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Edinburgh Reporter
2 days ago
- Science
- Edinburgh Reporter
Research in Scotland is revolutionising farming in Africa
Representatives from The Roslin Institute attended the first Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Science Week in Nairobi recently as part of The Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health (CTLGH) delegation. CTLGH is a strategic partnership among the University of Edinburgh through the Roslin Institute, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and Scotland's Rural College (SRUC). This partnership aims to contribute to the development of livestock in low to medium income countries (LMICs) through genetics and biotechnological advancements. Although CTLGH is headquartered at the Roslin Institute, it has nodes in Nairobi, Kenya and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. By working in collaboration with national and international partners, CTLGH allows the flow of research and knowledge among different players and stakeholders for implementation on real farms. Current efforts have focused on finding solutions to some of the major productivity and health problems facing smallholder farms in Africa. Historically, there have been strong links and connections between Scotland and Africa. Some of these go back to the times of Dr David Livingstone. Over the years, Universities and research institutions in Scotland and different countries in Africa have worked together and even exchanged expertise. Not surprisingly, the current Director General of ILRI, one of CGIAR institution, Professor Appolinaire Djikeng is an affiliated Professor for Tropical Agriculture and Sustainable Development at the University of Edinburgh, a position he held previously when he was Director of CTLGH in Edinburgh. The delegation from the Roslin Institute to the CGIAR Science Week, which included CTLGH scientists and Centre Management staff, was led by the current director of CTLGH and Chair of Tropical Livestock Genetics, Professor Mizeck Chagunda. During the week-long event, which comprised of conferences, side-events, workshops, demonstration stands, the CTLGH had a manned-stand and held a side-event. These activities highlighted the importance of CTLGH's research and knowledge exchange work in contributing to the African Union's Agenda 2063 – The Africa We Want. The CGIAR institutions based in Africa are driving their research and development strategies towards this theme. During such events, CTLGH aims to communicate in simple ways the contribution of advanced scientific endeavours and biotechnologies in tackling global challenges and to the transformation of food systems through improvements in tropical livestock. All this with the goal of creating high-level awareness and an enabling environment to generate the discussion on how to harness the benefits accruing from agricultural biotechnology, innovation and emerging technologies to transform the livelihoods of smallholder livestock farmers in LMICs. CTLGH's Centre Operations Manager at Roslin, Mrs Jen Meikle explained: 'Our booth was visited by farmers, pastoralists, community workers, school teachers, pupils and university students all with an interest in science and increasing livestock production and welfare. CTLGH have a capacity in building knowledge that we hope to be able to expand to schools in Africa. Professor Chagunda added: 'Our work supports the main CGIAR mission to transform food, land and water systems by ensuring that genetic innovations reach smallholder farmers improving productivity, resilience and livelihoods. 'Our presence at the first CGIAR Science Week in Nairobi highlighted the importance of science-based solutions tailored to LMICs (low to middle income countries) and showcased how targeted genetics research can contribute to sustainable agriculture, climate adaptation, environmental impact mitigation and food security.' CGIAR – the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research – is a global partnership engaged in researching ways of combatting food insecurity. Through their research the body hopes to reduce rural poverty, improve human health and nutrition and manage natural resources sustainably. The body has an annual research portfolio of just over $900 million with more than 9,000 staff working in 89 countries and brought together some of the world's leading scientists and decision-makers in agriculture, climate, and health for the very first CGIAR Science Week. This gathering was a key moment to advance research and innovation, inspire action, and establish critical partnerships at the Science Week in Nairobi held at the United Nations compound to discuss the future of farming in the Global South. Part of the conference discussion involved AI and its application to changing food systems which are under pressure from climate change, resource scarcity and hunger. One of the funders of CTLGH is the Gates Foundation and two of the scientists in the film below conduct research work for CTLGH. Food and nutrition security remains a challenge in Africa. However, biotechnologies for livestock conservation and development offer potential solutions. There are African instruments to support the needed transformation, those instruments are embedded in the Agenda 2063-The Africa we want, and in the STISA 2024 to 'Accelerate Africa's transition to an innovation-led, Knowledge-based Economy', and in the CAADP Strategy and Action Plan: 2026-2035 (Building Resilient Agri-Food Systems in Africa). Professor Mizeck Chagunda CGIAR Science Week in Nairobi At the CLTGH booth Professor Appolinaire Djikeng, Jen Meikle, Centre Operations Manager and Andy Peters, Chair of ILRI Like this: Like Related
Zawya
05-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
To restructure or not: Kenya's debt dilemma
Debt restructuring is an issue very close to the heart of Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, the first woman to be elected President of Mauritius. For her, the push for debt restructuring is one of the ways to achieve Africa's sovereignty. She contends that the call for restructuring is a call for fairness.'There is a call for addressing the dignity of these countries, so that they are not perceived to be going around with a begging bowl but really operating in a system where there is fairness in terms of allocation of loans, or whatever it is which would go towards the development in the country,' she said recently in Nairobi. Gurib-Fakim was one of the former African heads of state who launched the African Leaders Debt Relief Initiative (Aldri), which aims to push for an overhaul of the global lending system to unlock debt relief and fairer borrowing terms for developing countries, particularly in Africa.'We just don't want flag independence, we want true independence,' she said during her visit to Nairobi to attend the CGIAR Science Week. Days before her visit, Kenya's National Treasury was forced to withdraw a social media post suggesting that Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi had held talks with Chinese officials on the possibility of restructuring Kenya's debt from China. Spooked investors, the issue of debt restructuring has been a sensitive one for Kenya, particularly after Nairobi entered the international capital markets by issuing its first Eurobond in June 2014. Since then, Kenya has found itself dictated by the whims of the global financial markets, as any sentiment, including from the headlines of local dailies, is likely to spook investors. When investors are scared, they demand a higher yield to compensate for the increased risk of default by the borrower. A higher yield means that when the country goes back to the market to borrow and repay a maturing debt, its cost of borrowing goes up. Due to the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, countries such as Ethiopia, Zambia and Ghana have sought debt restructuring under the G20's Common Framework for Debt Treatments beyond the Debt Service Suspension Initiative. Read: Ethiopia's road to debt restructuringGhana has restructured its debt. In 2022, Accra defaulted on most of its external debt, including Eurobonds. In January 2025, Ghana announced that all 25 participating creditor countries had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Official Creditors Committee (OCC), providing a framework for implementation of the terms through bilateral agreements. This agreement aims for a debt service relief of $2.8 billion over the life of the IMF-supported programme. Kenya, whose external position was also affected by the pandemic, had the opportunity to restructure but refused to do so, a snub that scholar Michael Chege recently described as 'arrogance.''I know we want to have a reputation as a country that does not have debt restructuring,' said Prof Chege in a recent interview, adding that in 2022 he watched in utter disbelief as Kenya missed an opportunity to restructure its debt and get some breathing space. The country had approached the Paris Club of creditors three times since 1990 to seek debt relief and a rescheduling of its external debt. Kenya has also received debt relief from the London Club creditors. In 1998, the London Club creditors rescheduled Kenya's debts amounting to $70 million over 10 years, including a three-year grace period, at prevailing market interest rates. In 2003/04, about $23 million of debt owed to London Club creditors was rescheduled over two years at prevailing market interest rates. Some of the bilateral debt cancellations that Kenya has received have come from Finland, the Netherlands and China in various past years. In 2006, Kenya entered into a debt-for-development swap agreement with the Italian government amounting to $44 million.'Refinance expensive debt'Today, as much as the country needs debt restructuring, as loan repayments continue to take a big chunk of Kenya's revenues, the role of international investors and credit rating companies present a dilemma. Ken Gichinga, an economist, thinks the debt restructuring should not be one of the routes out of Kenya's financial straits.'As global interest rates continue to drop, there is an opportunity to refinance expensive debt with cheaper options,' he said.'This is the only viable option. Any other strategy might spook investors and raise the risk profile of the country,' added Gichinga, noting that, ultimately, the real solution lies in changing the tax policy. Yet restructuring of debt has always been in the cards for Kenya. In October 2023, the then Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua told the AFP that President William Ruto would travel to China and seek 'more time to repay the debt slowly' and $1 billion to complete the road projects delayed by financing shortfalls. In the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, the former President Uhuru Kenyatta's government came up with the Kenya Post-Covid Economic Recovery Strategy that included debt restructuring, noting that the country had limited space for additional borrowing.'To address this, the National Treasury will prepare a debt restructuring strategy covering commercial and bilateral creditors. This will ease fiscal pressure from expensive external commercial debt servicing and decrease issuance of shorter-dated domestic government paper to reduce refinancing risk and the public debt burden,' the Treasury said. But the country has continued to pay most of its debts, including a $2 billion Eurobond that matured in June last year. Kenya's debt is in high distress, having moved from moderate, as the country breached most of the critical debt sustainability indicators, including external debt service as a ration of income from exports. © Copyright 2022 Nation Media Group. All Rights Reserved. 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