Mapping research systems in developing countriesacademic.sun.ac.za/crest/unesco/data/Uganda.pdf000...

1

Mapping research systems in

developing countries

Country report: The Science and Technology system of Uganda

Project Leaders:

CREST: Centre for Research on Science and Technology, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa

IRD: Institute for Research on Development,

France

i

Table of Contents

Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 1

Section 1: The political environment................................................................................................... 1

Section 2: Country characteristics ....................................................................................................... 2

2.1 Basic economic outlook ............................................................................................. 2

2.2 Demographic profile incorporating health, education and ICT indicators ................... 3

Section 3: Science and technology system .......................................................................................... 5

3.1 Governance of S&T .................................................................................................... 5

3.2 S&T landscape ......................................................................................................... 11

3.3 Human capital for S&T ............................................................................................. 20

3.5 Research outputs .................................................................................................... 28

3.6 Technological innovation ......................................................................................... 29

3.7 International co-operation and networks ................................................................ 32

3.8 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 33

1

THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA

Nelius Boshoff

Senior Researcher, Centre for Research on Science and Technology, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa

Introduction

This report looks at the science, technology and innovation system of the Republic of Uganda and is structured in three main parts. Section 1 briefly deals with the national political environment. Section 2 presents the key country characteristics, specifically indicators pertaining to the country’s economic, health, education, and information & communication technology (ICT) infrastructure. Section 3, which forms the main part of the report, gives an overview and analysis of the science and technology (S&T) system. This section is subdivided into seven thematic subsections covering the governance of S&T, the S&T landscape, S&T human resources, funding, research outputs, technological innovation and lastly international co-operation and networks activities.

Section 1: The political environment

The Republic of Uganda gained political independence from the British Colonial Protectorate administration on October 8, 1962. Edward MutesaII (the King of Buganda) became the first (ceremonial) president of Uganda and Milton Obote the executive Prime Minister. This constitution, however, was overthrown in 1966 when Obote declared himself president.

In 1971, Idi Amin took power and his dictatorial regime was responsible for the death of about 300 000 opponents and the forcible removal of the entrepreneurial Indian minority from Uganda. In 1979, Milton Obote returned after an invasion by Tanzanian forces aided by Ugandan exiles. Under Obote’s regime about another 100 000 lives were lost owing to guerrilla war and human rights abuses. Obote was deposed once more in 1985 by General Tito Okello. The latter only ruled for six months before the National Resistance Army (NRM), operating under the leadership of the current president, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, overthrew him.

Museveni has been in power since 1986 and his rule has brought relative stability and economic growth to Uganda. Severe restrictions on multi-party politics were imposed in 1986 and only the president’s “movement” system was allowed to take part in elections. In July 2005, a constitutional referendum voted to cancel the ban on multi-party politics, and parliament abolished a constitutional limit on presidential terms. Museveni was declared the winner of elections in February 2006 in the first multi-party poll in 25 years. His presidency has been marred by involvement in the 1998-2003 civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and other Great Lakes region

2

Agriculture is the most important sector in the Ugandan economy, with coffee being the main agricultural product and export commodity. Natural resources include fertile soils, regular rainfall, and deposits of mineral copper and cobalt.

conflicts. The rebellion in the north of the country, led by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), has resulted in massacres and mutilations for about two decades. The violence has displaced 1.6 million people and killed or kidnapped thousands of civilians. In August 2006, the LRA and government signed a truce that is aimed at ending the conflict.

Section 2: Country characteristics

2.1 Basic economic outlook

Since Museveni took power in 1986, the government of Uganda (with the support of foreign countries and international agencies), has acted to rebuild and stabilise the economy that was decimated during Idi Amin’s regime and the subsequent civil war. This has been done by undertaking currency reform, raising producer prices on export crops, increasing prices of petroleum products and improving civil service wages. The policy changes are aimed at the dampening of inflation, boosting of production and export earnings (Wikipedia – en.wikipedia.org).

During 1990-2001, the economy turned in a solid performance based on continued investment in the rehabilitation of infrastructure, improved incentives for production and exports, reduced inflation, gradually improved domestic security, and the return of exiled Indian-Ugandan entrepreneurs (Wikipedia – en.wikipedia.org). Between 2000 and 2005, the average economic growth was about 5.5 percent. In 2005, the percentage economic growth was 5.9 percent, with a projected growth of 6.6 percent in 2006 (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Gross Domestic Product (Percentage growth)

Poverty declined rapidly between 1992 and 2003, because of the high and broad-based economic growth – poverty rates decreased from 56 percent in 1992 to 38 percent in 2003. Poverty, however, remains undisputable high in rural areas and in Northern and Eastern Uganda (World Bank, Uganda country brief – web.worldbank.org). Moreover, according to IMF statistics, in 2004 Uganda's GDP per capita reached 300 US dollars, a much higher level than in the eighties but still at half of Sub-Saharan African average income of 600 US dollars per year. Total GDP crossed the 8 billion dollar mark in that same year (Wikipedia – en.wikipedia.org).

Source: World Bank, Uganda country brief (web.worldbank.org)

5.4% 4.9%6.5%

4.5%5.8% 5.9%

6.6%

0.0%

2.0%

4.0%

6.0%

8.0%

10.0%

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 (est)

3

Lastly, gross domestic savings increased from 4.7 percent of GDP to 14.5 percent between 2000 and 2005, and exports increased from 11.2 percent of GDP to 14.5 percent between 2000 and 2005 (World Bank, Uganda country brief – web.worldbank.org). Nevertheless, Uganda is one of the poorest countries in the world.

2.2 Demographic profile incorporating health, education and ICT indicators

Table 1 summarises the most recent available statistics for Uganda with regard to health, education, and information & communication technology (ICT) infrastructure.

Table 1: Summary of various demographic statistics for Uganda

Indicator Statistic Year Source

General demographical

Total population 30.92 mill 2007 World Bank1

Urban population (% of total population) 13% 2006 World Health Organization2

% of population 0-14 years 50.0% 2009 (est) CIA Factbook3

% of population 15-64 years 47.9% 2009 (est) CIA Factbook3

% of population 65+ years 2.1% 2009 (est) CIA Factbook3

Health

HIV adult prevalence rate 5.4% 2007 World Bank1

Female life expectancy at birth (years) 51 2006 World Health Organization2

Male life expectancy at birth (years) 49 2006 World Health Organization2

Life expectancy at birth (years) 50 2006 World Health Organization2

Total fertility rate (children born per woman) 6.6 2006 World Health Organization2

Infant mortality per 1 000 live births (female) 75 2006 World Health Organization2

Infant mortality per 1 000 live births (male) 81 2006 World Health Organization2

Infant mortality per 1 000 live births 78 2007 World Bank5

Female adult mortality per 1 000 474 2006 World Health Organization2

Male adult mortality per 1 000 518 2006 World Health Organization2

Under 5 mortality per 1 000 130 2007 World Bank1

Total expenditure on health as % of GDP 7% 2005 World Health Organization2

4

Table 2 Continued

Indicator Statistic Year Source

Education

Adult literacy rate (% of population age 15+) 73.6% 2007 UNESCO Institute for Statistics6

Learners per teacher on average (primary level) 52.2 2004 Uganda Bureau of Statistics7

Learners per teacher on average (secondary level)

354.2 2004 Uganda Bureau of Statistics7

Primary school enrolment, gross ratio 116.2 2007 UNESCO Institute for Statistics6

Secondary school enrolment, gross ratio 22.5 2007 UNESCO Institute for Statistics6

Ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary education (%)

98 2005 World Bank1

Information & Communication Technology (ICT)

Telephone main lines per 1 000 people 4 2006 World Bank , ICT at a Glance4

Mobile subscribers per 1 000 people 67 2006 World Bank , ICT at a Glance4

Internet users per 1 000 people 25 2006 World Bank1

Personal computers per 1 000 people 17 2006 World Bank , ICT at a Glance4

% of households with television 10% 2006 World Bank , ICT at a Glance4

Broadband subscribers per 1 000 people 0.0 2006 World Bank , ICT at a Glance4

International Internet bandwidth (bits per person)

4 2006 World Bank , ICT at a Glance4

1 http://devdata.worldbank.org/external/CPProfile.asp?PTYPE=CP&CCODE=UGA

2 http://www.who.int/whosis/database/core/core_select.cfm 3 https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/mi.html 4 http://devdata.worldbank.org/ict/uga_ict.pdf 5 http://devdata.worldbank.org/AAG/uga_aag.pdf 6 www.uis.unesco.org 7 www.ubos.org

5

Section 3: Science and technology system

3.1 Governance of S&T

3.1.1 Policy context for S&T

The Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP) is the country’s blueprint for socio-economic development and provides the framework for national planning. It was released in 1997 and has since undergone two revisions; first in 2000 and more recently in 2004. The PEAP is structured in terms of five pillars: (1) managing the economy, (2) increasing production, competitiveness and incomes (3) ensuring security, conflict resolution and disaster management (4) ensuring good governance and (5) advancing human development (MoFPED, 2004:xv). It is particularly in relation to the second pillar (production, competitiveness and incomes) that the value of S&T is appreciated.

Moreover, the PEAP specifically targets the agricultural sector for intervention in order to eradicate poverty. In addition to its role as employer, [agriculture employs about 69% of the population] there are two other reasons why agriculture is a critical focus in the PEAP. First, the non-agricultural goods and services produced in rural areas are mostly sold locally. Their production cannot expand sustainably unless the demand generated by agricultural incomes also expands. Secondly, agriculture is particularly dependent on public goods including research, extension and support to marketing. Growth of agriculture thus generates spillover benefits to the non-agricultural sector in rural areas and beyond, through the consumption of non-farm products. Linkages with manufacturing and service sectors then spread the benefits of growth in agricultural incomes to the rest of the economy. An important aspect of this process is the increase in value-addition through the processing of agricultural products (MoFPED, 2004:51).

A large number of interventions, which are grouped under the Plan for Modernisation of Agriculture (PMA), address the expansion of production and incomes in rural areas. The mission of the PMA is to eradicate poverty by transforming subsistence agriculture to commercial agriculture. Improving the welfare of poor subsistence farmers requires that they re-orient their production towards the market (PMA, 2000:vi). The PMA has seven main public expenditure intervention areas, and research and technology development is one of these. The focus of this particular area is to make research and technology development more relevant and responsive to the needs of subsistence farmers (PMA, 2000:x).

A National Agricultural Research Policy, conforming to the PMA principles, was released in March 2003 in order to guide the generation and dissemination of research and improved technologies for agricultural development in Uganda, as well to promote the uptake thereof. Among various things, the policy provides guidelines for the formulation and prioritisation of agricultural research programmes (MAAIF, 2003:5, 13). Key priority areas for research programmes are:

Technology development and multiplication, including import, adaptation and adoption of high yielding disease and pest-resistant planting and stocking materials.

Socio-economic research, including participatory needs assessment, technology adoption and impact studies, policy research and analysis, cost-benefit studies, and gender-responsive technologies.

Research on agricultural related aspects of poverty and food security.

Application of information technologies in developing decision support systems (e.g. crop modelling).

6

Farm power and post-harvest technologies, including animal traction, solar, wind, biogas, storage, preservation of perishable commodities and agro-processing.

Land and water resources management, including soil fertility, land degradation, production systems (for crop, livestock, aquaculture, agro-forestry), water harvesting techniques and irrigation.

Sustainable natural resource utilisation, including capture fisheries, biodiversity conservation, and environmental-friendly technologies.

Integrating indigenous knowledge into modern and improved technologies, including disease and pest control, preservation as well as improving palatability of foods.

As far as health research is concerned, in 1991 Uganda established the Essential National Health Research Strategy (ENHR). Thereafter a national ENHR plan was developed for the period 1993-1996. The plan was reviewed in 1997 and a new five-year plan was proposed (Oskowitz, nd:10). The following broad research priority areas were outlined:

maternal child health and nutrition

water

sanitation and environment

communicable diseases

non-communicable diseases

health policy and health systems; and

drug use studies.

The health research priorities have recently been reviewed, according to the 2004/2005 health sector performance report. The report further states that a Health Research Policy has been developed together with a National Health Research Strategic Plan for the period 2005-2010 (MoH, 2005:101). Unfortunately, no closer information could be obtained on the revised research priorities as well as on the status of the two strategic documents mentioned.

Moreover, despite positive and encouraging developments in the strengthening of Uganda’s national agricultural and health research systems, the country has hitherto functioned without a national S&T policy. Various versions of previous attempts at a national S&T policy have been circulated but government never formerly adopted these. Only very recently (in July 2006) a comprehensive National Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Policy has been drafted, and it is now up to Cabinet to consider and approve the policy for implementation. The broad objectives of the draft STI policy (UNCST, 2006:5) are to:

Increase public awareness and appreciation of STI

Increase STI sector financing and investment

Support research and development

Strengthen the national system for technology transfer and intellectual property management

Improve the information management system and increase public awareness of STI

Build and maintain STI human capital and infrastructure

7

Strengthen systems for safety, ethics and standards in STI

Strengthen the STI coordination framework

Adoption of the STI policy will lead to the development of a national STI strategy and plan, which will assist in aligning the various S&T efforts and policy initiatives by actors in the agricultural, health and other research systems.

3.1.2 Uganda National Council for Science and Technology (UNCST) in the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (MoFPED)

The role of the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (MoFPED) is to co-ordinate national development planning, to mobilise public resources, and to ensure accountability for the use of such resources. The ministry’s vision is to stimulate production and to reduce absolute poverty below 10% by 2017 (www.finance.go.ug/mission.php). The fact that the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology (UNCST) is located within this ministry reflects a commitment by government to integrate S&T in the national planning framework and to mobilise the country’s S&T system for purposes of economic growth.

The UNCST is a semi-autonomous government agency, established by Statute No 1 of 1990. It replaced the former National Research Council, which was set up in 1970 by Presidential Decree to guide and coordinate R&D in Uganda. The UNCST has a three-fold mandate:

To develop and coordinate policies and strategies for integrating S&T into the national development processes;

To advise the government on policy matters necessary for promoting S&T; and

To coordinate and guide national R&D efforts.

The overall strategic goals of the UNCST are consistent with its five-year strategic plan for the period 2006/07-2010/11 and include:

Streamlining the national S&T policy environment in order to foster scientific and technological innovation

Strengthening the national frameworks for research and product development, technology transfer and intellectual property management

Enhancing public appreciation for S&T

Strengthening the UNCST institutional resource base and technical capacity

Specifically with regard to R&D, the UNCST plays the following role:

Developing national priorities for R&D

Coordinating and overseeing research activities and development

Conducting R&D policy studies

Clearing and registering research activities and development

8

The UNCST oversees research and S&T development in all sectors in the country but the formulation and management of sectoral research and S&T development policies is the responsibility of the relevant ministries (www.uncst.go.ug; UNCST, 2006b). Moreover, while the UNCST is strategically important to technology development, the organisation as it stands lacks the financial and human resources to meet its broad mandate. At present, the UNCST has almost no influence over the other agencies involved with S&T and industrial development, and its mandate remains on paper. Also as a result, there is little coherence or co-ordination across the national technology system in Uganda (UNCTAD, 2003:99).

3.1.3 National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) in the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF)

The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) is mandated, among other things, to formulate and/or review all policies in the agricultural sector. Specifically with regard to agricultural research, MAAIF’s multiple role involves the following (MAAIF, 2003:17):

Formulating and reviewing agricultural research policy

Overseeing the implementation of agricultural research policy

Initiating review and enactment of legislation for the national agricultural research system

Formulating and/or reviewing regulations and standards that govern the conduct of agricultural research

Integrating research plans and programmes into the national programmes in the agricultural sector

Advocacy and soliciting funds for agricultural research

Monitoring, supervising and evaluating the activities of the national agricultural research system to ensure that they confirm with other national policies.

The National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) is an apex body for MAAIF, with regard to the guidance and coordination of all agricultural research activities in the national agricultural research system. NARO is a public institution established by an act of Parliament, which was enacted on 21 November 2005. It replaced the former NARO, which was established in 1992 by an earlier act of Parliament.1

NARO, together with UNCST, takes responsibility for coordinating the implementation of the National Agricultural Research Policy (MAAIF, 2003: 18). According to the organisation’s website (www.naro.go.ug), the key functions of NARO are to:

Provide strategic direction for publicly funded agricultural research in Uganda and act as a forum for agricultural researchers in Uganda;

Coordinate and oversee, in collaboration with the UNCST and other lead agencies, the development, consolidation and implementation of agricultural research policy and national research strategies, plans and budgets relating to publicly funded agricultural research;

1 The 1992 NARO Statute catered only for public research institutions within the MAAIF. It did not cover other

public institutions engaged in agricultural research such as universities, which are regulated by the Universities and Tertiary Institutions Act. Similarly, the 1992 NARO Statute did not provide for the involvement of private sector institutions in publicly supported research (MAAIF, 2003:4).

9

Set national priorities and harmonise agricultural research activities of the national agricultural research system, constituent institutions and public agricultural research institutes, civil society organisations, private sectors and farmer organisations and promote delivery of quality and efficient agricultural research services;

Advise and coordinate formulation of policy and legislative proposals, research standards, codes of ethics, conduct and practice; and guidelines for delivery of agricultural research services;

Provide guidelines, guidance and ensure delivery of quality agricultural research by agricultural research service providers;

In collaboration with other relevant agencies, provide policy guidance to local governments on matters relating to agricultural research;

Carry out monitoring and evaluation of national agricultural research programmes, projects and activities to ensure adherence to the set work plans, standards and regulations;

Mobilise funds for agricultural research and manage the agricultural research trust fund including raising funds for research of national strategic interest;

Coordinate and promote cooperation and collaboration between Uganda and other countries, institutions, scientific or professional societies and other agricultural research service providers, with regard to agricultural research, development and technology transfer in the agricultural sector so as to optimally utilise agricultural resources and improve production capacity of such resources;

Provide leadership and advocacy for the promotion, protection and development of agricultural research in Uganda; and

Make grants or provide funds to any institution or person for the advancement of agricultural research and development on both competitive and non-competitive basis.

NARO, in addition to above functions, performs other such functions such as:

Advise the Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries on research, development and technology transfer in the field of agriculture, animal industry and fisheries;

Co-ordinate, collect, collate and analyse data and information on agricultural research and ensure their publication and dissemination, and take inventory of all agricultural research in Uganda;

Inspect facilities and any area where agricultural research is being carried out or intended to be carried out in Uganda;

Register potential agricultural research service providers in the public and private sectors in Uganda; and

Maintain a central register of agricultural research and development in Uganda.

3.1.4 Uganda National Health Research Organisation (UNHRO) in the Ministry of Health (MoH)

The Uganda National Health Research Organisation (UNHRO) is a body within the Ministry of Health (MoH), with a mission to promote, strengthen and co-ordinate health research. The functions of UNHRO are to create and sustainable science culture in which health research plays a significant role

10

in guiding policy formulation and action to improve the health and development of the people in Uganda (www.health.go.ug/health_units.htm).

Its roots date back to the early 1990’s, when the MoH embraced the concept of Essential National Health Research. An Ad-hoc committee was set up in the UNCST to plan and oversee the activities of Essential National Health Research. It developed the mechanisms for research priority setting, which were followed by the development of a national Essential National Health Research (ENHR) Strategy. In 1997, a secretariat to implement the ENHR Strategy was established by the MoH, and this secretariat came to be known as the UNHRO (UNHRO, 2000:6).

UNHRO was instituted to promote, coordinate and provide guidance for health research and development in the country, as well as to provide technical back up and support to districts. It also took over the functions of the Ad-hoc committee on Essential National Health Research. The UNHRO secretariat is responsible for mobilising resources; setting a priority research agenda; mobilising the relevant skills and resources to analyse, disseminate and utilise health research results; commissioning and organising health research in collaboration with other research and academic institutions, as well as NGOs and international organisations. In 2000, the process of establishing UNHRO by an act of parliament was said to be in a very advanced state (UNHRO, 2000:7). Although no information could be gathered on the organisation’s current legal status, it is stated in the 2004/2005 health sector performance report that an UNHRO bill has recently been introduced to Parliament by the Minister of Health (MoH, 2005:101).

3.1.5 Other ministries with S&T responsibilities

Three other ministries that appear to have S&T responsibilities are:

Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES)

Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Industry (MTTI)

Ministry of Water, Lands and Environment (MWLE)

3.1.6 Inter-ministerial Committee for Science and Technology

In 2005, the government has decided to convene an Inter-ministerial Committee for Science and Technology. Chaired by MoFPED, it will comprise representatives of all ministries that are heavily involved in S&T activities. It will first of all ensure that all these ministries are maximally engaged n supporting the Millennium Science Programme of the World Bank (see Section 3.4.3), and subsequently be a forum for identifying and co-ordinating policies in the area of S&T (World Bank, 2006:5).

11

3.2 S&T landscape

3.2.1 S&T supporting agencies

3.2.1.1 National Council for Higher Education (NCHE)

The National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) is a statutory agency, a watchdog for quality and relevant higher education established under The Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act, 2001. According to its website (www.unche.or.ug), the functions of the NCHE are:

to advise the Minister of Education on higher education issues;

to establish an accreditation system (and do the accrediting);

to investigate higher education complaints, to evaluate national manpower requirements,

to set national admission standards;

to ensure that institutions of higher learning have adequate physical structures (and education facilities); and

to publish information on higher education, to determine equivalences of academic and professional awards and credits between institutions as well as tertiary education policy formation).

3.2.1.2 Uganda National Academy of Science (UNAS)

The Uganda National Academy of Science (UNAS) was launched on 20th October 2000 in Kampala. The Academy is now fully registered with a constitution that binds its members. UNAS brings together a diverse group of scientists from the physical, biological and social/behavioural sciences, working together in an interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary manner (www.unas.or.ug).

The main objectives of UNAS are to:

Provide an independent forum through which scientists can exchange ideas, knowledge and experiences.

Promote and foster the growth of the scientific community in Uganda.

Encourage, stimulate, design and coordinate interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary scientific research and development.

Get involved in the planning, convening and co-ordination of scientific education programmes and help in the development and nurturing of high-level scientific and technological work force in Uganda.

Establish a regular award scheme for recognition of outstanding achievements in science and to advocate for proper, safe and ethical exploitation of science and technology in national development.

12

3.2.1.3 Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS)

The National Statistical System (NSS) was established by the Statistics Act of 1998 to ensure collection, analysis and publication of official social, economic and demographic statistics. It includes all agencies in Uganda responsible for gathering statistical data through surveys or administrative action. The same Act of Parliament in 1998 also established the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS). The mandate of UBOS is to co-ordinate, monitor, support and harmonize efforts of data production in the NSS. The NSS is thus managed by UBOS.

Uganda’s science and technology statistical system (NSTS) is a component of the NSS. Efforts are under way for mutual collaboration, harmonization and integration of both systems into a national science and technology statistical system. The UNCST co-ordinates the NSTS (Barugahara, 2005).

3.2.1.4 Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS)

The Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) is a statutory organisation, which was established by an Act of Parliament in 1983, and became operational in 1989. The mission of UNBS is to enhance national development through the application of standards in trade, industry and consumer protection. UNBS is mandated to develop and promote standardisation, quality assurance, laboratory testing and metrology (www.unbs.org). UNBS’ role involves:

Formulating and promoting the use of standards;

Enforcing standards in protection of the public health and safety and the environment against dangerous, counterfeit and substandard products;

Ensuring fairness in trade and precision in industry through reliable measurement systems;

Strengthening Uganda’s economy by enhancing competitiveness of local industries and promotion of quality exports through standardisation, quality assurance, testing and metrology.

The laboratories of the UNBS are not internationally accredited, nor does it have the capability to accredit independent private laboratories. This is a serious drawback for the Ugandan industry; particularly for exporters, who must have their goods tested abroad, thereby further increasing their actual as well as transaction costs (UNCTAD, 2003:100).

3.2.1.5 National Drug Authority (NDA)

The National Drug Authority (NDA) is a statutory body responsible for registration of all drugs and vaccines in the country. Any new vaccine must therefore be registered with the NDA before it is licensed for general use. All candidate vaccines for any clinical trials must obtain approval from the NDA for registration, certification and importation (MoH, 2001:34).

13

3.2.2 R&D performing institutes

3.2.2.1 Higher education institutions

Higher education in Uganda in Uganda is divided into university education and non-university forms of higher education. The latter category includes a wide range of institutions, including national teachers colleges, college of commerce, management institutions and agricultural colleges. None of the latter award degrees but diplomas and professional certificates (NCHE, 2004:1).

The National Agricultural Research Policy specifies the roles and functions of universities and agricultural colleges within the national agricultural research system as follows (MAAIF, 2003: 20):

Training the personnel who will act as agricultural research service providers (technicians, junior research scientists and senior scientists)

Acting as centres of excellence, especially for basic scientific research

Providing services as managers of research at any level

Conducting strategic research on contract from NARO, either as individual institutions or as members of the interdisciplinary research teams and networks

Undertaking adaptive research on a competitive basis, funded by NARO or local governments

Membership on NARO committees

In 2004, there were 155 higher education institutions in Uganda, as can be seen in Table 2.

Table 2: Category and number of higher education institutions in Uganda

Institutional category Number of public institutions

Number of private institutions

Total number of institutions

Total as % of HEIs

Universities 5 23 28 18.1%

Colleges of commerce 7 41 49 31.6%

Management institutions 3 15 18 11.6%

National teachers colleges 11 1 12 7.7%

Health training colleges 10 4 14 9.0%

Tourism institutes 2 -- 2 1.3%

Agricultural colleges 3 -- 3 1.9%

14

Table 2 Continued

Institutional category Number of public institutions

Number of private institutions

Total number of institutions

Total as % of HEIs

Media and communication institutions 1 2 3 1.9%

Theological colleges -- 9 9 5.8%

Technical colleges 6 -- 6 3.9%

Education centres 1 2 3 1.9%

Others 4 4 8 5.2%

Total 53 102 155 100%

Source: NCHE (2004:10, Table 3.2)

Note: Public higher education institutions are owned by government whereas private ones are owned by individuals, companies and non-governmental organisations (NCHE, 2004:5).

Private universities currently do not have laboratories and do not offer any hard science courses (World Bank, 2005:2). We will therefore focus only on the public universities, of which there are five. The five public universities are Makerere University; Makerere University of Science & Technology; Makerere University Business School; Kyambogo University; and Gulu University. Of these, Makerere University is the oldest, largest and premier university in Uganda. Makerere University accounts for more than 50% of the total university enrolment (i.e. of all 28 public & private universities), has the largest number of academic staff and offers the largest number of academic programmes (NCHE, 2004:5).

Educational infrastructure indicators for the five public universities are shown in Table 3, followed by a short description of each university.

15

Table 3: Educational infrastructure at five public universities

Public universities

Tota

l stu

dent

en

rolm

ent

Tota

l aca

dem

ic

staf

f

Tota

l aca

dem

ic

staf

f with

PhD

s

Tota

l co

mpu

ters

Rati

o (1

): St

uden

ts p

er

acad

emic

sta

ff

Rati

o (2

): St

uden

ts p

er

acad

emic

sta

ff

wit

h Ph

D

Rati

o (3

): St

uden

ts p

er

com

pute

r

Makerere University 34955 1407 332 1366 25 105 26

Makerere University of Science & Technology

1086 137 16 72 8 68 15

Makerere University Business School

6562 197 10 233 33 656 28

Kyambogo University 3371 343 23 No data 10 147 --

Gulu University 640 53 7 17 12 91 38

Total 46614 2137 388 -- 22 120 --

Source: NCHE (2004:93, Appendix 16).

Figures as at July 2004.

3.2.2.1.1 Makerere University

Makerere University was established in 1922 as a technical school. The school, which was later renamed Uganda Technical College, started with 14 day-students who studied Carpentry, Building and Mechanics. The College soon began to offer various other courses in Medical Care, Agriculture, Veterinary Sciences and Teacher Training. It expanded over the years to become a Centre for Higher Education in East Africa in 1935. In 1937, the College developed into an institution of higher education, offering post-school certificate courses. In 1949, it became a University College affiliated to the University College of London. In 1963, it became the University of East Africa, offering courses leading to general degrees of the University of London. With the establishment of the University of East Africa in June 1963, the special relationship with the University of London ended and degrees of the University of East Africa were instituted. On July 1, 1970, Makerere University became an independent national university of Uganda, offering undergraduate and postgraduate courses leading to its own awards (www.mak.ag.ug).

Today Makerere University has 11 faculties, 5 schools, 6 institutes and 2 centres. Makerere University is an active centre for research. The following six research areas comprise the strategic research agenda of the University (www.mak.ag.ug):

Education for development

Food, nutrition and value addition

Sustainable environment development

Health (infectious and lifestyle related diseases)

Natural resources utilisation and conservation

16

Information and communication technology for development

Additionally, the University has identified research priorities of a cross cutting nature covering:

Appropriate Technology

Economics

Biotechnology

Methodological studies

Research for staff development

Moreover, since 2000, the university has mobilised resources from a variety of sources to support the prosecution of its research mandate. To date, the following successes have been realised:

The University received an USD 9.6 million grant from SIDA/SAREC to cover a period of 3 years. The beneficiary units are the Faculties of Medicine, Social Sciences, Technology and Agriculture. Other beneficiaries are the School of Graduate Studies, the University Library and DICTS.

The University received USD 396,000 from the Carnegie Corporation of New York to support PhD research.

The University received USD 202,000 from NORAD (Norway) for research.

3.2.2.1.2 Makerere University of Science & Technology

The Makerere University of Science and Technology (MUST) were founded in 1989 when the National Resistance Council passed a Statute establishing the University. The University started as the second public university in Uganda after Makerere University. MUST took over the physical facilities of the former School of Midwifery and turned them into structures for the university. New structures have since been added.

Undergraduate programmes started in October 1989 for students taking courses leading to the degree of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery. Apart from the Faculty of Medicine, there are also a Faculty of Science and a Faculty of Development Studies. It is planned to start a Faculty of Applied Science and Technology in the near future. In addition to the above faculties, the University in 1991 established an Institute of Tropical Forest Conservation for the purpose of education and research in Tropical Forest Biology and Conservation. In 2006, the Institute of Computer Science also started with two under-graduate programmes (www.must.ac.ug).

3.2.2.1.3 Makerere University Business School

The Makerere University Business School (MUBS) was formed in 1997 as the first constituent college of Makerere University. MUBS was created by merging the then Faculty of Commerce of Makerere University and the National College of Business Studies. The primary reason for its creation was to centralise the development and standardisation of business and management education in the country, and to increase intake and develop staff in this area of education.

17

Following the enactment of the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act, 2001, MUBS was affiliated to Makerere University because the status of the constituent college was not workable under the law. Recently, however, a High Court ruling has clarified the gray areas and MUBS is now a fully-fledged university (www.enteruganda.com/brochures/mubsone.htm). The university conducts research that is relevant in developing business and management thinking.

3.2.2.1.4 Kyambogo University

Kyambogo University started in 2002 with the merger of three institutions – the Uganda National Special Needs Education, Uganda Polytechnic Kyambogo and the Institute of Teacher Education Kyambogo. The former institutions’ staff members were retained although they were not recognised as university staff. As a result, the university has been paralysed by lecturer strikes since its inception. The university administration is at crossroads to restructure the university and at the same time retain all the staff from the former institutions as guaranteed under the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act of 2001 and as amended in 2003. The Act, that offered automatic absorption of all staff, has put Kyambogo University in an awkward position because the NCHE guideline states that at least 10% of lecturers should have a doctoral degree (www.newvision.co.ug/D/9/35/527927).

3.2.2.2.5 Gulu University

Gulu University is located in the northern region of Uganda – a region that has seen years of insurgency. It is a non-residential university. The university has three faculties: a Faculty of Science Education (opened in October 2002), a Faculty of Business and Development Studies (opened in October 2002) and a Faculty of Medicine (opened in October 2004 at Gulu regional Referral Hospital). A Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences was scheduled for opening in October 2005, and a Faculty of Technology for opening in 2006/2007 (www.enteruganda.com/brochures/gulu.html#rato).

3.2.2.2 Public research institutions

Public research institutions in Uganda are the various agricultural and health research institutions – respectively administered by NARO and UNHRO – as well as the Uganda Industrial Research Institute (UIRI) and the Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC). Each is discussed below.

3.2.2.2.1 Public agricultural research institutes of NARO

The public agricultural research institutes are semi-autonomous research management entities, under the policy guidance of NARO. They are autonomous in their operations relating to the implementation of programmes, allocation and management of resources in accordance with approved annual programmes, and budgets as approved by the NARO council. There are two categories of public agricultural research institutes (www.naro.go.ug).

18

The first is the National Agricultural Research Institutes, which manage and carry out agricultural research of a strategic nature and of national importance. There are six of them2:

National Crops Resources Research Institute

National Fisheries Resources Research Institute

National Forestry Resources Research Institute

National Livestock Resources Research Institute

National Agricultural Research Laboratories

Serere National Semi Arid Resources Research Institute

The second category of institutes involves the Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institutes, which manage and carry out agricultural research whether applied or adaptive for a specific agro-ecological zone. There are nine such institutes:

Abi Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute

Bulindi Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute

Kachwekano Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute

Mukono Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute

Ngetta Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute

Nabuin Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute

Mbarara Zonal Agricultural Researches and Development Institute

Buginyanya Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute

Rwebitaba Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute

3.2.2.2.2 Health research institutes of UNHRO

UNHRO is responsible for the administration and guidance of eight health research institutions, which can all be regarded as government-based (www.health.go.ug/health_units.htm):

Uganda Virus Research Institute

Uganda Cancer Institute

Uganda Tuberculosis Investigation Centre

Natural Chemotherapeutics Research Institute

Central Public Health Laboratory

2 Initially there were nine NARO research institutes, with the Coffee Research Institute (CORI) being one of them.

However, according to the PMA (2000:43), R&D activities on coffee and cotton have been divested respectively to the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) and the Cotton Development Organisation (CDO). R&D activities on crops, animals, fisheries, soils, and water for agricultural production have been divested to NARO. It is thus unclear whether the CORI still exists and, if so, whether it is part of the UCDA. Nevertheless, the UCDA and CDA should also be added to the list of S&T supporting agencies (Section 3.2.1). They do not appear in that section because no information could be gathered on their status and functions. All that is known is that the UCDA was established by statutory mandate in 1991 following the liberalization of the coffee industry (www.ugandacoffee.org). Moreover, the UCDA and CDA are not listed as R&D performers in this country profile because it is assumed that they largely commission research.

19

Uganda Trypanosomiasis Research Organisation

Uganda Joint Clinical Research centre (research on HIV/AIDS/STD)

Uganda Heart Institute

Some of these institutions date back in time. The Uganda Virus Research Institute, for instance, was established in 1936 as the Yellow Fever Research Institute by the Rockefeller Foundation. In 1950, after gaining regional recognition it was renamed the East African Virus Research Institute. After the collapse of the East African Community in 1977, it became a Uganda Government public health research institution and was renamed the Uganda Virus Research Institute. The mission of the institute is to carry out scientific research concerning communicable diseases, especially viral diseases of public health importance and to advise the government on strategies for control and prevention. The institute also plays a large role in coordinating and administering virology related clinical trials within the country (www.answers.com/topic/uganda-virus-research-institute).

3.2.2.2.3 Uganda Industrial Research Institute (UIRI)

The Uganda Industrial Research Institute (UIRI) is a para-statal institution under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Industry (MTTI). It was established in 1994, when the government obtained an interest-free loan of $6 million from China, which also granted an additional $3.6 million for laboratory and office equipment, workshops, generators and technical assistance. In 1999 UIRI was turned into an autonomous body under the UNCST umbrella (UNCTAD, 2003:103).

The mandate of UIRI is to engage in activities that lead to rapid industrialisation of Uganda by identifying appropriate and affordable technologies that will enhance adding value to local products so they can be processed for national, regional and international markets. This is done through focused research and development, and through designing prototypes to help train and develop enterprises (www.uiri.org).

The UIRI is actively involved in the research and development of new and appropriate technologies for a wide range of industrial applications. The technologies being developed are largely concentrated in the food and ceramics sector (www.uiri.org – See Section 3.6.5 on “Emerging technologies” for examples of UIRI projects in this sector). Recently, UIRI’s focus has also turned towards the repair and maintenance of equipment for other industries and in the provision of training and business services (UNCTAD, 2003:103).

3.2.2.2.4 Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC)

The Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) is located within the Ministry of Finance, Planning & Economic Development. Its mandate is to contribute to the economic development process by providing analytical backstopping and capacity building for economic policy dialogue, formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation (www.finance.go.ug/auxiliary.php). The objectives of EPRC are:

To guide the current and planned activities to make analytical contributions that are informative in articulating and monitoring the challenges of achieving the objectives of PEAP; and

To provide contribution to the analytical foundation for policy processes with emphasis on welfare analysis, agriculture and rural development, fiscal and monetary policies, and trade.

20

3.2.2.3 Private and other research institutions

3.2.2.3.1 Agro Genetic Technologies Limited

Agro-Genetic Technologies Ltd (AGT) is a private and independent company with limited liabilities. It is the first commercial agro biotech laboratory in Uganda and the biggest tissue culture laboratory in East and Central Africa. AGT has the capacity to produce up to 10 million plantlets per year, depending on the type of crop (www.agtafrica.com).

The company’s objectives are:

To provide good quality, disease-free planting materials of different crops, in sufficient quantities to farmers using modern internationally tested and accepted tissue culture protocols and up to date equipment.

To offer high quality agronomic advisory / consultancy services to customers by employing a qualified, dedicated and experienced technical staff

3.2.2.3.2 International Institute of Alternative and Complementing Medicine (IIACM)

The International Institute of Alternative and Complementing Medicine is an international organisation dedicated to revive the traditional systems of medicine in the light of modern science. It conducts continuous research on traditional systems of medicine qualities, carries out clinical trials of traditional medicine, manufactures natural medicines with international quality standards, offer training opportunities on various traditional/ancient healing systems, and to offer treatment to those affected by various diseases. It is headquartered in Uganda and has membership in Africa, Europe, Caribbean and the USA (www.kabissa.org/legacy/contact/index.php?action=view&id=1392).

3.3 Human capital for S&T

3.3.1 Size and structure of the R&D workforce

According to the latest available UNESCO figures, Uganda had 1 688 R&D workers in 2005, of which 776 were researchers (Table 4). The researchers were concentrated primarily in the government (53%) and higher education (36%) sectors (Table 5).

According to Barugahara (2005), the number of full time researchers has increased from 550 to 1482 between 1990 and 2003. This translates to a ratio of about 0.5 (FTE) researchers per 1 000 of the labour force.

21

Table 4: Total R&D workers in Uganda, by R&D worker category (1996-2005)

Year R&D worker category

Total R&D workers Researchers Technicians Support

1996 386 285 219 890

1997 422 272 256 950

1998 461 290 272 1023

1999 503 309 290 1102

2000 549 330 308 1187

2001 568 366 344 1278

2002 630 384 356 1370

2003 675 411 382 1468

2004 724 440 409 1573

2005 776 472 438 1686

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), www.uis.unesco.org

Table 5: Researchers and total R&D workers in Uganda, by sector of employment (2004)

Sector of employment Researchers Total R&D workers

Headcount Percentage Headcount Percentage

Business 58 8% 157 10%

Government 384 53% 803 51%

Higher education 261 36% 566 36%

Private / non-profit 21 3% 47 3%

Total 724 100% 1573 100%


About 37% of the 568 researchers in 2001 were female. The ratio of researchers to the population is about 23 researchers per million inhabitants.

22

Moreover, there is a relative scarcity of registered professionals in Uganda. Table 6 gives the number of registered professionals in Uganda in select areas, namely in accountancy, architecture, engineering, surveying, pharmacy and medicine. A comparison is made between the number of professionals in Uganda and in neighbouring Kenya and Tanzania. Clearly, Uganda is far behind both Kenya and Tanzania in terms of the number of registered professionals (NCHE, 2004:22).

Table 6: Number of registered professionals in East Africa, 2004

Cert. Accountants

Architects Engineers Surveyors Pharmacists Doctors & dentists

Uganda 500 120 280 78 201 2393

Kenya 3200 800 600 1250 1500 --

Tanzania 2500 120 600 850 600 --

Source: NCHE (2004:22, Table 5.3)

3.3.2 Trends in masters and doctoral enrolments

In the total university sector in 2004, 85% of students enrolled for arts and humanities while 15% enrolled for S&T courses (NCHE, 2004:21). Table 7 shows the number of graduate training programmes (Masters and Doctoral, by field) at Makerere University – 40 of the 126 masters programmes are in Education.

Table 7: Number of graduate training programmes at Makerere University

Level Food & Agriculture

Engineering Health Sciences

Natural Sciences

Education Social Sciences

Total

Masters 17 16 15 11 40 27 126

PhD 7 8 15 9 2 3 44

Source: UNCST (2008:6, Table 1)

The programmes offered by institutions in the non-university sector are dead-ended courses with few opportunities for upward mobility to university level. Knowledge and skills acquired by graduates on non-university tertiary institutions are not considered when these graduates want to upgrade their training to university education. They are forced to repeat even those courses they did during their non-university training. The Strategic Plan for Higher Education 2003-2015 therefore aims to create a higher education system that is integrated so that there is progression from one category of institution to the other through a credit system (MoES, 2004:15).

23

Moreover, after decades without capital investment, laboratories and facilities art public universities are dilapidated and obsolete. With the exception of faculties that have been “rescued” by specific donor investments, facilities are inadequate even for the small number of students enrolled. Lacking the basic infrastructure investment needed to teach real science, Deans of science and technology facilities keep entrance requirements high to limit enrolment. Art and humanities, in contrast, can add additional students at low marginal cost, so they have accounted for all the expansion in enrolment (World Bank, 2005:2-3).

3.3.3 Masters and doctoral graduate output

Table 8 shows the headcount of postgraduate students who graduated at Makerere University in the recent past. On average, there were between 20 and 30 doctoral graduates per year.

Table 8: Headcount of students who graduated with a doctoral degree, masters’ degree and postgraduate diploma at Makerere University, 2003, 2005 & 2006

Year Doctoral degree Masters degree Postgraduate diploma

Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total

2006 17 6 23 428 240 668 168 47 215

2005 20 4 24 478 233 711 111 71 182

2003 24 4 28 482 305 787 204 75 279

Compiled from figures provided by Makerere University.

Domestic production of new PhD’s in sciences and engineering is about 10 per year; too few to replace retiring PhD faculty members, let alone increase their ranks (World Bank, 2005:2).

3.3.4 Human and institutional capacity development strategies

The National Agricultural Research Policy (MAAIF, 2003: 16) states the following strategies in order to address the aspects of human resource management and development in agricultural research:

Carrying out training needs assessments of the staff of public and private institutes to formulate comprehensive training plans and programmes including advancement of scientific knowledge, socio-economic research and participatory methods in problem identification.

Facilitating interaction between the training institutions and research service providers, through which the training institutions can get ideas regarding future human resource requirements.

Encouraging training institutions to conduct sandwich courses, in which students spend some time in practical research within a research service provider enterprise.

Providing competitive terms and conditions of service commensurate with the demands and skills demanded of research service providers.

24

Developing cost-sharing, re-orientation and continuous self-improvement programmes for the existing research scientists, including those in the private sector.

Pursuance of re-entry plans for returning scholars and recipients of training programmes.

3.3.5 Scientific mobility

According to Kanyesigye and Ssendyona (nd:6-7) it is very difficult to quantify the degree of brain drain among health professionals because not many studies have been done on the subject. One study showed that out of the 140 doctors graduating annually in the two Ugandan Medical Schools of Makerere (100) and Mbarara (40), 70% left the country for ‘greener pastures’ in Europe, North America an Southern Africa. Current records available at the Health Professional Councils indicate that about 30% of all the medical officers have been leaving service every year in search of ‘greener pastures’.

3.4 Financial resources

3.4.1 R&D expenditure

According to UNESCO, Uganda’s gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD) in 2006 was 0.19% of GDP (Table 9), which was a significant decrease compared to the 0.39% recorded for 2002. The figures however differ from those produced by a recent UNCST report (UNCST, 2008). R&D as percentage of GDP was 0.33% in 2006/07 and 0.45% in 2007/08 (Figure 2).

Moreover, according to UNESCO, the government sector accounts for the larger share of R&D performed in terms of expenditure (66%), followed by the higher education with 27% (Figure 3).

According to Barugahara (2005), Uganda’s R&D expenditure (GERD) as a proportion of government expenditure ranged between 0.2 and 0.8 percent from 1990 to 2000, mainly because of increased funding for bio-medical research and clinical trials of especially Malaria and HIV/AIDS vaccines.

Table 9: Total gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD), 2000-2006

Year US$ 000 (PPP$) As % of GDP Per capita (PPP$)

2002 74 906 0.39% 2.8

2003 55 741 0.27% 2.1

2004 67 736 0.30% 2.4

2005 55 728 0.23% 1.9

2006 51 356 0.19% 1.9


Note: PPP = Purchasing power parity

25

Figure 2: R&D as percentage of GDP and total government expenditure, 2003-2008

Source: UNCST (2008:18, Figure 5)

Figure 3: GERD by sector of performance (%), 2005


3.4.2 National financial resources

3.4.2.1 Agricultural research funding

In 2003, at the time of the drafting of the National Agricultural Research Policy, the donor community financed about 75% of agricultural research, with the balance emanating from government. The introduction of the National Agricultural Research Policy represented a deliberate effort to promote the contribution of the private sector to the funding of agricultural research. The policy called for the establishment of an agricultural research “Basket Funding” mechanism (MAAIF, 2003:14-15). Government, development partners, farmers, private sector and civil society will all subscribe to this research fund. In order to guarantee stable funding for agricultural research, an

0.24 0.29 0.220.33

0.45

1.011.16

0.96

1.44

1.82

0.00.20.40.60.81.01.21.41.61.82.0

2003/2004 2004/2005 2005/2006 2006/2007 2007/2008

R&D as % of GDP R&D as % of government expenditure

1.7%

79.9%

18.4%

Business

Government

Higher education

26

Endowment Fund shall be created, from which annual contributions shall be made to five types of operational funds (MAAIF, 2003: 23-26):

Apex body allocation: This allocation is purposely to cater for the running costs and operations of NARO.

Block grant allocation to Public Agricultural Research Institutes: This allocation represents a factor-based block grant allocation for the public research institutes. The amount for each institute shall be negotiated through NARO and will be based on the cost of undertaking the delegated core functions, types of programmes and outputs required.

National competitive agricultural technology fund: This allocation is dedicated to research in areas where government deems to be in the strategic interest of the nation and public. The tendering process for these programmes could be based on limited bidding by only public agricultural research institutes or offered to them based on strategic collaboration arrangements, either between some of them or shared by all the institutions. The allocation is managed by NARO at the national level.

Local competitive agricultural technology fund: In order to enhance the empowerment of end-users (farmers) through decentralization, a direct allocation of research financial resources shall be made to the local government level (such as districts and sub-counties), largely through the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) technology funds. These funds are managed at the local level. The programmes funded shall be competitively awarded to research providers, whether public or private, whom the farmers think is most competent to deliver the right results.

Change and innovation fund: A direct allocation of research financial resources is expected to be made to individual or group grantees to conduct research that may not be considered immediately relevant but which may open up opportunities for the future. These funds shall be managed at the national level.

Outside of NARO, virtually no public resources have been allocated to science and technology. As a result, the research base has declined or failed to grow (World Bank, 2006:2).

3.4.2.2 National Innovation Fund

The National Innovation Fund (NIF) is a government fund that was established in 2002 to promote scientific and technological innovations in the country. The UNCST administers the fund on behalf of government through the Innovation Fund Committee (IFC). The latter is an independent inter-institutional committee established in January 2004 to administer the NIF, to constantly monitor the performance of the fund and its impact on development of scientific and technological innovations in the country, and to advise government appropriately. The objectives of the NIF include the following (UNCST, 2006d: 3):

To promote and sustain the culture of innovation, experimentation and nurturing creativity of the Ugandan society

To ensure gradual development and diffusion of local innovations in a time bound and mission-oriented manner so as to meet the socio-economic and environmental needs of the Ugandan society

To promote wider social awareness and applications of know-how generated as a result of research

27

The NIF supports projects within the following sectors: Agro-processing, Agriculture, Food-processing, Knowledge, Electrical & Mechanical Engineering, Information Communication Technology, Material Fabrication, Medicine & Health, Waste Management, and Water Treatment.

3.4.3 International donor funding

International donor funding plays an important role within the Ugandan S&T system – in 2005, about 57% of R&D expenditure by source of funds could be accounted for by foreign sources (see Figure 4).

Figure 4: GERD by source of funds (%), 2005


Some of the international donors are:

The World Bank

Norwegian Agency for Development Co-operation (NORAD)

International Development Research Centre (IDRC)

Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)

Ford Foundation

Rockefeller Foundation

International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

Carnegie Corporation

The World Bank is an important source of funding for S&T development in Uganda. It has largely funded NARO, initially for five years (beginning in 1992) for over $20 million, then for a six-year second phase with $26 million (UNCTAD, 2003:101).

Recently, in 2006, the World Bank has approved a US$ 30 million loan to support scientific development in Uganda, as part of the Millennium Science Initiative. The money will help increase the number and quality of scientists produced by Uganda’s universities and research centres,

1.7%

41.5%

56.8%

Business

Government

Foreign

28

and to boost the country’s scientific and technological productivity in industrial, agricultural and other sectors.

The project has three components. The first will fund new undergraduate courses in science and engineering and fund new research centres. The second will support collaborative research between industry and academia, and sponsor work placements in the private sector for scientists and students. The third component aims to strengthen key institutions such as the UNCST, which will run the project.

The project will help the UNCST develop and implement policies to increase Uganda’s scientific capacity and the use of science for development. Investments in UIRI, meanwhile, will help it market its technological services and encourage uptake by industry (SciDevNet, 2006).

3.5 Research outputs

Researchers worldwide generally consider a publication in journals listed by Thomson Scientific (referred to as ‘ISI journals’) as the first prize in scientific publication. Hence, we have extracted all publications with an Ugandan affiliation from the Thomson Scientific database, for the period 2000-2006. Following standard practice, an ISI journal publication was taken to mean an article, review, letter or note. As can be seen in Table 10, Ugandan publications in ISI journals have almost doubled between 2000 and 2006 (from 170 to 327), with about 5% of publications being co-authored with researchers at South African institutions. Unfortunately, given the limited scope of this report and time constrains, the publications could not be disaggregated in terms of the scientific field classification of journals.

Table 10: Number of ISI publications produced by authors with a Ugandan affiliation, 2000-2006

Year Publication output

% of total in collaboration with South Africa authors

Articles Notes Reviews Letters Total

2000 160 0 1 9 170 0%

2001 178 0 3 5 186 2%

2002 158 0 2 6 166 2%

2003 209 0 1 9 219 5%

2004 260 0 6 11 277 4%

2005 252 0 8 14 274 5%

2006 302 0 14 11 327 5%

Source: Compiled by CREST

29

Production of published papers in the basic sciences is essentially zero in chemistry, physics, mathematics, engineering, and earth sciences (World Bank, 2006:2).

3.6 Technological innovation

3.6.1 Technology balance of payments

No information could be obtained.

3.6.2 Patents

The Uganda Patent Law (1991) is administered by the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB), a department of the Ministry of Justice. The bulk of the URSB’s operations concerns trademarks, of which there were nearly 23 000 as at end 2002 (UNCTAD, 2003:93). Between 1998 and 2001, only one patent on a local invention was granted by the URSB. It is common in Uganda for the URSB to get less than three patent applications in any given year (Wangwe et al. 2002:8).

Moreover, the Statue that creates the UNCST provides for a National Patent Office to be run by the UNCST. In practice, such an office does not exist at the UNCST (Wangwe et al. 2002:10).

As far as USPTO patents are concerned, a search on the website of the USPTO revealed only 5 patents granted to Ugandan inventors (2 in 1992; 1 in 1993; 2 in 1998).

3.6.3 Innovation strategies

The latest World Bank funding under the Millennium Science Initiative banner (see Section 3.4.3) as well as the establishment of the Innovation Fund and the creation of a Change and Innovation Fund for agricultural research (see Section 3.4.2), are all initiatives aimed at strengthening innovation in Uganda. Other strategies and initiatives are the following:

In 2005, the Ugandan government has made science subjects compulsory for secondary school students. Under this policy, biology, chemistry and physics classes are compulsory for all secondary school students, and first year university students will have to take some science subjects. Moreover, to address the shortfall in science education, the government plans to recruit and train more than 1 000 science teachers (SciDevNet, 2005a).

In 2005, the government also planned to allocate 75 percent of state-funded university scholarships to science students, especially to students following science programmes that were deemed critical to national development. Priority was going to be given to human and veterinary medicine, chemical engineering, information and communication technology engineering, electronics and electronic application, information technology and computer science, and engineering in general. However, the policy drew heavy criticism from politicians and academics who claimed it had been poorly planned and would jeopardise non-scientific professions. They added that the policy would be biased towards urban students because rural schools lack basic facilities for science training (SciDevNet, 2005b).

Following the president’s announcement in the financial year 2004/05 to recognise scientists and technologists for their achievements with awards, the UNCST organised the first-ever Presidential Science Excellence Awards (PSEA). One of these is the Presidential Scientific Innovation Excellence Award (UNCST, 2006a).

30

Since the quality and quantity of research in Uganda’s higher education institutions is generally poor, the Strategic Plan for Higher Education for the period 2003-2015 (MoES, 2004:9) requires all tertiary institutions to:

Establish a research fund to which they will contribute a mandatory 3-5% of the wage bill

Institute research levy on all student fees

Devise ways to strengthen the public-private partnership in applied R&D

Evolve policy for publishing and disseminating research results

Develop a policy for implementing research findings and/or recommendations

3.6.4 Emerging technologies

Between 2002 and 2005, there were altogether 14 beneficiaries of the Innovation Fund. The types of innovations funded give an indication of emerging technologies in Uganda. The innovations have been summarised in Table 11.

Table 11: Innovations funded by the National Innovation Fund

Type of innovation Purpose/objective of developing the innovation Funding year

Research on Phyotolacca Dodecandra

To promote commercial production and use of P. Dodecandra as a natural biodegradable and environmentally safe product to control fresh water snails and other disease vectors.

2002/2003

Natural health care products

To provide cheap, effective, easily accessible medicines to manage chronic diseases in Uganda.

2002/2003

Tissue culture plants from Biotechnology

To develop innovative procedures and methods of crop propagation using biotechnology to conserve and sustain the use of indigenous crops and medicinal plants.

2002/2003


To cultivate ways and methods of avoiding getting sick instead of waiting to fight diseases

2002/2003

Electronic gadgets To develop electronic apparatus to enhance teaching of electronics in secondary schools and institutions

2002/2003

Peddling irrigation water pumps

To have a continuous harvesting period in Bunyole district, which is faced with famine seasons

2003/2004

Paraffin incubator To enhance income generation to all levels of the community and in turn reduce the poverty at household level

2003/2004

31

Table 11 continued

Type of innovation Purpose/objective of developing the innovation Funding year

Groundnut/ simsim grinding machine

To develop a low cost machine that retains the food value of products being grinded.

2003/2004

Manual multi-purpose planter

To reduce drudgery in the planting process to ensure optimum utilisation of seeds.

2003/2004

Seed cleaner To clean grains like sorghum and millet to remove most of the impurities

2003/2004

Programmable electric door and proximity alarm system

To improve the quality of life by designing and assembling of high quality and affordable electronic systems that meet local demands.

2003/2004

Food extruder To produce standard diversity machines that can be afforded by users. 2004/2005


To process medicine that will have immediate effect of wellness to patients.

2004/2005

Fabric weaving machine

To create jobs for users who are mainly women in remote areas and to produce cheap and affordable fabric for Ugandans.

2004/2005

Source: UNCST (2006d: 7-8)

UIRI is also directly involved in technology development (see www.uiri.org) Descriptions of some of their emerging technologies appear below:

Long-term reliance on the same staple foods means a person’s diet may lack important minerals and vitamins. Where a wider diet is not always possible, another solution is the artificial fortification of foods with the missing nutrients. The UIRI food laboratories are analysing common Ugandan foodstuffs to establish where there are deficiencies, and how they can be compensated. Thereafter, the UIRI pilot plants are being used to test methods of fortification. Work is currently being done to mitigate the deficiencies of vitamin A in maize.

Research is being conducted into the fortification of cows’ milk with the required nutrients to make a suitable replacement for mothers’ breast milk. This is to address one of the concerns of the HIV/AIDS epidemic: HIV positive mothers can pass on the infection to infants through breast-feeding. Laboratory research is ongoing, and a pilot plant is currently being prepared for production of the fortified milk.

Cassava is one of Uganda’s staple food crops, yet many varieties of it are poisonous unless prepared with the proper processes to make them edible. In the large-scale processing of cassava, the existing microbial methods of detoxification are unsatisfactory. In its laboratories, UIRI has researched and tested enzyme-based processes to do the same job.

A whole department of the UIRI is dedicated to the research and development of ceramics technologies. This ranges from the testing of Ugandan raw materials – the soil and clay - to the development of glazes for use in earthenware. Industrial ceramics also form a significant

32

part of the output, with work being done on formulae for insulation bricks and the improvement of electrical insulations.

A project aimed developing bags, papers and other items from banana fibre (www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/220/470137).

Of the technologies developed by NARO, those that could be described as “golden” outputs include the following (All Africa, 2004):

Water hyacinth control

Production of Mosaic free cassava varieties

The high protein maize

The orange-fleshed sweet potato with vitamin A

The white sorghum “Epuri puri” or brewing Eagle larger beer with the Nile Breweries

The NERICA rice variety

The white simsim

The high yielding banana varieties

The improved goats

The improved local chicken

The cotton varieties BPA 2000 and BPA 2002, which are in a class of their own

3.7 International co-operation and networks

The Indian Department of Science and Technology is in the process of negotiating a bilateral S&T agreement with Uganda (http://dst.gov.in/about_us/ar05-06/inter-st.htm).

Swedish bilateral research co-operation with Uganda was initiated in 2000 and is concentrated on the oldest and most established institution, namely Makerere University. Sweden's support aims to help strengthen the overall research environment through assistance to research administration, core facilities and the university library. Support is also provided via research collaboration with Swedish and international scientists. Those faculties receiving project funding are medicine, social science, technology and agriculture (www.sida.se/sida/jsp/sida.jsp?d=667&a=4459&language=en_US).

At Ugandan universities, research programmes at student and academic staff level mainly depend on funding from development agencies such as DFID, NORAD, SIDA, USAID, etc. The Faculty of Technology at Makerere University, for instance, has been getting funds for research from SIDA/SAREC, NUFU – Norway, the Italian government, Carnegie Corporation of New York and Rockefeller Foundation (NCHE, 2004:18).

33

3.8 Conclusion

Uganda has in the recent past embarked on a series of policy initiatives to strengthen the country’s national science system. Core examples are the formulation of a National Agricultural Research Policy, a Health Research Policy and a Strategic Plan for Higher Education. These policy initiatives have been accompanied by a number of institutional reforms, among which the transformation of NARO into the national co-ordination body for agricultural research and the establishment of a NIF, which has been operational since 2002. These initiatives or ‘points of strengths’ in the Ugandan S&T system now have the opportunity to be further strengthened and ‘topped up’ through significant World Bank funding. The funding, which has been made available as part of the Millennium Science Initiative, would inter alia enable the country’s R&D institutions to fulfil their original mandates. An alignment between mandates and activities is especially important in the case of the UNCST because the latter’s ability to meet its mandate of system-wide co-ordination is crucial for the optimal S&T performance and innovative capacity of the country. However, since both NARO and UNCST are responsible for the co-ordination of agricultural research, with NARO playing a sector-specific and UNCST a more sector crosscutting role, the relation between these two institutions would need to be closely monitored. This is needed in order to avoid potential friction and duplication of effort in the agriculture sector, which has been targeted as Uganda’s most important sector for innovation and economic growth.

34

4. References

All Africa 2004. National Agricultural Research Organisation implements President’s Manifesto. [Available at: www.allafrica.com]

Barugahara, I.N. 2005. Uganda’s science and technology statistical system. Presentation at the 2005 East and South African Regional Workshop on Science and Technology Statistics, 19-22 September 2005, Entebbe, Uganda. [Available at: www.uis.unesco.org/TEMPLATE/pdf/S&T/Workshops/Entebbe/Country%20presentations/S&T_092005_11.pdf

Kanyesigye, E.K. & Ssendyona, G.M. (nd). Payment of lunch allowance: A case study of the Uganda health service. JLI Working Paper 4-2 by the Joint Learning Initiative: Human Resources for Health and Development. [Available at: www.globalhealthtrust.org/doc/abstracts/WG3/KanyesigyeFINAL.pdf]

MAAIF 2003. The national agricultural research policy. Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Republic of Uganda.

MoES 2004. The strategic plan for higher education 2003-2015. Ministry of Education and Sports, Republic of Uganda.

MoES 2006. The education sector annual performance report (1st July 2005 – 30th June 2006). Education Planning Department, Ministry of Education and Sports, Republic of Uganda

MoFPED 2004. Poverty eradication action plan (2004/5-2007/8). Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Republic of Uganda.

MoH 2001. HIV vaccine plan for Uganda: a guidance document for HIV/AIDS vaccine research, development and evaluation. Ministry of Health, Republic of Uganda.

MoH 2005. Annual health sector performance report, financial year 2004/2005. Ministry of Health, Republic of Uganda.

NCHE 2004. The state of higher education: a report of a survey of Uganda’s institutions of higher learning. National Council for Higher Education, Republic of Uganda.

NDA 1998. Report on opportunities in agricultural trade and investment in Uganda. National Department of Agriculture, Directorate: Marketing, Pretoria.

OPM 2005. Evaluation report: The plan for the modernisation of agriculture. Oxford Policy Management, Oxford, United Kingdom.

Oskowitz, A. No date. Priority setting of sexual and reproductive health in Africa in the context of health sector reform: An overview. [Available at: http://sunsite.wits.ac.za/whp/rightsandreforms/docs/PrioritySettingafrica.pdf]

PMA 2000. Plan for modernisation of agriculture: Eradicating poverty in Uganda. Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, and Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Republic of Uganda.

SA Government Information 2002. International collaboration to develop effective vaginal microbiocides for prevention of HIV transmission. [Available at: www.info.gov.za]

SA Government Information 2003. IAVI Aids vaccine trials begin in South Africa and Switzerland. [Available at: www.info.gov.za]

SA Government Information 2005. President and Mrs Mbeki to pay a state visit to the Republic of Uganda. [Available at: www.info.gov.za]

35

SciDevNet 2005a. Science education gets double boost in Uganda. 22 February 2005, Science and Development Network (SciDevNet). [Available at: www.scidev.net/news]

SciDevNet 2005b. Uganda suspends science scholarships plan. 25 April 2005, Science and Development Network (SciDevNet). [Available at: www.scidev.net/news]

SciDevNet 2006. US$30m ‘millennium science initiative’ for Uganda. 1 June 2006, Science and Development Network (SciDevNet). [Available at: www.scidev.net/news]

UNCST 2006a. Highlights of the 2005/06 Presidential Science Excellence Awards (PSEA). The SciTech News: A quarterly newsletter of the UNCST, Vol 14(2), 3.

UNCST 2006b. Institutional profile. Uganda National Council for Science and Technology, Republic of Uganda.

UNCST 2006c. Proposed national science, technology and innovation policy. Policy Brief 1, Uganda National Council for Science and Technology, Republic of Uganda.

UNCST 2006d. Report of the Innovation Fund committee for the period January 2004 to December 2005. Uganda National Council for Science and Technology, Republic of Uganda.

UNCST 2008. Research in Uganda: Status and implications for public policy. Report commissioned by the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology (UNCST), in collaboration with Embassy of Sweden in Uhanda, and SIDA.

UNCTAD 2003. The case of Uganda. Chapter 5 in: Africa’s technology gap. Case studies on Kenya, Ghana, Uganda and Tanzania. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development: United Nations Publications.

UNHRO 2000. An analysis of institutions doing health research in Uganda – year 2000. Uganda National Health Research Organisation, Republic of Uganda.

Wangwe, S. 2002. Country case study for Study 9: Institutional issues for developing countries in IP policy-making, administration and enforcement. Report commissioned by the Commission on Intellectual Property Rights.

World Bank 2005. UG-Millennium Science Initiative. Project information document, Concept stage. Report no. AB1287.

World Bank 2006. UG-Millennium Science Initiative). Project information document, Appraisal stage. Report no. AB1906.

WTO (nd). Annex 3: Uganda. [Available at : www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tpr_e/s171-03_e.doc]

Mapping research systems in developing countriesacademic.sun.ac.za/crest/unesco/data/Uganda.pdf000...

Documents

Transcript of Mapping research systems in developing countriesacademic.sun.ac.za/crest/unesco/data/Uganda.pdf000...