Horn of Africa: EU Donates Towards Research and Development
By George Okore
NAIROBI---The European Union and its Member States will support Research for Development through effective transfer of knowledge and knowhow to their African counterparts.
Marking this year’s Europe Day on Wednesday, EU Head of Delegation to Kenya Mr. Lodewijk Briet announced that EU has awarded another Ksh 45 million to Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) to research on crops suitable for arid and semi-arid lands.
The Ambassador said EU supports both short and long term efforts to boost food security, through increasing scientific research investment in the Horn of Africa region. These include Push-Pull technology developed by International Center for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) to control tsetse flies, an important animal disease that affects millions of livestock and farmers. The research is being scaled up to reach multiple beneficiaries.
Other EU supported agricultural innovations include innovative soil conservation technologies by Africa Conservation Tillage Network (ACT) to address land degradation and improve crop production, especially during droughts and/or heavy rainfalls. Another innovation is the Satellite imagery developed over the last 10 years by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission to monitor agriculture with satellite images and provided early warning information to improve food security.
The Envoy said Kenya and the region had huge agricultural potential and EU is here for the long-term. Our support for Research for Development but also for the Elections seeks to promote sustainable growth and the well being of all Kenyans,” he said.
The EU day in Kenya was marked by exhibition by diversity of national and international research institutions. “Europe believes strongly in these research networks and in building capacity for solving issues beyond national boundaries, such as droughts, diseases and resilience building. We will continue supporting Research for Development in the region with this perspective in mind and invite others to join in this endeavor”, says Briet.
The European Investment Bank regional head Kurt Simonsen said the bank has funded investments in Europe in research and innovation for over 35 years, with over €10 billion Euros lent to this sector last year. In Africa, he said EIB focuses on infrastructure and support to small and medium sized companies through local banks. For example, it recently signed credit lines to 5 banks, worth over €100 or KSh.10 billion, indicative of the EIB's confidence in Kenya's economy in this crucial pre-election period.
EU representative to Somalia George-Marc Andre said ACP countries are generally lagging behind in research and development- critical for the attainment of their sustainable development. This is also important for these countries to become more resilient to adverse impacts of climate change but also to become self-sufficient and to meet the MDGs, in particular the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger.
He said Research activities are carried out to strengthen the surveillance of trans-boundary animal diseases affecting the export trade in livestock. Research is also carried out to identify and facilitate the development of an Animal Health Certification Model suitable for pastoral production systems in order to strengthen compliance to international standards and regulations for the export of live animals.
The EU also provides humanitarian support challenged by constraints like burgeoning population, limited resources, poverty and little or no development in the arid lands areas. The occasion was attended by Envoys Ms Margit Hellwig-Boete (Germany), Sophie From-Emmesberger (Finland) and Aldo Biondi-from the Department for Humanitarian Civil Protection (ECHO).