Are African leaders doing enough to promote science?

TOWARDS the end of last year a group of parliamentarians from Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Kenya attended a workshop organised by a group of scientists in East Africa who believe that potential African leaders have not practically recognised that science and technology are a major driving force behind sustainable socio-economic development, including the reduction of famine and malnutrition.
The need for self-sufficiency in food production and reduction of the humiliating levels of food dependency in Africa formed the core of the workshop held in Mombasa.
Politicians’ attention tends to dwindle when scientists talk about the need to give science more prominence in national development plans. However, there was dead silence with tears welling in the eyes of a few politicians when they were confronted with the tragic picture of a vulture waiting to tear apart the body of a helpless African child dying from starvation.
The silence deepened when the presenter, Dr Sam Wakhusama, one of Kenya’s leading research scientists, said the photographer who was saddened by the tragedy and cheapness of human life later committed suicide.
“Such deaths and indescribable suffering can be solved sustainably only if political leaders and their parties practically include important aspects of science and technology, especially food production in their policies or development plans,” said Dr Wakhusama, who heads the International Service for Acquisition of Agri-biotech. Applications Afri-Centre in Nairobi.
Prof James Ochanda, the chairman of African Biotechnology Stakeholders Forum, said the humiliation resulting from the famine in southern Africa is a warning, so these countries must appropriately use the available agricultural technology instead of debates that depict them as empty talkers.
Africa is science-poor and the whole debate on the genetically modified (GM) maize is a tragic diversion resulting from the fact that these nations lack biosafety laws and regulations appropriately backed by science and not mere rhetoric.
It would be great if some anti-genetically modified organisms (GMOs) activists spend money helping these countries to acquire skills and facilities that could be used to detect and manage real or imaginary dangers of some GM crops under local conditions, “adds Prof Ochanda.
A local university lecturer on environment issues, Dr Margaret Karembu, said the world is sitting on tons of food, but it is an illusion to assume that those who are unable to produce enough of it due to various reasons will easily acquire it when they are not focused on the need to solve their own problems.
In this century any nation ignoring biotechnology revolution even in agriculture is in trouble, she noted.
However, the famine ravaging about 14 million people in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland and Lesotho has shocked observers who have been assuming that Africa would enter the millennium without the label of a continent with hungry and malnourished inhabitants.
Drought is not confined to Africa and should not be an excuse for food shortages. This could still be applied to some nations in southern Africa where the mass media seem to be under pressure to tone down their reports on the impact of famine in some rural areas.
And so why is Africa not taking urgent steps to improve food production? There are all sorts of technological packages, however imperfect, in agriculture that has resulted in other developing nations in Asia and Latin America increasing food production.
These nations that can credibly point at tangible and sustainable plans aimed at increased food production, be it by organic farming, green revolution technologies or biotechnology, including GM crops or a mixture of all these.
Thus “green revolution rice” from Vietnam, India and Pakistan fill the urban supermarkets in East Africa. Although there is always room for sudden change, the future may not be so bright.
Sub-Saharan Africa may not halve the number of poor and hungry people by the global deadline of 2015.
Poverty and hunger will haunt 70 per cent of the population in the region. This boils down to at least 600 million very poor and very hungry people. Ironically, Asia with its vast population will “only” have 279 million poor and hungry people. Desert-ridden Middle East and North Africa will have only 6 million. Hunger and malnutrition are the worst manifestation of poverty in any country.
Even if the above data were to be reduced by half, the situation would remain grim. It is even more tragic when governments or political leaders in famine-riddled African nations seem to be in a hurry to practically confront the tragic situation.
Yet in southern Africa and Ethiopia, there is a tragic anti-science dance going on and many leaders and “experts” who seem to bask in anti-GMO debate limelight, have not mentioned the need to increase funding for research and development aimed at increasing food production and storage technologies.
While the world is shouting about the unfolding biotechnology revolution leaders in southern Africa should note that heads of state from both US and Britain launched the human genome draft.
In Kenya the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) government is not mentioning the need to increase funding for research and development.