A. ACCOUNT
OF PROCEEDINGS
Opening
session
(a)
Welcome address (Agenda item 1)
1.In her opening statement, Mrs. P.K. Makinwa-Adebusoye welcomed the
experts to the Second Meeting of Advisory Board on Science and
Technology for Africa’s Development. She also expressed her appreciation
for their commitment to assisting the ECA in its efforts to promote
science and technology culture and development in Africa. As
science and technology advisors to the ECA, she noted, the experts
constitute an invaluable asset for Africa where poor technological
capability is one of the major constraints to sustainable development.
2.The
Director observed that the concerns addressed by the First Advisory
Board Meeting remained unchanged today. These concerns include
the lack of explicit investment in technological learning and
implementation of technological and industrial policies that address
domestic economic problems; inadequate attention to the challenges
of a globalizing world; and the continent’s continuous failure
to learn from the Newly Industrialized Countries (NICs) and to
address properly, the key issues that have shaped the development
paradigm in these countries. She then highlighted a number of
issues examined by the First Advisory Board Meeting to address
these concerns. The Director extended her sincere gratitude to
the Board members for their useful comments and recommendations
on these issues.
3.Mrs.
P.K. Makinwa-Adebusoye enjoined the Advisory Board to focus on
five sets of issues during its second meeting. These were (i)
to assess the progress made by ECA in meeting the recommendations
from the First Board Meeting; (ii) to critically address issues
related to ESTNET as well as to critique a project proposal designed
to raise extra-budgetary
funds
in support of ESTNET; (iii) to assist the ECA in proposing and
developing an organizational scheme and programme of work for
the First Meeting of the Committee on Natural Resources and Science
and Technology (CNRST1) which will be held in Addis Ababa from
18 to 22 October 1999; (iv) to assist in developing an appropriate
programme of work for a training workshop in science and technology
for stakeholders in the public and private sectors including NGOs;
and (v) to review and comment on the FSSDD’s work programme for
the biennium 2000-2001. She also invited the Board to address
other issues deemed important for the work of the Division.
6. She declared that she was confident that the Second Advisory Board
Meeting would be as fruitful as the First Advisory Board Meeting.
In conclusion, she extended her gratitude and appreciation to
all participants for honouring ECA’s invitation and for their
support to the work of the Commission in Science and Technology
and wished them very fruitful deliberations.
(b) Adoption
of Agenda and Programme of Work (Agenda item 2)
7. Documents ECA/FSSDD/S&T/AB/99/1
and ECA/FSSDD/S&T/AB/99/Info.1 were considered for this agenda
item. The meeting suggested that two additional items be included
in the agenda. These were ECA’s role in the forthcoming Budapest
Conference; and a presentation by Dr. S. N. Kassapu of FAO Regional
Office for Africa. The agenda were thus adopted as follows:
(i) Opening of the meeting
Welcome address by the Director of FSSDD
(ii)
Organizational matters
Adoption of the Agenda and Programme of Work
(iii)
Substantive sessions
Session 1: Progress made since the First Advisory Board Meeting
Session 2: Presentation by FAO
Session 3: ESTNET: Design of ESTNET system and Report on ESTNET
Session
4: Meeting of CNRST and Training Workshop in Science and
Technology
Session 5: - S&T Programme of Work for the Biennium 2000-2001
Schedule of the next Advisory Board Meeting
(iv) Any
other business.
(v) Closing
of the meeting
(a) Presentation
and discussion of the draft report
(b)
Adoption of Report
(c) Closure
of the Meeting
8. The Programme of Work was also adopted
subject to the two proposed additions mentioned above. Dr. Titus
Adeboye was elected Rapporteur of the Meeting.
Discussion
items
(c)
Progress report on S & T Activities (ECA/FSSDD/S&T/AB/99/2)
9. The Secretariat presented the achievements
made by the Division in the implementation of the recommendations
of the First Advisory Board Meeting. Among these achievements
were the convening of the Executive Dialogue on Science and Technology,
the preparation of 10 compendia of best practices; the production
of four technical papers on the role and potential of indigenous
technology for sustainable food security; the production of four
other documents on different subjects covering management of technology,
contribution of science and technology to African development,
a five country case study for building technological capacity
in the ECA member States; the activities taken to operationalize
the ESTNET including the Division’s efforts to raise funds and
the purchase of computers for the focal points in the training
of the S&T Team of the Division. The Meeting was requested
to assess the progress and to advise on the way forward.
10. During the discussion that followed the presentation, the
Meeting noted that the compendium of best practices from Kenya
had also been submitted and that compendia from 6 countries were
already available on ESTNET. The production of a compendium for
Chad was delayed due to problems of communication between Cameroon
and Chad. The expert from South Africa was asked by the Meeting
to follow up on the compendium for his country while the Secretariat
was requested to contact the consultant responsible for the production
of the compendium for Tunisia. The Meeting suggested that more
countries be identified for coverage in the second round of production
of compendia of best practice. To this effect, a suggestion was
made to select about 10 countries from the region including 3
from North Africa, possibly Algeria, Egypt and Morocco. It was
also suggested that lessons learnt from the first compendia exercise
be used as a guide for future exercise. Dr. T. Adeboye and Dr.
B. Oyeyinka were asked by the Meeting to review the compendia
to that effect.
11. The Meeting stressed the importance of identifying national
focal points for ESTNET. In this regard, it proposed that the
members of the Advisory Board and other experts, research institutions
in member countries such as KIRDI (Kenya Industrial Research and
Development Institute) be identified with the help of members
of the Advisory Board and asked to serve as focal points. The
Secretariat would then send formal letters and liaise with the
selected institutions and experts. The Meeting suggested that
ECA play a harmonising role between different networks or initiatives
in Africa while pursuing vigorously the specific activities of
ESTNET. The ECA should also continue to approach donors to raise
funds for the operationalisation of ESTNET. The importance of
information on the National Systems of Innovation of members as
useful data for ESTNET was underlined. Concerning biodiversity
and biotechnology, the Meeting proposed that the ECA be a depository
of national legislations in these areas. Moreover, the ECA was
requested to create a database on expired patents relevant to
the needs of well targeted users on the ESTNET Website.
Session 2: Science and Technology in FAO work (additional agenda item)
12.
Dr. S.N. Kassapu gave a presentation on FAO’s mandate and its
role and achievements in the field of Science and Technology.
The expert pointed out that FAO recognizes Science and Technology
as the key to socio-economic development of African countries
and has been promoting S&T for development. in all domains
of food and agriculture since 1945.
13. The expert also elaborated the mandate of the Sustainable
Development Department
of
the FAO. He said that the Department aims at promoting, coordinating
and formulating concepts, policies and strategies for the greater
involvement of rural people with emphasis on innovations affecting
women in agriculture. The generation and transfer of knowledge
and technologies for sustainable development, and the management
of natural resources and protection of the environment are other
issues of concern to FAO. The Department is also mandated with
the coordination of FAO’s follow-up to the United Nations Conference
on Environment and Development (UNCED).
14.
The expert indicated that the FAO has helped
its member countries to build National Agricultural Research Systems
(NARS) with the objective of enhancing technology development.
As a result, he said, the NARS are now developing research and
technology policy and planning for technology assessment and technology
adaptation and transfer. They are also in the process of fostering
co-operation through global research partnership. In respect
of this, the FAO provides technical support to the NARS Steering
Committee of the Global Forum on Agricultural Research and to
the consultative Group of International Agricultural Research
(CGIAR) at the global level, and to regional associations of NARS
such as Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in
Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA), Conférence des responsables
de Rechereche Agronomique en Afrique de l’Ouest et du Centre
(CORAF) and Southern African Centre for Cooperation in
Agricultural Research (SACCAR).
15.
He also indicated that FAO has identified, and is focusing on,
three types of technologies which are (I) available technologies
that only require an enabling environment for their adoption by
small-scale farmers; (ii) available technologies which need to
be adapted before their adoption; and (iii) new technologies such
as biotechnology, remote-sensing and satellite development.
16. In the discussion that followed the presentation,
the meeting asked and received clarifications regarding FAO’s
S&T activities in the area of food security in general and
fisheries and livestock sectors in particular. Clarification
on the collaboration between ECA and FAO in the areas of Science
and Technology was also discussed. The meeting took note of the
fact that fisheries were being developed through the application
of biotechnology in aquaculture and marineculture while efforts
in technology-based livestock development are in the areas of
animal multiple ovulation; embryo transfer; immuno-diagnostics
and vaccines.
Session
3: ESTNET : Design of ESTNET System and Report on ESTNET
17.
A slide presentation was made by the Secretariat on ESTNET network
showing the system design and the current status of ESTNET along
with the constraints to and the opportunities for its development.
It was recalled that ESTNET was initiated at the first meeting
of the ad hoc Expert Group Meeting on Science and Technology for
Food Security and Sustainable Development held at ECA in February
1998. ESTNET is a Resource Centre for information and communications
on science and technology that deals with issues of interest to
Member States with initial emphasis on food security and sustainable
development. The five components of the network were briefly presented,
namely a website, a number of data bases, a secretariat, a steering
committee and collaborators/administrators/users. The major component
was made up of 27 databases. A demonstration of the ESTNET website
was also made by the Secretariat. It was explained that Lotus
Notes was used as the main platform because of its various advantages;
including the facility for focal points to download into their
systems thus saving valuable interact time.
18.
During the discussions which followed, many issues of management
were raised including who would manage the ESTNET, the procedures
and channels that users should use to post documents and other
information on the NET, and the various levels of access to the
NET. Members also expressed concern over the security and control
of the documents posted.
19.
A draft project proposal entitled “The ECA Science and Technology
Network (ESTNET): A proposal for partnership” was also presented
by the Secretariat. The Meeting was informed that the project
being proposed aims at promoting regional cooperation and integration
in science and technology in Africa through enhanced communication
and information exchange. It also aims at assisting Africa to
build its science and technology capacity and strengthening ECA’s
ability to serve its Member States in this regard. The project,
whose duration is three years and which has a proposed budget
of $556,910, is scheduled to start in 2000 with ECA as the executing
agency.
20.
The Meeting recommended that a section be added to the project’s
background to provide justification for the project. It also
recommended that the project title be aligned with the issues
raised in the progress report. A number of suggestions were made
to reduce the project cost. These include the use of in-house
resources, the mechanisms to tie the Advisory Board meetings with
those of the Steering Committee, and the organisation of workshops
which cover issues other than training. The Meeting also recommended
that the project proposal be further refined through in-house
consultations, especially with DISP.
Session
4: Meeting of the Committee on Natural Resources and Science
and Technology (CNRST) and training workshop in Science and Technology
21.
A representative of the Secretariat presented Document ECA/FSSDD/S&T/AB/99/5
entitled: First Meeting of the ECA Committee on Natural Resources
and Science and Technology. The representative recalled Resolution
No. 826(XXXII) of the Conference of African Ministers responsible
for Economic and Social Development and Planning, which created
a number of technical committees. One of those was the Committee
on Natural Resources and Science and Technology. It was created
(i) to serve as a forum of experts for the promotion
of cooperation among African countries in the areas of science
and technology for the development of natural resources; and (ii)
to provide advice on science and technology issues relevant to
member States.
22. The Secretariat indicated that since CNRST is a Committee
of all member States, all of them are expected to send experts
in their specific areas of specialization. The Secretariat then
put three issues before the meeting for discussion: (a) how to
get member States to attend the CNRST meeting given that they
have to fund their participation; (b) whether the proposed guidelines
for the organisation of the meeting were adequate; and (c) whether
the issues suggested for discussion were appropriate.
23. Following the presentation, the Meeting discussed the issues
raised by the Secretariat. Regarding the issues related to getting
more member States to attend their own meetings, the Meeting suggested
a number of strategies: (i) the need to go through the Advisory
Board members who would be in a better position to advice on the
local situation including suggesting who to invite to the meeting.
Furthermore there is a need to identify focal points in countries
for different issues. (ii) It is often difficult to get a direct
response from the Ministers who usually need the approval of their
President or Prime Minister. Therefore, it is better to contact
the appropriate official of the Cabinet who could articulate the
issues to the President or Prime Minister before relevant invitations
are sent out. (iii) It is necessary to ensure that the timing
of the meeting does not coincide with other important events in
member countries. (iv) It will be necessary to find ways of sponsoring
some private sector participants that may not be in a position
to bear all travel expenses. (v) ECA may work with a host ministry
in the country where the meeting is to be organized by co-opting
the minister to send out invitation under his/her signature to
fellow ministers.
24. The meeting had a lengthy discussion on the possible issues
to be discussed. The meeting finally agreed to select a few well-focused
themes taking into consideration issues that have already been
discussed at other fora. Each of the themes would have an accompanying
in-depth paper. The following theme was suggested for the Meeting:
“Natural Resources and Technology: Competitiveness and Sustainability
in the Twenty-first Century”. The following sub-themes were also
proposed: (a) why natural resources are not enough and why innovation
is the key; (b) Access to technology with reference to capacity
building; (c) issues of biosafety, biotechnology, and biodiversity
(d) Management of Technology
25. The Meeting discussed the modalities of the training workshop
in Science and Technology proposed in Document ECA/FSSDD/S&T/AB/99/6.
The Meeting recognized the need for a training workshop to address
a number of issues. It however felt that the title of the workshop
was too general and needed more focus. It was suggested to invite
senior officials (at middle level management) at operational levels
rather than high level officials to the workshop.
26. The meeting suggested a number of amendments to the issues
proposed by the ECA Secretariat. Accordingly the proposed issue
“Role of S&T in Socio-economic Development” was deleted as
it overlapped with the third issue “Integration of S&T in
the development planning process”. The proposed second
issue “General Aspects of Management of S&T” should focus
on technology only rather than on Science and Technology, which
is too broad. The proposed fourth issue “Technological Choices
for African Countries” was replaced by “Approaches to the Choice
of Technology in African countries”. Training materials for the
workshop would be produced by visiting scholars and could be used
for similar workshops to be organised in other subregions in the
future. ECA would need to contact members of the Advisory Board
to prepare the training materials. The ESTNET would also be presented
to the workshop.
FOURTH
PLENARY SESSION: i) S&T Programme of Work for the biennium
2000-2001
ii)
Schedule for the next meeting
iii)
Any Other Business
Session
5: Science and Technology Programme of Work for the biennium
2000-2001
27.
Opening this agenda item, the secretariat informed the participants
that the following programme of work had been already voted by
the General Assembly so there was little that the Board could
do about it. The Board should mainly suggest how the programme
should be implemented. The secretariat explained the objective
of the programme which was to assist member States in building
their endogenous scientific and technological capacity. The expected
results were increased awareness, commitment to apply S&T
to ensure food security and sustainability, to have effective
S&T policies and strategies, to exchange relevant information
on best practices and enhanced communication amongst the S&T
community. The secretariat noted that to achieve these objectives
the ECA should concentrate on advocacy, raising awareness and
networking through the development of ESTNET, seminars, training,
workshops, technical and newsletter publication, implementing
field projects, backstopping of ECA /OAU sponsored institutions,
and co-operation and liaison with member States, and other organisations
and institutions working in this area.
28.
In the discussions that followed, it was pointed out that poverty
alleviation was the overarching goal of ECA and that there were
other divisions dealing with this issue. It was also emphasised
that the ECA could neither sponsor research nor monitor what was
being done in each country because of its limited budget. The
ECA could, however, undertake a survey of what member States were
doing to support research and application of research results
within their own boarders. The result of this survey could form
the basis for future ECA actions.
29.
The Meeting suggested that the table of the programme of work
be improved for future meetings by incorporating a column on activities
to be carried out to achieve the objectives. The Meeting suggested
that the non-recurrent publications be used by ECA to make an
impact in member states. In this regard, it suggested that:
(i)
a committee of the Advisory Board be constituted to work out the
modalities for obtaining authoritative publications on the linkage
between research and the various sectors of the food chain (i.e.,
production, storage, processing, distribution).
(ii)
The publication would be the outcome of empirical research at
the member States level;
(iii)
The publication should be refereed and published properly under
a guest editor so that it could become a reference material in
the region.
30.
Mention was made of the message from the Executive Secretary to
the Board members congratulating them for their work and requesting
them to suggest names or other scholars to constitute a roaster
of consultants that the ECA could call upon for urgent and important
work including the production of the above documents. The Executive
Secretary also requested the Board members to suggest names of
scholars who could actively participate in a discussion panel
for the main theme of the CNRST to be held in October. The Executive
Secretary fully supported the proposed empirical research work
on the non-recurrent publication and gave assurance of financial
support. The theme adopted for the discussion panel was: competitiveness
and sustainability in the use of Natural Resources in Africa.
31.
In the area of cooperation and liaison, the board was informed
that the ECA could not participate in all meetings due to financial
constraints. It usually opted for meetings in which it had a specific
role to play. It was also noted that some of the invitations arrived
too late for ECA to participate.
(ii)
Schedule of the next Advisory Board Meeting
32.
It was agreed that the Board should meet once a year and meet
occasionally in extraordinary sessions to discuss urgent issues
of the moment. It was thus agreed for the next Board Meeting
to be held in the first half of the year 2000. It was suggested
that the ECA should notify Board members and provide the background
documents ahead of time.
(iii)
Any other business
33.
The ECA was not in a position to participate in the First Conference
of Ministers of Research and Development in West Africa and Central
Africa, held in Yaounde in January 1999 on the common position
of African countries preparing for the World Conference on Science
in June. It was noted however that a meeting prior to the conference
might be convened in Budapest to consolidate a common position.
The Board was also informed that following the recommendation
of the Conferences of Ministers of Planning and Economic Development,
it was resolved that the ECA-sponsored institutions be rationalised.
Some were to be kept if they were viable. Others that were fulfilling
particular needs but were not viable on their own should be merged,
while unviable ones that did not have a clear value added be scrapped.
It was stated that the ARCT and ARCEDEM were in the second category,
but the process of the merging was still on.
LIST
OF PARTICIPANTS
