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Introduction
What are the biosciences?
Why biosciences in Africa?
The biosciences challenge for Africa
The vision
Focus on resource poor people in Africa
Bridging the knowledge, skills and technology gaps
Objective
Outputs
New institutional arrangements
Partners
Beneficiaries

1.  Introduction
Biosciences eastern and central Africa is a member of NEPAD’s continent-wide network of centres of excellence.

The goals of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) are to promote accelerated growth and sustainable development, to eradicate widespread and severe poverty and to halt the marginalisation of Africa in the globalisation process. NEPAD will help achieve these goals by facilitating the generation and use of cutting-edge science and technology by the continent’s researchers to enable them to develop products aimed at solving African problems. NEPAD will effect this facilitation through creation of a network of centres of excellence in biosciences throughout Africa.

NEPAD is focusing on four areas to harness science and technology to fight poverty, improve human health, protect the environment, promote industrialisation, and help advance global science and innovation for development. These are:

Information and communication sciences
Geosciences
Environmental sciences
Biosciences

Biosciences eastern and central Africa will pave the way for a network of African centres of excellence. The goal is to support eastern and central African countries to develop and apply bioscience research expertise to produce technologies that help poor farmers to secure their assets, improve their productivity and income and increase their market opportunities.

Establishment of Biosciences eastern and central Africa has been made possible by an initial investment of more than CAD$30 million by the Canada Fund for Africa through the Canadian International Development Agency. The facilities will be hosted by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), in Nairobi, Kenya. The Canadian grant will be used primarily to refurbish existing laboratory facilities, to provide new facilities and equipment (including additional biosafety containment facilities) as necessary for a centre of excellence in biosciences, and to develop capacity in biosciences amongst African scientists through fellowships and educational and training activities in ways that complement existing programmes at national, regional and international levels.

The Gatsby Charitable Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture are also supporting the design phase which includes national and regional consultations to identify high-priority programme and project areas. The Doyle Foundation has sponsored the development of the concept through consultations in Africa and with prospective partners internationally. NEPAD is actively seeking the involvement of other partners in Africa and in the international development and science communities to join in co-financing the research programmes and the capacity-building activities that will be undertaken by African scientists working at the new facilities.

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2.  What are the biosciences?

Biosciences embrace a wide range of biological specialisations related to all living organisms, including animals, microbes, plants and trees. Two inter-related and rapidly developing fields in the biosciences offer great promise for the future. These are genomics, determining all the DNA sequences that make up the ‘genetic blueprint’ of an organism, and bioinformatics, computer-based analyses of the vast genetic information produced by genomics research. New computer-based techniques are dramatically reducing the time needed to decode the genetic composition of organisms. Researchers have now determined the whole genetic codes of many organisms, from the simplest forms of viral life to more complex multi-cellular organisms to the landmark completion of the mapping of the human genome in 2001.

Other aspects of biosciences include gene technology, which involves the characterisation and manipulation of the genes that regulate specific traits, such as pest resistance or stress tolerance. These techniques are used in the selection of improved breeds of livestock and varieties of crops and trees and in the development of more accurate diagnostics and improved vaccines.

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3.  Why biosciences in Africa?

Advances in the biosciences promise powerful new ways of improving crop and livestock productivity and minimising threats to environmental and human health. Problems that proved intractable to conventional agricultural, veterinary, environmental and medical research look set to be tackled by application of these new approaches. This ‘new science’ has already led to development of a new generation of safer and more affordable vaccines for important human diseases such as meningitis and for animal diseases such as rabies. In food and agriculture, applications of biosciences have led to the development of new crop varieties with improved tolerance to pests and diseases and to better food storage quality. ‘Marker-aided’ selection of many important food crops and farm animals, which employs genetic markers to select desirable traits, such as tolerance of drought and disease, will allow new cultivars and breeds to be developed far more rapidly than the ‘hit and miss’ approach typical of conventional selective breeding programmes.

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4.  The biosciences challenge for Africa

The challenge now is to enlist this new science in work to reduce poverty and create wealth in Africa in sustainable and equitable ways. Many problems afflicting Africa require solutions specifically tailored to unique regional, national and local circumstances. Some solutions may be developed from existing knowledge and adaptation of available technologies. Many, however, require new knowledge, new discoveries and endogenous innovation—by Africans, for Africa.

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5.  The vision
Biosciences eastern and central Africa is envisioned as a means for enabling African scientists and institutions to become significant technological innovators as well as users. It will be one of a network of similar facilities serving each region of Africa. Their remit is to enable African scientists to undertake cutting-edge bioscience research targeted at priorities identified in the region by Africa’s national agricultural research systems (NARS), including its universities and research organisations, as well as other institutions such as the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA), the East African Community (EAC), the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and NEPAD.

The new facilities will complement and support national agricultural research institutions and universities by providing access to state-of-the-art biosciences and related scientific services and training. While having a primary focus on highest priority agriculturally related issues for eastern and central Africa, much of the research will have application across the continent and beyond. The facilities will be open to partnerships with the African research community at individual and institutional levels. New discoveries will be sought through strategic research in a world-class scientific environment. Creative ways will be sought to link new discoveries with product development and delivery so that scientific research ultimately benefits people living in poverty in Africa.

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6.  Focus on resource poor people in Africa
The research conducted by scientists working at these facilities will focus on problems that can be addressed by biological research, that are especially important to the poor in the region, and that are not being adequately investigated by research institutions or the private sector in the developed world. Examples of regional priorities include production of stress-tolerant, disease-resistant or nutritionally enhanced cultivars of crops that are the mainstay of poor farmers but of little or no importance to farmers in industralized countries or multinational agribusiness.

Many diseases killing the crops and livestock of poor people are neglected by the R&D community. Control of such ‘orphan diseases’ of livestock, for example, requires development of vaccines and diagnostic tests and better use of indigenous breeds possessing genetic resistance to disease. No vaccines or diagnostic tests currently exist for some of the most nutritionally and economically devastating diseases of livestock in Africa; other diseases are being inadequately controlled by crude technologies, some with undesirable effects, such as environmental pollution.

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7.  Bridging the knowledge, skills and technology gaps
Establishing the areas of scientific and technical competencies such as functional genomics and bioinformatics, will help close the enormous disparities in new science knowledge, skills and technologies that currently divide Africa from the rest of the world. Coincident with technological developments will be enhancement of the institutional framework in which the scientific investigations are undertaken. This will include building greater capacity for managing intellectual property and ensuring the safe use of new technologies through science-based biosafety and regulatory systems.

Biosciences eastern and central Africa will work with universities to train young scientists to MSc and PhD levels and to provide opportunites for post-doctoral fellows. It will not become a degree-awarding institution but will enhance the work of university laboratories. The close association of these facilities with universities will enable academic staff in Africa to further their professional development and careers through fellowships and secondments that allow them to undertake high-priority research for the poor within first-rate facilities and with direct access to international as well as African resources and scientific skills.

This is seen as a critically needed means for building human scientific capital. It is envisaged that it will evolve into a service provider of first resort to biosciences research for the poor while becoming an integral component of the academic and research establishments of Africa. Provision of world-class biosciences training and facilities will motivate and equip practising African scientists to reach their full potential within Africa and should attract many of Africa’s ‘best and brightest’ scientists working abroad to return to Africa to work directly on Africa’s development in Africa.


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8.  Objective
The objectives are to:

Provide a focal point for the African scientific community to support the activities of national, regional and international agencies as they address agriculturally related problems of the highest priority for reducing poverty and promoting development on the continent.

Create and strengthen human capital in biosciences and related disciplines.

Promote scientific excellence by bringing together a critical mass of scientists drawn from national, regional and international institutions in state-of-the-art facilities where they can undertake cutting-edge research to help solve the most important development constraints faced by the poor in Africa.

Increase access to affordable, world-class research facilities within Africa.

Produce, manage and disseminate bioscience knowledge of relevance to Africa’s development.

Facilitate access to advice and training on biosafety and intellectual property management issues.

Attract investment for biosciences in and for Africa from public and private sectors and regional and international bodies.

Serve as a platform for forging partnerships with other biosciences initiatives in other regions of Africa and worldwide.

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9.  Outputs
People: Trained young African scientists to MSc and PhD levels, in association with African universities. Continued professional development of young and mid-career scientists in African national agricultural research institutions and universities. Reduced brain-drain through provision of a powerful incentives for African scientists abroad to return home and for those working in Africa to remain professionally active in the region rather than leave for institutions in the industrialized world to pursue their careers. Reduced gaps in biosciences knowledge, skills and technologies between Africa and the industrialized world.

Services: Increased levels and quality of bioscience applications to solve agricultural problems by African universities, national and regional research organisations and the private sector. More effective management of intellectual property and biosafety regulatory systems in Africa.

Products: More relevant and effective new products and international public goods developed through bioscience applications specifically targeted at solving Africa’s agricultural, health and environmental problems. These may include stress- and pest- resistant crops, nutritionally enhanced foodstuffs, and vaccines and diagnostics for regionally important livestock diseases developed through partnerships formed with public research institutions and public and private investors.

Facilities: State-of-the-art research laboratories for the biosciences, including genomics, proteomics, gene technology, immunology and new containment facilities for safe genetic manipulation of plants and micro-organisms (e.g., for vaccine development), and safe handling of pathogens used in research programmes.

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10.  New institutional arrangements
Developing new ways of organising and managing science will be an important feature of Biosciences eastern and central Africa. A key institutional challenge is to find ways that permit effective sharing of this resource among countries and partners in the region. Sharing expensive facilities makes great sense for the poorest continent on earth but there are few existing models to signpost how to achieve this. NEPAD and ILRI are committed to developing just such a road map so that these facilities foster innovations generating greater collaboration among Africa’s research systems, advanced biosciences institutions worldwide and the private sector.

Biosciences eastern and central Africa will have independent governance that will serve the priorities of the countries of the region as advocated by ASARECA, EAC, FARA and NEPAD. A board will be established with representation by all the key stakeholders. TIt will work closely with ILRI’s Board of Trustees and management to ensure complementary programmes and efficiency of operations, including sharing of administrative and laboratory services.

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11.  Partners
Key partners will include regional universities; national, regional and international agricultural research institutions; universities and other advanced research institutions worldwide; non-governmental organisations; the private sector; and the wider international scientific and development communities.

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12.  Beneficiaries
The immediate clients will be the African scientific and agricultural communities and national and international agencies involved with agricultural research for development. The ultimate beneficiaries will be poor agricultural producers and consumers across Africa. Global public goods will be generated through better and more sustainable management of natural resources and conservation of biodiversity. It will work for early success through carefully selected hosted projects and consortia that demonstrate scientific discovery leading to tangible social and economic development. This will help sustain political and financial commitment to science and technology in Africa as a means of wealth generation for Africa.

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