so. Participants also wanted to know why there was no discussion of biodiversity in the meeting. It was agreed that the subject be taken up at the group discussions. A participant enquired whether ECA has any formalised relationship with the OAU. It was explained that the two organisations has formal relationships; that in 1974, the ECA and OAU signed a cooperation agreement that was aimed at preventing duplication of roles; that ECA, OAU and ADB operate within a formal joint secretariat; that the UN Secretary General, the Executive Secretary of ECA, and the President of ADB meet every 6 months; and it was necessary to increase the interpersonal interactions between OAU and ECA so as to reduce bureaucracy. The point was also made that ECA should coordinate the development of instruments for biosafety in all countries. This was considered important for the future development of biotechnology. Dr B. Kebede explained the new system of agricultural development in Ethiopa leading to processing and marketing. Dr Mutua highlighted the impact of inappropriate agricultural machinery that has been purchased in Kenya and the resulting problems, and called for the need to find more appropriate approaches. Dr Mbah stressed the importance of preserving and using the existing traditional technologies.

Working Group Presentations and discussions (Agenda item 5)

Presentations

40. Group 1 made the following explanatory comments:

Ë the group modified the title and some of the questions; there were some reservations regarding ECA's capability to implement the recommendations of the group.

41. Group 2 presented selected items out of the report. They noted that there had been some difficulty in understanding the questions, especially item 8.

Discussions

42. There were detailed discussions addressing the relationship between science and technology in general and science and technology specifically focused on FSSD. It was agreed that the latter was a subset of the former.

The following arose from the page by page examination of Group 1's report:

It was proposed by the chairman that a smaller group be set up to prioritise the large list of needs identified.

43. The page by page discussion of Group 2's report highlighted the following issues:

44. The launching of the Network for Science
and Technology for FSSD (Agenda item 6)

1. Northern Africa: Professor Refaât Chaâbouni

2. Southern Africa: Dr Samuel Muchena

3. Eastern Africa: Dr Beyene Kebede

4. Central Africa: Dr David Mbah

5. Western Africa: Dr Banji O. Oyeyinka

6. CORAF Dr. Ndiaga Mbaye

7. ARCT Dr Ousmane Kane

Completion of Questionnaires (Agenda item 7)

45. Questionnaires prepared by the Secretariat for the evaluation of the meeting were filled by participants.

Any other business (Agenda item 8)

46. A question was raised by some of the experts regarding the role of ECA in view of the existence of other UN agencies specialised in the different issues which were the focus of FSSDD. It was decided that the Chief of FSSDD be invited to clarify the unique role of ECA and FSSDD in particular in order to ensure that the ad hoc expert group's work would be useful to the Commission.

47. The Chief of FSSDD, Professor Paulina Makinwa-Adebusoye, gave a brief background on how the Food Security and Sustainable Development Division (FSSDD) came into being following the reorganisation of ECA, and how it decided to focus on the transition from low to high productivity agriculture; from high to low population growth rates; and from a poor to a better stewardships of the environment. She gave an example of one of these transitions with the role of female education in the reduction of population. She drew the attention of the group to the comparative advantage that ECA has as a regional commission over the other UN agencies whose mandate is global. She noted that the ECA has strong convening power and the power of advocacy that cut across ministerial boundaries. She also showed that ECA also helps its member States through various mechanisms, to honour their international obligations. She concluded by drawing the attention of the group to the fact that FSSDD is one of the seven divisions of ECA and that the others were: the African Centre for Women (ACW); the Economic and Social Policy Division (ESPD); the Development Information Services Division (DISD); the Regional Cooperation and Integration Division (RCID); the Development Management Division (DMD); and the Programme Planning, Finance and Evaluation Division (PPFED).

48. The Chairman, Professor D. Adzei Bekoe, thanked the Chief of FSSDD for her very informative explanation and assured her that the work of the group would be greatly eased by her intervention.

49. The expert group discussed issues that has been referred to as special task force during the discussion of the group reports. The issues were: prioritizing of group recommendations; ECA's science and technology network - its nature and functions; the components of the compendia which will evolve from the present exercise; and the issues to be covered in the science and technology profile of countries. The group made recommendations as hereunder.

A. Prioritizing of recommendations

The group recommended that ECA should:

1. define the New Programme Focus and identify activities of the Division and disseminate this information to a diversified target audience;

2. support the development of the African Region Science and Technology strategy and other regional and subregional activities in pursuance of the identification of needs of the member States and the subregions;

3. promote national and subregional programmes falling within the new focus of FSSDD; and

4. facilitate information exchange on developed programmes and relevant activities through the use of electronic databases and processed information from the databases, meetings, conferences, workshops; etc;

5. establish for the ECA's Science and Technology network database on:

(a) Compendia- Commodities, technologies (for storage, processing and preservation, infrastructure and support services, sustainability issues, emphasis in technologies for SMEs), unshelving, current and expired patents;

(b) Best practices and others to be identified by network.

6. ensure that members of the network play their role;

7. perform other relevant duties.

B. ECA's Science and Technology Network : Nature and Functions

1. Initial focus should be on food security and sustainable development.

2. Membership should be

(i) Individuals - participants at this meeting;

- additional members selected from participants at relevant recent ECA meetings;

- other individuals selected on the basis of a 2 page CV summary and, approved by the Network Steering Committee.

(ii) Institutions nominations to be made by current members and ECA- secretariat. With screening and approval executed by the Network Steering Committee.

(iii) Networks (As for ii).

3. E-mail connectivity should be facilitated.

4. Role of members should be to:

- make input into databases;

- make use of databases and facilitate their use by others;

- identify activities for implementation (e. g. new databases, such as those of science and technology institutions, associations/societies in Africa).

C. The Compendia

The information to include in the Compendia of achievements for a country should be classified as follows:

Specific Selected Commodity

(E. g. maïze, wheat, sorghum, cowpea, yam, cassava, milk, meat, fish, poultry)

1. Brief background, highlighting problem(s)

2. Major progress achieved towards solution through innovation. (Brief description of work done, commercial impact, whether it has enabled women to be more successful, whether technologies used are women-friendly, etc.)

3. Lead Institution(s) (including research and development institutions, commercial firms)

4. Contact person(s)

5. Collaborating Institutions (in same or different country and/or international institution)

6. Funding sources

 Storage, Processing and Preservation Technologies

(Machinery and/or processes: minisilos, grain milling, fermentation, etc.)

1. Brief background, highlighting specific problems

2. Major progress towards solution(s) of problem(s) through innovation, as for I

3. Lead institutions

4. Contact person(s)

5. Collaborating institutions

Finding sources

1. Brief background, highlighting specific problems

2. Major progress towards solution(s) of problem(s) through innovation, as for I

3. Lead institutions

4. Contact person(s)

5. Collaborating institutions

Infrastructure and Support Services

1. Brief background, highlighting specific problems

2. Major progress towards solution(s) of problem(s) through innovation, as for I

3. Lead institutions

4. Contact person(s)

5. Collaborating institutions

IV. Sustainability

(Biodiversity, waste management, environmentally friendly technologies, etc.)

2. Major progress towards solution(s) of problem(s) through innovation, as for I

3. Lead institutions

4. Contact person(s)

5. Collaborating institutions

V. Women and Technology

1. Brief background, highlighting specific problems

2. Major progress towards solution(s) of problem(s) through innovation, as for I

3. Lead institutions

4. Contact person(s)

5. Collaborating institutions

For each country, a maximum of 12 specific entries may be selected from categories I to V. Each entry should be limited to 2 pages of single-spaced typescript. In addition, each country should include 1 page of country profile relevant to food security and sustainable development, the main elements of which should include, as far as possible, the indicators shown below.

D. Indicators to be included in the one page country profile relevant
to food security and sustainable development

To the 24 page (maximum) compendium, each author will add one page on the above subject. The one page should contain the information shown below.

1. Population

2. Land area (total)

3. Arable land

4. Food production/capita e. g. cereals and animal protein

5. Food consumption/capita e. g. cereals and animal protein

6. Yields of major crops

7. Number and types of research institutions e. g. agriculture

8. Ratio of scientists, engineers and technologists (1000 population)

9. Percentage contribution to GDP by

! agriculture

! industry

10. Number of universities and technical institutions

11. Whether country has a science and technology policy document and yearly

12. Whether country has an environmental protection statute/law/agency, others (if known)

13. Power consumption/capita

14. Telephone density (lines/1000 population)

Adoption of the main recommendations of the meeting
(Agenda item 9)

50. The report of the expert group meeting and the main recommendations were presented by Dr Titus Adeboye. After some discussions and amendments, it was proposed for adoption by Dr O. Oyeyinka and seconded by Professor R. Mutua. The report was adopted unanimously by the meeting.

Closing of the meeting (Agenda item 10)

51. The Chief of Food Security and Sustainable Development Division (FSSDD), Professor Paulina-Makinwa Adebusoye, expressed her satisfaction with the work of the group, and commended them for their tireless efforts during the meeting, and the useful outcome of their deliberations. She assured the group that FSSDD would immediately implement their recommendations. She also thanked all those who had contributed to the success of the meeting, and expressed the hope that she could continue to count on the experts in the future.

52. On behalf of the participants, Professor C. J. Chetsanga thanked the Chief of FSSDD for the opportunity accorded to the group and the openness of the Division, which facilitated the group's work.

53. The Chairman, Professor D. Adzei Bekoe, declared the meeting officially closed at 8:15 p.m. on 12 February, 1998.

ECA/FSSDD/S&T/98/2

Annex I

WORKING GROUP REPORTS

Group of Experts on Science and Technology for Food

Security and Sustainable Development

WORKING GROUP 1

CRITICAL ISSUES FOR S&T DEVELOPMENT

Critical issues for development of Science and Technology Research and S&T application (to ensure Food Security) that need to be addressed in future S&T programmes of the ECA.

(i) regarding the compendia and best practice cases being developed, what should be the appropriate format of presentation; coverage of issues; and target dissemination? What should be the role of member States in the development of these best practice cases?

(ii) what innovative measures can ECA use to create greater awareness, in its member States, of the catalytic role of Science and Technology in socio-economic development generally and the three nexus transitions in particular?

(iii) what new methods of delivery of science and technology services to member States can ECA explore? To date ECA has relied on:

P government level meetings, conferences, seminars and training workshops;

P advisory missions to member States;

P publications and dissemination of these to member States.

(iv) with the meagre financial resources available to ECA and the constraints on recruitment in the UN system, how can ECA meet the big challenges of bringing science and technology to bear on the socio-economic development of member States?

(v) within the statutory constraints of ECA, how can it leverage private sector resources for required science and technology work such as: regional and cross-cutting research; the need for an authoritative periodical African publication on science and technology policies and practices;

(vi) demands for science and technology regional networking; development, replication, and dissemination of best practice cases? etc..

(vii) what is the vision of the expert group on the science and technology function within ECA? At present, the science and technology function is an integral part of the Food Security and Sustainable Development Division. Is this appropriate? Is there any justification for a different form of science and technology intervention by ECA?

ECA/FSSDD/S&T/98/2

Annex II

Page 2

REPORT OF WORKING GROUP I

Preliminary Issues

Modified Title: CRITICAL ISSUES OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

DEVELOPMENT THAT NEED TO BE ADDRESSED

FOR FUTURE S&T PROGRAMMES OF THE ECA

TO ENSURE FOOD SECURITY AND SUSTAINABLE

DEVELOPMENT

The following are key elements in S&T Development:

Elements of S&T DevelopmentElements of S&T Development

i. Research

ii. Experimental Development/Application

iii. Human Resource Development

iv. Technology Transfer

v. Information Dissemination/Popularization

vi. Acquisition of indigenous technological capabilities

vii. Technology maintenance capacity

viii.Technological consulting capability

ix. Management of technology

2. Modify TOR (i) to read:

i. What additional measures can ECA use to create greater awareness and commitment in its member States of the critical elements of S&T in socio-economic development and the three nexus transitions in particular.

3. Item (i): Initial Reservations

The group expressed concern about the internal capability of the ECA and in particular FSSDD to implement the expert group recommendations. In order to underscore ECA's commitment to S&T development, the expert group urged the ECA to do all it can to strengthen the S&T Team by staffing it with the requisite capabilities which the Commission itself should identify.

ECA/FSSDD/S&T/98/2
Annex II
Page 14
ECA/FSSDD/S&T/98/2
Annex II
Page 15

RecommendationsRecommendations

Prepare a PR document detailing the new thrust of the Division which can be sent to member States and also disseminated within electronic network. The document will be targeted at identified stakeholders.

ECA shall encourage countries to prepare:

P. strategic documents for S&T development

P. and specifically call upon countries to promote programmes for food security at the sub-regional level. ECA will coordinate the update and prioritization of past policies in the light of present realities.

Ë. ECA shall focus member States on S&T and its effects on socio-economic development, specifically on food security and sustainable development.

Ë. ECA shall widen its target stakeholders to go beyond policy makers in government to include major actors in the private sector, such as productive enterprises, organized bodies such as Chambers of Commerce and Farmer Cooperatives in member States.

4. Item (ii): New methods of delivery of S&T services to member States

Ë. ECA shall facilitate the development of distributed databases to be made available on the Internet and accessible by Network members and other stakeholders for updating and use

Ë. ECA shall develop a web page for hosting information from Network members, ECA itself as well as regional and subregional organizations concerned with the issues.

Ë. ECA shall facilitate the creation of an electronic discussion group to enable Network members and stakeholders exchange information on-line and discuss matters related to their activities.

Ë. ECA shall provide e-mail services, computing facilities, and training to Network members to develop databases and participate in electronic discussion group.

Ë. Network Focal Points (or coordinators) within member countries shall facilitate dissemination of information to other stakeholders, particularly in the private sector.

Ë. Initiate and/or strengthen linkage with regional/sub-regional organizations on the issues of food security and sustainable development.

Ë. ECA to initiate an authoritative periodical African publication on Science and Technology policies and practices.

Ë. Against the background of on-going liberalization and privatization in Africa, it is important for ECA to create more effective mechanisms to reach the ultimate end-users. It is proposed that ECA support service delivery through the use of agro-related community workers (or intermediaries).

5. Item (iii): Science and technology in socio-economic development

Given the limitation of ECA resources, it is proposed that ECA focus on a narrow set of issues. To this end, the following areas are proposed:

Ë Within the framework of the nexus transition, ECA should focus on promoting Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) across the whole food security spectrum such as pre-harvest and post-harvest activities such as processing, packaging, preservation and distribution. SME in this case includes small-holder farmers.

Ë Produce best practice case studies from member States. The case studies may be on innovations at the national level as well as successful management of technology transfer with emphasis on critical success factors.

Ë In order for ECA to provide member States with informed advice, empirical studies should be carried out on pertinent issues such as SME, and the processes of successful innovation. In this regard, the subject area is to be tightly and carefully defined. This approach has been used in the past and will no doubt serve ECA well.

Modalities and funding

Ë ECA should consider the use of experts in member State institutions and the ECA network for carrying out national level studies.

Ë Consider donor funds for hiring experts to work in the Division on a temporary basis. These kinds of expertise will carry out very specific tasks over a period of time. It is cheaper than having a full time staff.

Ë Make use of expert panels to execute programmes.

Ë Use donor funds for carrying out empirical studies to enrich the knowledge base of ECA.

Ë If possible, expand the S&T team with individuals trained in the area of S&T policy and more importantly to have adequate capability for the various activities of the Division. For instance, a great deal of work will be required to cover activities such as SME, the ECA network, best practice case studies and empirical case studies in member States.

Figure 1 is matrix of nexus transition and elements of technology transfer which may act as a checklist for the Division.

6. Item (v): Network and related issues

The group agrees to the formation of the ECA S&T Network for Africa. It agrees that the network shall be highly focused on food security and sustainable development and operating within the nexus transition.

Ë The group suggests that outputs of other network initiatives be given careful consideration for the benefit of the ECA network.

Ë Donor organisations may be allowed to join the network as long as the membership of such donors will not jeopardize the objective of the network.

7. Item (vi): Compendia

Ë The compendia should be better put in an electronic format and be allowed to develop into a full connectivity system that is easily searched with minimum difficulties.

Ë The present compendia have been developed using different approaches (issues, commodity, systems, individual projects etc.), we recommend that the compendia be developed using:

! commodity; and

! processes.

Ë In the short term, the network database will benefit from accessing the CGIAR system with additional information from the national systems of member States.

Ë Formation of the database should be done with care. Entries should be carefully managed, screened and filtered based on the following criteria:

- nature e. g. size and potential impact;

- type of commodity;

- whether the project has a champion who will follow through to ensure successful transfer;

- put in place a system of e-mails and questionnaires to measure impact at input, output and result levels in its Internet version.

Ë Organize biennial meetings around the best practice cases; the meetings shall be preceded with clear agenda of the issues and cases to be examined.

8. Item (vii): Vision of group on S&T function within ECA

Ë The group considers that having S&T drive food security and sustainable development programme is adequate only in the short term. The vision of the group is that S&T will play a more pervasive role in the economies of all African States and as such the S&T function will be prominent in all Divisions, and units of ECA. Technology is central to the development process and failure to harness this powerful force of change will see Africa fall further behind the rest of the world.

9. Item (viii): Comments on country papers

Ë Consultants seem to have difficulties with the Terms of Reference (TOR) and as such tended to give it different interpretations.

Ë Given the diverse formats, a new guideline may be given to authors to revise their work in order to have a uniform document.

The group requests time in order to prepare a comprehensive concept (working paper for the Division to cover all aspects of working definitions and concepts).

MODE OF ECA INTERVENTION