Recommendations on how to make R&I a driver for sustainable development in AU-EU relations

EC (2021) Recommendations on how to make R&I a driver for sustainable development in AU-EU relations #131 p.

This policy study is authored by the Advisory Group (AG) on R&I for Africa-Europe cooperation commissioned by the European Commission´s Directorates-General for Research and Innovation and for International Partnerships. The document presents the groups findings on how to best mainstream and boost R&I-cooperation with African partners in the field of (1) health, (2) R&I capacities, (3) technology and innovation and (4) green transition. 

It discusses the state of play of each topic and highlights the key findings and recommendations for strengthening the cooperation, including concrete recommendations for future actions. It highlights the need for a balanced, respectful, transparent, visible and efficient partnership that follows the principles of good governance and high ethical standards. The recommendations recognise the need for increased investments in institutional capacities and training; R&I policy and governance; infrastructure and institutions; human capacity development; knowledge management and funding; and cooperation and partnerships.

p. 37 Research can be described as the generation of knowledge, while innovation is the use of knowledge to generate money or income. Innovation is further defined as the application of new solutions to address the needs or demands of existing markets or emerging requirements (Halme 2014). Innovation thus goes far beyond R&D and also goes beyond the confines of research labs linked to users, suppliers and consumers. Four types for measuring innovation are defined by the OECD: product innovation, process innovation, marketing innovation and organisational innovation (OECD 2018). 

• This policy paper presents the results of the AG´s work, including feedback obtained from over 500 African and European policymakers and other stakeholders. The paper provides expert opinions and an evidence base for the future needs of science, technology and innovation development. It includes recommendations for funding instruments and priority actions for the dialogue between AU and EU policymakers.  
• The key limitation of this study was the short period of time to collect data in order to cover the wide range of partnerships in relation to African and European R&I cooperation. The study was therefore unable to do an in-depth analysis of all the programmes and initiatives being supported and implemented under the AU-EU cooperation in R&I. The low response to the survey further contributed to the limitations of the study with regard to data collection and analysis. 
• From the survey it was clear that the various stakeholders are not aware of all the investments currently in place. If we think about all the other individual countries and international institutions allocating funds for the development of Africa, it is impossible to organise and optimise these investments at present. The EU should gather all of its investments in one place and open this framework to all other donors. This will help organise and align worldwide investments into Africa’s green transition so that they work together to ensure sustainable investments and governance in the long term. (p. 98)

Extracts on agricultural research/ green transition:

THE GREEN TRANSITION IN AFRICA 

By Prof Daniel Nahon and Prof Leonardus Vergütz

To push for the green transition in Africa there is a huge need for knowledge to be generated in Africa by Africans to solve Africa’s issues.  (p. 91)

SOIL SECURITY 

p. 98 The most comprehensive and essential concept to ensure healthy soils in Africa will be the soil security framework. This relatively new concept has been developed and advocated by European scientists and presents soils as the main connector of our major societal challenges. This concept is totally aligned with the land-water-energy nexus. Its greatest advantage is that it brings together various dimensions, including soft dimensions such as the cultural and economic values of soils, with a view to ensuring healthy soils. This concept needs to be further developed (...)

p. 87 Abuse of pesticides and monoculture cropping directly affects soil biodiversity, with a 40% loss under monoculture and an 80% loss due to pesticides. Pesticides also end up in rivers and groundwater. An important part of this work is to differentiate African soils from European soils, a key step in ensuring the right science and innovation for Africa’s green transition. As soils are a major component of the global cycle of carbon and other elements, they are crucially important for fighting climate change. If Africa does not maintain control of its territory and introduce policies to ensure land rights and prevent land-grabbing, the green transition will not be successful. 

p. 92 Higher soil biodiversity builds more resilient ecosystems, helping to fight emerging fungus, bacteria and viruses. Securing our soils will also reduce or eliminate chemical and biological pollution, avoiding problems with antimicrobial resistance and human exposure to hazardous material, for example. 

p. 84 In the naturally poor soils of sub-Saharan Africa, fertilisers and soil amendments are useful for producing more plant biomass (higher yield), building more sustainable cropping systems and ensuring proper human nutrition. 

p. 85 In the poor soils of Africa, fertilisers must be used to ensure soil health, as nutrients are essential for the proper functioning of plant and microorganism metabolism. Of course, although recycling and the use of organic residues would also be good for Africa, the reality is that such products and services are not easily available there. Improving sanitation is important for the green transition in Africa as it would generate organic residues to be used as fertilisers, in line with the circular economy concept. (...) There is a direct correlation between antimicrobial resistance and water quality, infections, malnutrition, and life expectancy. Antibiotic abuse and the continuous infiltration of such residues in the soil would spread antibiotic resistant genes throughout the environment and compromise antibiotic efficacy globally.

p. 85 The decomposition rate for soil organic matter in such conditions is up to 10 times higher than in temperate conditions. Increasing soil organic matter in the tropics would require different approaches depending on the local conditions, but measures should always include the use of no-till systems, crop rotation and diversification, cover crops, organic and mineral amendments, and fertilisers.

p. 85 Greater soil biodiversity will improve soil health and make the cropping systems more resilient to biotic and abiotic stresses. The active use of biological control is also important for reducing the use of chemicals, with natural  enemies being kept/increased in agricultural systems through integrated management practices but also  actively produced and released. 

p. 93  By considering the impacts of food-related costs on our healthcare system, we could more easily diversify our diets, encourage the production of more nutritious food, and include alternative crops in our diets. 

p. 88 In Africa’s northern hemisphere, where fossil water deposits have been exhausted due to agricultural use. To give an order of magnitude, the Sahara fossil water table is more than a million square kilometres with 31 billion cubic metres of water, of which 3 billion cubic metres are drained each year from nearly 15 000 wells. This compares with just 600 million cubic metres 50 years ago. A key way to develop and boost Africa’s green transition is to introduce the notion of virtual water. This concept considers the use of water in the whole value chain, up to the final product.

FARMERS AND INCUBATORS

p. 51 Farmers’ organisations and cooperative involvement in R&I projects must be promoted better and a balanced and inclusive participation in projects both in Africa and Europe must ensure the potential role of the private sector harnessed (Agricultural Research Council (ARC) of South Africa and SLU 2021).  

p. 93 It is also important that all technology and innovation developed for Africa’s green transition takes a bottom-up. For agricultural innovations, farmers and practitioners should be included as co-developers in order to assure adoption of the technologies. Technologies developed with a top-down approach will not be readily accepted and are therefore doomed to fail. 

p. 99 Even though a recent study by the UN showed that almost 90% of the USD 540 bn in global subsidies given to farmers every year harm people and planet, the situation in Africa is different and a decent number of subsidies must be put towards nature-positive agricultural practices for the smallholder farmers.  

p. 99 If farmers cannot earn money and improve their lives, they will never have any incentive to adopt new technologies and ways of producing and will always depend on others. (...) Africa has a 

huge need for agriculture extension programmes, which should include basic financing and 

entrepreneurship education. Smallholder farmers must learn how to be entrepreneurs and to decide which technology to use and how. 

p. 94 Major extension programmes and demonstration fairs should be organised each year. This is not only to bring scientists (and knowledge) to the table, but also to bring the farmers’ reality to research institutes, and to involve PhD students with the farmers themselves so that they understand their needs throughout the whole process. 

p. 46 Support to the development and modernisation of the agricultural sector in Africa has improved through instruments such as DeSIRA. According to Guy FAURE from DG-INTPA in an interview held on (7th June 2021) there is a need: 

• to have better or improved linkages with other initiatives and programmes to improve farming systems value chains to promote added value of products, market access and improved nutrition. 
• to support incubators, entrepreneurs and start-ups in the agriculture sector. 
• to improve agriculture R&I governance mechanisms to better engage farmers' organisations to be more involved and equal partners in the funded projects. 
• An assessment was also conducted through a survey to analyse the role of Farm Organisation (FOs) and the gender component in the DeSIRA funded projects (DeSira 2021). The results of the survey indicate that the participation of FOs in DeSIRA projects is important even though a number of the funded projects did not take this into consideration by involving FOs as partners in the projects. The survey also indicates that the projects provided indirect support to the FOs through services, equipment such as mobile devices and capacity building interventions.  

DATA & POLICY MAKING

p. 94 A FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable) data management policy is mandatory for the information generated to be long-lasting. A consensus at the highest level for data standards, storage, sharing and processing, will bring common public good and synergy among multiple projects and programmes. (...) The importance of data management for sustainable development is clearly illustrated in the 2021 World Bank report ‘Data for Better Lives’. 

p. 94 Initiatives including RUFORUM, AKADEMIYA2063, IFPRI (International Food Policy Research Institute), APRA (Agricultural Policy Research in Africa), and AAA (Adaptation of African Agriculture Initiative) should help provide local governments with a natural and integrated means of communication so that they are aware of the most recent innovation developments. 

p. 95 A major effort is needed to encourage African politicians to become part of the green transition and to collaborate with everyone involved, since these politicians will be among the most important players. A framework that will fully involve and inform politicians throughout the whole process is very important for taking intercountry decisions and actions, aspects that fall under the good governance umbrella. 

Highlights

Highlight 1: Mohammed VI Polytechnic University – UM6P.:

p. 91 One example of ongoing African-European collaboration is the Mohammed VIPolytechnic University – UM6P. This recently-established university in Morocco is an example of fruitful collaboration between Africa and Europe, especially on issues related to Africa’s green transition. 

• UM6P already has projects under way with academic and other bodies in the EU, such as Wageningen University (Netherlands), Aix-Marseille University (France), INRAe (France), CEREGE (France), and IPK (Germany); as well as with other European bodies such as Rothamsted Research (UK), Cranfield University (UK), and EPFL (Switzerland).
• The 14 UM6P experimental farms that are planned to be set up all around Africa are a great tool. The programmes will help bridge the gap between the science and innovation being developed in universities/research centres and the farmers, especially smallholder farmers. 

Highlight 2: The science granting councils initiative (SGCI)

p. 56 A number of innovative funding partnerships have also emerged over the years such as the science granting councils initiative (SGCI). 

• The SGCI aims to strengthen the capacities of national research funding agencies or institutions to: manage research; design and monitor research programmes based on the use of robust STI indicators; support knowledge exchange with the private sector and lastly establish partnerships with other science system actors or stakeholders. 
• The SGCI was established in 2015 through a partnership between the South African national research foundation, UK department for international development and Canada’s international development research centre. 
• The SGCI has been supporting capacities of a number of sciences granting councils across the various regions in Eastern, Southern, Central and West Africa (National Research Foundation 2016).
• The 16 participating countries are: Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia in East Africa; Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Senegal and Ghana in West Africa; and Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe in Southern Africa.

p. 43 

Southern Africa innovation support programme (SAIS Phase II) contributes to the creation of 

inclusive business and employment through improved innovation systems and enhanced cooperation on innovation activities across five SADC-countries through the ministries responsible for STI. 

• The programme is funded by the Finnish government with co-funding from the partner countries to the tune of EUR 8.7 million between 2017-2020. 
  
• The programme established an innovation fund that uses a competitive call for proposals mechanism to identify and support local innovation and entrepreneurship projects in the SADC region. Key focus areas of the programme: (1) improving the capacity of innovation institutions and intermediaries in the region to support private sector innovation and enterprise development; (2) improving the capacity of businesses to innovate and enter new markets; and (3) improving the enabling environment for inclusive innovation in the SADC region. 
• SAIS 2 set up the connected hubs networking initiative to pool individual efforts such as innovation cafes and competitions organised in different SAIS 2 partner countries under one umbrella. 
• The objective is also to share best practices in innovation support through online and offline training sessions offered to tech hubs and start-ups together with international experts. 
• From 2017, SAIS 2 in partnership with the SADC secretariat has organised regional and national events to host the annual Southern Africa innovation forum. The SAIS programme focuses on building capacities and providing support to early-stage entrepreneurs and related innovation ecosystems. 

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