An African bioeconomy network led by Universities in Africa is needed to make a valuable contribution to global bioeconomy debates.
This was the sentiment expressed in a working group at a workshop entitled: “Exploring Global Collaboration Opportunities for Universities in the Bioeconomy Field at the Global Bioeconomy Summit from 23 to 24 October held in Nairobi, Kenya”.
Speaking at the working group Dr Kyayesimira from Kyambogo University in Kampala said, “We as African Universities need to develop our own voice first and look at the priorities of the bioeconomy in Africa before we can meaningfully discuss with the University bioeconomy networks on other continents. This is because each socio-ecological context differs and continents face diverse challenges due to climate change.
Dr Kyayesimira is the team leader of BioInnovate Africa, a project tackling the “development of eco-friendly packaging products from cassava wastes and other biowastes in East Africa”.
The working group at the workshop suggested that the African bioeconomy network should initially start with universities in Africa and gradually include governments, business partners, NGO’s and organisations like the African Union.
Furthermore, it was important that the bioeconomy discussions in the university sector were transdisciplinary in nature, including both the natural and the social sciences. “We need to create a platform that discusses both Africa’s ecological concerns as well as social justice in communities, including cross-cutting themes like gender and youth,” said Dr Kyayesimira.
Already existing university led bioeconomy networks were invited to present their best practices for collaboration at the workshop. One of the first to emerge was the European Bioeconomy University Alliance (EBU) and the Latin American Bioeconomy Network that had only recently emerged. These structures had evolved very differently.
The European Bioeconomy University Alliance has been developed through co-operation between the top 8 universities dealing with bioeconomy in Europe. Meanwhile, the Latin American Bioeconomy emerged more organically through relationships between NGOs, communities and academics engaging in bioeconomy research in Latin America.
The Latin American Bioeconomy Network is now a collaboration between more than 60 institutions from 10 Latin American countries. They have created guiding principles for developing the bioeconomy in the region. These guiding principles are used to develop policies and investments that promote sustainable development in Latin America.
The workshop proposed that a Global Bioeconomy University Alliance be created out of all the emerging and existing bioeconomy networks in universities across the world. The workshop further explored approaches to enhancing regional and global collaboration among universities and discussed current gaps and opportunities which could be addressed by the establishment of a network of education and research institutions.
The workshop proposed that the university-led bioeconomy networks could foster the transformation towards a sustainable bioeconomy by developing knowledge and skills, which will be accompanied by a robust knowledge exchange strategy, encompassing knowledge valorisation, knowledge co-creation, and knowledge sharing.
Meanwhile, globally, more than 70 countries already have bioeconomy or bioeconomy related plans or strategies in place to spur economic growth while preserving the environment. In Africa, South Africa has a dedicated bioeconomy strategy and Namibia launched its own in May 2024, while more than a dozen other African countries (including Uganda) are in the process of drafting theirs.
The East African Community (EAC) has become Africa’s first regional economic community (REC) to draft and begin implementation of a regional bioeconomy strategy covering the period leading up to 2031–2032 (EASTECO 2022) (Glatzel, K. et al 2024).
Bibliography
Glatzel, K., Virchow, D., Nakitto, A.M.S., Niyonsenga, S., Babu, S., Srivastava, N., Kashandula, P., Ecuru, J. and Osano, P., 2024. Bioeconomy Pathways: Experience from Africa, Asia, and Latin America.