Integrating Research Results in Development Plans

VICE-Chairperson for East African Business Council, Prof Felix Mosha
presents a paper during a workshop to discuss the importance of
putting research results into use. (Photo by Abela Msikula)

11-12 January 2018. Arusha, Tanzania. A workshop organised by the African Centre for Research, Agricultural Advancement, Teaching Excellence and Sustainability (CREATES) , brought together various stakeholders to discuss the importance of establishment of strong network of partnership between research, industrial and academic institutions, providing outreach services to the community and supporting spin offs and incubation of novel technologies and products.

Research results are commercialised, they don't end in shelves as is the case for Tanzania. Tanzanian faces shortage of experts to run researches and convince relevant authorities to practice the results. As a way forward, CREATES is implementing a-five year special programme, starting from last year, focusing mostly on strengthening selected Eastern and Southern Africa higher education institutions to deliver quality post-graduate education, and building collaborative research capacity in the regional priority areas. Prof Hulda Swai, Director of CREATES

Ethiopia considered research results’ uses where the country sets aside 10 percent yearly, from the national budget for agriculture activities. As a result, it experiences an increase in national income every year. Prof Felix Mosha Vice-Chairperson-East African Business Council

Background:

Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST) is part of a network of African Institutions of Science and Technology (AISTs), established as brainchild of the late Nelson Mandela and the World Bank. 

• The newly formed “African Centre for Research, agricultural Advancement, Teaching Excellence and Sustainability in Food and Nutritional Security” (CREATES-FNS) is an African Center of Excellence (ACE) which was established at the NM-AIST through the World Bank’s African Centers of Excellence (ACE II) initiative, in order to build capacity in the region by training and raising a critical mass of specialized and skilled human capital that can use a multidisciplinary approach to ensure sustainable environment, food and nutritional security. 
• The CREATES-FNS will produce a pool of creative and innovative experts who are able to generate novel solutions to today's development and industrial needs and challenges. Graduates from CREATES-FNS will have expertise on “Sustainable Agriculture, Food and Nutritional Sciences, Biodiversity and Conservation, as well as Human Health and Biomedical Sciences, able to take up high-level career positions in R&D, agricultural production, food and nutritional sciences. 
• Through Tanzanian government, the Centre secured USD 6m fund from the World Bank (WB), to support over 200 Master's and PhD students from across the African continent. Tanzania got prioritized with about 50 percent of (WB) sponsorship beneficiaries to be locals.
• The core aspiration of the Centre is to become the regional hub for innovative solutions to foster food and nutrition security in the region. It is also built up on up on four core thematic areas, which support the transformation of the interventions in to expected outcomes: sustainable agriculture, biodiversity conservation and ecosystem management, food and nutrition sciences, as well as health and biomedical sciences.

Some of the main NM-AIST donors are; the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH), World Health Organization (WHO), VLIR-UOS of Belgium, USAID, World Bank, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Human Development Innovation Fund (HDIF) through DFID, Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM), European Union (EU), and McKnight Foundation.

Related:

10 January 2018. East African Business Council EABC 20th Anniversary Celebrations and Regional Business Excellence Awards (BEAs) 2018.
EABC launched and start to receive entries for the Business Excellence Awards (BEAs) 2018. The EABC Business Excellence Awards (BEAs) seek to reinforce the critical role of the private sector in the economy of East Africa and to recognize and celebrate businesses from Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, South Sudan and Uganda that demonstrate exceptional business performance in accelerating regional growth, creating wealth, employment and reducing poverty across the region. As the only regional business awards, the EABC-BEAs provide businesses in East Africa an opportunity to compete for the ultimate business accolade at the EAC level. The inaugural EABC Business Excellence Awards are organized across three categories comprising of 14 individual awards available for competition.