Knowledge for Development

Related developments


Research on Higher Education and Science and Innovation Policy: Policy Implications

By Merle Jacob, UNESCO Chair, Lund University, Sweden   Merle Jacob recommends that in the pursuit of providing broad-based education – primary, secondary and tertiary – policy makers should not sacrifice quality, even though the demands, expectations and the diversity of options for higher education in ACP countries have shifted.

8/03/2015


When all models are wrong

More stringent quality criteria are needed for models used at the science–policy interface say Andrea Saltelli of the EC’s Joint Research Centre and Silvio Funtowicz at the University of Bergen, Norway. They argue that simple models could enable scientists and stakeholders to understand how assumptions and outputs are linked and that complex and often over-parameterized mechanistic models should be used only for more speculative investigations outside the policy realm. They present a seven-rule checklist to aid in the responsible development and use of models. These are: (i) use models to clarify, not to obscure; (ii) adopt an ‘assumption-hunting’ attitude; (iii) detect pseudoscience; (iv) find sensitive assumptions before they find you; (v) aim for transparency; (vi) don’t just ‘do the sums right,’ but ‘do the right sums’; and (vii) focus the analysis, don’t do perfunctory sensitivity analyses, merely changing one factor at a time. (Issues in S&T, 30/01/2015)

8/03/2015


When all models are wrong

More stringent quality criteria are needed for models used at the science–policy interface. Andrea Saltelli of the EC’s Joint Research Centre and Silvio Funtowicz at the University of Bergen, Norway, present a seven-rule checklist to aid in the responsible development and use of models. They argue that simple models could enable scientists and stakeholders to understand how assumptions and outputs are linked and that complex and often over-parameterized mechanistic models should be used only for more speculative investigations outside the policy realm. The seven rules are: (i) use models to clarify, not to obscure; (ii) adopt an ‘assumption-hunting’ attitude; (iii) detect pseudoscience; (iv) find sensitive assumptions before they find you; (v) aim for transparency; (vi) don’t just ‘do the sums right,’ but ‘do the right sums’; and (vii) focus the analysis, don’t do perfunctory sensitivity analyses, merely changing one factor at a time. (Issues in S&T, 30/01/2015)

27/02/2015


A new Bio-Economy web site

A newly launched website, Bio-Economy, of the South African Research Chair in the Environmental and Social Dimensions of the Bio-economy provides a platform for researchers, policy makers and students to engage with and learn more about approaches within the bio-economy that facilitate poverty reduction in a manner that is socially just and environmentally sustainable.  On the site, publications and other information are arranged according to five themes: (i) governance and rights; (ii) biodiversity use and trade; (iii) seed and knowledge; (iv) access and benefit sharing; and (v) the impacts of emerging technologies.    (Platform for Agrobiodiversity Research, 12/12/2014)

22/02/2015


Exploring the role of climate science in supporting long-term adaptation and decision-making in sub-Saharan Africa

Gaps in observational data, uncertainty in projections, impacts and vulnerability, limited capacity to interpret climate information and for making decision under uncertainty, are the key issues identified in this CDKN report. The working paper includes a review of articles and 'grey' literature on knowledge gaps and areas needed to support the capacity of African decision-maker. It also reports on a workshop that brought together UK- and Africa-based experts working on climate science and adaptation in Africa and on a side-event to the Africa Climate Change Conference 2013. Recommendations for addressing the gaps include promoting Africa-led scientific capacity, creating better uptake and translation of existing research, maximising value addition, and improving the science-policy interface. The report is intended to identify key gaps in science and capacity to feed into the scoping phase of the Future Climate For Africa (FCFA) programme, funded by DFID (UK) and DGIS (The Netherlands).   (CDKN, 29/04/2014)

31/12/2014


Using the concepts of resilience, vulnerability and adaptability for the assessment and of agricultural systems

There is clear conceptual overlap and often the inter-changeable use of; resilience, vulnerability and adaptability, which have emerged as the dominant concepts in the study of disturbance and change of social-ecological systems. The authors, Daniel Callo-Concha, of the Centre for Development Research, at the University of Bonn (ZEF), Germany and colleagues, argue that the driving methodological and operational criteria for their application cannot be unambiguously separated. They believe it is difficult to identify guiding principles for the operational application of each and stress that their operationalisation require consistency in approaches and protocols to ensure their coherent use. They conclude that the conceptual and operational integration of resilience, vulnerability and adaptability would perhaps lead to a more complete portrayal of the behaviour of agricultural systems in changing situations.   (ZEF, 01/03/2014)

31/12/2014


Africa science plan attacked

Scientists have raised concerns about Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA) that African heads of state adopted on 2 July 2014. This ten-year pan-African science and innovation strategy prioritizes the use of research to drive economic and social development across the continent. The success of the strategy will depend on the quality of research projects in individual countries. To help scientists win domestic support for research programmes, STISA plans to set up a research and innovation council that will bring together academies and funders to coordinate national activities. It will also take control of a European Union-funded competitive grant scheme that has spent almost €14 million on research projects in water and sanitation, agriculture and energy. But critics fear that the strategy’s top-heavy administrative structure and lack of firm pledges may render it ineffective. They also believe that its aims may be beyond the continent’s limited resources, especially given that it contains few financial commitments. However, despite their concerns, critics agree that STISA is an improvement on its predecessor, Africa’s Science and Technology Consolidated Plan of Action (CPA).   (Nature, 25/06/2014)

2/09/2014


Biotech in Africa

Florence Wambugu and Daniel Kamanga of Africa Harvest Biotech Foundation International, Kenya, brought together a large number of African experts from fields as diverse as economics, agriculture, biotechnology, law and politics and asked them to review various biotechnology initiatives in Africa. In this book, available both as e-book and hard cover edition, the experts argue that there is a great future for biotechnology that sidesteps Western interests that do not necessarily match those of Africa. They demand a greater say in how research and development funds are allocated and spent, and ask for more elbow-room for Africa’s political leaders to drive the development of feasible policies, suitable biosafety legislation and regulation, and to respond effectively to public-private partnerships.     (Springer website, July 2014)

25/08/2014


Sustainable intensification: a new buzzword to feed the world?

Ian Scoones, at Future Agricultures, reviews the literature on ‘sustainable intensification’ (SI) in particular at what differentiate the concept of 'sustainable agriculture' from the one of 'sustainable intensification', only to find a 'crisis' narrative. Scoones notes that a social and political analysis is absent, a fact that undermines the approach. He concludes: 'For SI to be anything more than a rather odd collection of technical solutions, the questions of socio-technical choice and direction must be put at the forefront. This means having a political debate, and bringing in people more centrally, something that may jar with the rather bland techno-economic prescriptions offered to date.'    (Futures Agricultures, 16/06/2014)

28/07/2014


Behavioral responses and the impact of new agricultural technologies: Evidence from a double-blind field experiment in Tanzania

The results of a recent paper published in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics comparing Randomized Controlled Trials (RCT) conducted with cowpea farmers in Tanzania, using an open RCT with a double-blind RCT ( used in medical science) were discussed by Venezuelan journalist and blogger Francisco Toro. The results were surprising and put into question the standard methodology that agricultural scientists commonly use to assess the success of the introduction of new agricultural technologies. Toro sums it up: 'In the open RCT, Tanzanian cowpea farmers who knew they were getting improved seed easily outperformed farmers who knew they were getting traditional seed. But in the double-blind study, farmers who weren’t told whether the seed they got was improved or not performed just as well whether that the seed they received was improved or traditional. In fact, farmers who used traditional seed without knowing it did just as well as farmers who used improved seed, whether they knew it or not. Only farmers who knew the seed they were given wasn’t improved lagged behind in productivity.'   (Francisco Toro's blog, 09/04/2014)

28/07/2014