Burundi:
Agriculture Sector Taps Into Belgian Funds
Bujumbura — The international donor community is showing signs of renewed interest in Burundi's research and development (R&D), with a Belgian initiative aiming to rebuild human capacity and research facilities in a major agricultural sciences institute.
The Burundi civil war brought research activities across the country to a standstill when it broke out in 1993, according to Nkurunziza Gelase a researcher at the Institute of Agricultural Sciences (ISABU), Burundi.
During the war, Gelase tells SciDev.Net, seven ISABU research centres across the country were inaccessible, compromising research activities. Some research centres were burnt down and important hybrid crop varieties such as 'Kitale maize' were lost.
Since the war ended in 2005, R&D funding has been trickling back into the country. A number of donors are funding research projects and institutions.
One such project is the Institutional and Operational Support Programme for the Agricultural Sector (PAIOSA), an initiative by the Belgium Technical Cooperation - the Belgian development agency - to provide ISABU with institutional and operational support for the agricultural sector.
The project, which kicked off in December 2012 and will last until 2017, aims to rebuild the institute's human capacity and research facilities. Some of its priorities include buying new equipment and building new laboratories.
"We intend to create stronger human and infrastructural capabilities at ISABU [to enhance] organisational effectiveness," says Valerie Claes, international technical assistant for the programme.
BTC has also established a competitive research fund of more than US$220,000. To tap into this, researchers are expected to come up with innovative research ideas to address national agricultural problems.
According to Denis Manirambona, UN consultant on food security in Burundi, the competitive research fund component is a welcome move as it will encourage researchers at ISABU to come up with good research ideas to help address the problems facing agriculture.
The programme will also enhance information dissemination from the institute.
Source: AllAfrica.Com
Agriculture Sector Taps Into Belgian Funds
Bujumbura — The international donor community is showing signs of renewed interest in Burundi's research and development (R&D), with a Belgian initiative aiming to rebuild human capacity and research facilities in a major agricultural sciences institute.
The Burundi civil war brought research activities across the country to a standstill when it broke out in 1993, according to Nkurunziza Gelase a researcher at the Institute of Agricultural Sciences (ISABU), Burundi.
During the war, Gelase tells SciDev.Net, seven ISABU research centres across the country were inaccessible, compromising research activities. Some research centres were burnt down and important hybrid crop varieties such as 'Kitale maize' were lost.
Since the war ended in 2005, R&D funding has been trickling back into the country. A number of donors are funding research projects and institutions.
One such project is the Institutional and Operational Support Programme for the Agricultural Sector (PAIOSA), an initiative by the Belgium Technical Cooperation - the Belgian development agency - to provide ISABU with institutional and operational support for the agricultural sector.
The project, which kicked off in December 2012 and will last until 2017, aims to rebuild the institute's human capacity and research facilities. Some of its priorities include buying new equipment and building new laboratories.
"We intend to create stronger human and infrastructural capabilities at ISABU [to enhance] organisational effectiveness," says Valerie Claes, international technical assistant for the programme.
BTC has also established a competitive research fund of more than US$220,000. To tap into this, researchers are expected to come up with innovative research ideas to address national agricultural problems.
According to Denis Manirambona, UN consultant on food security in Burundi, the competitive research fund component is a welcome move as it will encourage researchers at ISABU to come up with good research ideas to help address the problems facing agriculture.
The programme will also enhance information dissemination from the institute.
Source: AllAfrica.Com
