Global S&T Development Trend Analysis Platform of Resources and Environment
| DOI | 10.1126/science.aat7616 |
| Developing countries must fund local research | |
| Edmond Sanganyado | |
| 2021-06-25 | |
| 发表期刊 | Science
 |
| 出版年 | 2021 |
| 英文摘要 | Conversations on the imperialistic undertones in global research funding overlook the lack of support for researchers in developing countries from their own governments ([ 1 ][1]). Research spending by developing countries is often meager to nonexistent ([ 2 ][2]), resulting in an overreliance on foreign grants and international collaborations. The lack of alignment between research priorities of foreign funders and developing nations can lead to local research activities that do not benefit local communities. For that reason, member states of the African Union recently agreed to spend 1% of their gross domestic product (GDP) on research and development (R&D) to promote responsibility and ownership of their own economic growth ([ 3 ][3]). This positive commitment is an encouraging start, but developing nations will not succeed with good science policy alone; they also need a supporting research funding infrastructure and strong financial commitments.
Zambia's past efforts demonstrate how good intentions can fall short. Despite launching an ambitious science policy in 1996 that established the National Science and Technology Council and mandated an R&D spending of 3% of GDP, Zambia lags in innovation and spent less than 0.6% on R&D in 2014 ([ 4 ][4]). In 2016, a Zambian parliamentary committee attributed the lack of success to a lack of legislation, harmonized planning and coordination, and interaction between scientists and policy-makers, as well as disjointed funding infrastructure for R&D ([ 4 ][4]).
Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa recently signed the promising Manpower Planning and Development Amendment Act of 2020, which provides a funding infrastructure plan, into law ([ 5 ][5]). The legislation will establish a Manpower Development Fund and stimulate the business sector to support the Innovation and Industrialization Fund. It also outlines plans for several academies of science that are similar to the Chinese Academy of Sciences and South Korea's Institute for Basic Science. However, because the Act does not include any strong commitments to R&D spending, the infrastructure could stall without financial support.
Rwanda has shown how strong financial commitments underpin R&D success. To ensure that it meets its target of 1% of the GDP by 2024, the country has established two national research and innovation funds, integrated R&D spending into the national budget, and stated target funds for basic and applied research in priority areas. Rwanda has also promoted partnerships between the public and the business sector and offered incentives for the business sector to invest in R&D ([ 6 ][6]). Such strong commitment to R&D has already yielded results: Rwanda developed innovative strategies to combat the COVID-19 pandemic ([ 7 ][7]).
For science and technology to drive economic growth, developing countries need ambitious science policies, concrete R&D funding commitments, and a supporting funding infrastructure. African countries should study the challenges faced by Zambia, the gaps in Zimbabwe's laws, and the model set by Rwanda as they formulate their own R&D policies.
1. [↵][8]1. N. A. Erondu et al
., Nat. Med. 27, 742 (2021).
[OpenUrl][9][PubMed][10]
2. [↵][11]1. K. P. Acharya,
2. S. Pathak
, Applied Research in Low-Income Countries: Why and How? Front. Res. Metrics Anal. 4, 10.3389/frma.2019.00003 (2019).
3. [↵][12]African Union Commision, Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa 2024 (Ethiopia, 2020); [https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/38756-doc-stisa\_science\_tech\_innovation\_strategy.pdf][13].
4. [↵][14]National Assembly of Zambia, Report of the Committee on Education, Science and Technology for the First Session of the Twelfth National Assembly (Zambia, 2016); [www.parliament.gov.zm/sites/default/files/documents/committee_reports/Educational%20Science%20and%20Technology.pdf][15].
5. [↵][16]Parliament of Zimbabwe, Manpower Planning and Development Amendment Bill, 2020 (Zimbabwe, 2020; |
| 领域 | 气候变化 ; 资源环境 |
| URL | 查看原文 |
| 引用统计 | |
| 文献类型 | 期刊论文 |
| 条目标识符 | http://119.78.100.173/C666/handle/2XK7JSWQ/334102 |
| 专题 | 气候变化 资源环境科学 |
| 推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714 | Edmond Sanganyado. Developing countries must fund local research[J]. Science,2021. |
| APA | Edmond Sanganyado.(2021).Developing countries must fund local research.Science. |
| MLA | Edmond Sanganyado."Developing countries must fund local research".Science (2021). |
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