A “breakthrough” UN initiative for transferring technology and building scientific capacity in the least developed countries (LDCs) will move closer in “a matter of weeks” when a panel to flesh out the proposals is announced, says an official close to the process. The high-level panel will consist of around a dozen experts from various backgrounds, […]
Read More… from UN to unveil panel for ‘breakthrough’ Technology Bank
Balthazar Sieders and Mike Martel spend their days cycling along the coast of Africa, stopping here and there to offer free advice on computer coding to people who need it. The duo have called themselves Coders Without Borders, and they’re part of a trend. More than four decades after Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) was formed, […]
The second Hunger and Nutrition Commitment Index (HANCI) has just been launched, providing detailed evidence on efforts to reduce hunger (ten indicators) and undernutrition (12 indicators) in 45 developing countries. [1] The data show that the richer among these countries often do better — more resources should, after all, mean better outcomes. They also show […]
Read More… from Focus on Poverty: More nutrition science or political will?
Development research remains far too academic and disconnected, with a “minuscule fraction” ever reaching local communities in a useable form, experts say. The research community rarely succeeds in transmitting knowledge to the people their work is supposed to help, said speakers at the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes’ meeting in Bonn, Germany, […]
Read More… from Local communities ‘sidelined’ in development research
Agricultural research for development spans a broad spectrum of activities — from ‘upstream’ research, generally at universities or advanced research institutes, to much more ‘downstream’ research by plant breeders to put better crops in farmers’ hands. As a result of this spread, activities can become fragmented, with little communication between specialised teams along the research […]
Read More… from How to build research partnerships that benefit farmers
The National Commission on Research, Science and Technology (NCRST) has awarded grants to researchers at the University of Namibia (UNAM) under the Namibia/South Africa Joint Bilateral Collaboration Research Programme. NCRST, as the authority responsible for coordination and development of research, science, technology and innovation in Namibia has given researchers from the University of Namibia grants […]
Read More… from NCRST Awards Research Grants to the University of Namibia
Latin American teams have been achieving strong results at the World Cup in Brazil. But science in the region has been performing well too. With Argentina, Brazil and Mexico leading the way over the past decade in regional research and development (R&D), Latin America is currently the second fastest growing region in the world for […]
Read More… from Q&A: Science policy lessons from Latin America
Scientific advances in human biology may soon have a profound bearing on the policies that governments and organizations adopt towards young mothers, caregivers and babies in poor and stressed communities. There is an emerging body of scientific evidence to show that the environment in which a very young baby develops is pivotal in shaping its […]
Read More… from South Africa: Spare the Rod – the Biology of Poverty and Violence
This alien glob is a piece of gum arabic from the hardened sap of the Acacia tree, most likely collected from a tree in Sudan. Rox Middleton explains how the electron microscope has changed the way we are able to interact with objects at the nanoscale, allowing us to enjoy a glimpse of the exquisite […]
Food security researchers from nine African countries will receive Canadian 60 million Canadian dollars (about US$56.1 million) from the Canadian International Food Security Research Fund (CIFRSF) to scale up their projects. The researchers gathered in the Kenyan town of Naivasha last week (23-27 June) for the Research to Feed Africa Symposium to review ten research […]
Read More… from Researchers get US$56.1 million to scale up projects
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