The Kenyan government on Wednesday challenged African scientists to research on viable farming methodology that could help mitigate the perennial food insecurity in the continent during prolonged dry spells.
Prime Ministers Raila Odinga said food security could only be achieved if research, science and technological aspects were exhaustively pursued to improve agricultural production in the wake of harsh and unpredictable climatic conditions attributed to global warming.
Odinga told a three-day conference of scientific, researchers and scholars in Nairobi of the need for the Metrological Department to advance in technology to accurately project predictions regretting that many farmers felt cheated due to the shift in weather patterns.
"It is my belief that investing in research would save this country from the pangs of hunger that come knocking every so often either because the rains did not come or our farmers the wrong variety of seeds," he said.
Odinga said such inventions and innovations if imparted could empower farmers to appreciate the global phenomena and adjust their activities to conform to the changing tide to avert perennial lose of crop in successive planting seasons.
He said "more than 10 million Kenyans were currently facing starvation" after the country recorded poor harvest over the last four years since the trickle effects of global warming was first felt in the country.
He insisted that developed nations realized economic growth after heavily investing in scientific research and urged institutions of higher learning in the country to partner with the private sector in the endeavors.
"We need to encourage contract research in our institution of higher learning to bridge the disconnect in the implementation of practical experiments of thesis our scholars invent or come up with during the research" he said.
Odinga assured the scientists attending the African Knowledge Transfer Partnership that the government was determined to change infrastructure, tax and patent systems to encourage creativity in the Science and engineering world.
He said the expected innovations where introduced into the practical market was likely to create jobs and improve the living standard of the people economically, socially and politically towards the realization of vision 2030 ambition.
Odinga urged Kenyan scholars to inculcate a "culture of respect for science and technology as a tool for development and called on the need for both the public and private sector to demystify such initiatives and make ideas relevant to everyday life.
"It is our aim to create a society that prides in and actively promotes science technology innovation and quality higher education to build a prosperous and globally competitive nation," said Odinga.
But the PM was quick to caution the scientists that for science to secure a place in the national development, the scholars had the onus to impartially convince both the government and the general public from an informed point of view.
He said tangible and practical evidence rather than mythical ideology was necessary to put the scientific case before the public domain since the field required support from development partners and the private sectors.
"I know there is quite useful scientific research going on this country, but to date the public understanding of basic research and the role of science in our lives and economy remains minimal," he said.
The conference which derived participants from across the continent was co-sponsored by the government in collaboration with the British Council.
(Xinhua News Agency February 25, 2009)