Re-Discovering the African Transformation Path to Deal with and Respond to the 4th Industrial Revolution - 8 November 2016

This seminar may be attended via video conference in Pretoria, Cape Town and KwaZulu-Natal. Details are indicated below.

HSRC Seminar Series

and Tshwane University of Technology

Re-Discovering the African Transformation Path to Deal with and Respond to the 4th Industrial Revolution

Presenter:  Prof. Mammo Muchie, DST/NRF Research Professor of Innovation Studies, Tshwane University of Technology

Venues in Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town (videoconferencing facilities: see below)

Date: 8 November 2016

Time: 12h15 for 12h30 – 13h30

The world is now undergoing two major changes; the first is the 4th industrial revolution is upon us. The second is the demand that the entire world must implement the 17 goals and 169 targets for green industrialization. Given these two challenges, at a time when Africa is still an agricultural and mineral based economy, there is a real need to find and discover a new transformation or development path for Africa.  Agriculture is the primary source of livelihood for 65% of Africans and accounts for 32 % of the GDP of the 54 African states.  (www.worldbank.org/website/external/countries/africaext) It is reported that 70-80% of all Africans- and 90% of the poor- work primarily in agriculture with 30-40% of Africa’s GDP; 60% of Africa’s export income coming from agriculture. It is also reported that over last 40 years, Africa’s share of world agricultural exports has fallen from 8 % to 2% with still farm production largely determining the prices of basic foodstuffs. It is said that the poor spend 60-70% of income on food .75% of Africa’s underweight children are said to live on small farms. From 1976-1996, public agricultural investment was 1/3 the rate of other developing countries as a whole and the private sector is said to  account for only 2% of total agricultural research spending In 2003, NEPAD adopted the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) asking for at least 10% of national budgets toward agricultural development. There is, however, unacceptably very low investment for agricultural research.

Colonialism did not transform African agriculture. Policies emanating from development studies that replaced direct colonial policy also have failed to transform Africa’s predominantly agricultural economy. The problem is that the policy guidelines that came from the development economics studies have not helped to eradicate poverty or transform the agricultural and raw material based economy in Africa either.

There is currently a new experiment with the innovation systems approach. There is suggestion that transformative innovation can make changes where colonial and development studies policies failed. The real question now is if indeed innovation can make a difference to promote the transformation others failed. The search to reflect and address Africa’s integrated transformation and development at the time when the 4th industrial revolution is upon the world is urgently needed. The public lecture will introduce ways for rediscovering new approaches to address the Africa’s development challenges at this time of the 4th Industrial revolution...

Kindly RSVP by 6 November 2016

Cape Town : HSRC, Merchant House 116-118 Buitengracht Street Cape Town, Cape Town. Contact: Jean Witten, Tel (021) 4668004, Fax (021) 461 0299, or JWitten@hsrc.ac.za

Durban :  The Atrium, 5th Floor, 430 Peter Mokaba Ridge, Berea, 4001 , Contact Ridhwaan Khan, Tel (031) 242 5400, cell: 083 788 2786 orRKhan@hsrc.ac.za , or Hlengiwe Zulu at e-mail HZulu@hsrc.ac.za

Pretoria : HSRC Video Conference, 1st floor HSRC Library Human Sciences Research Council, 134 Pretorius Street, Pretoria. Arlene Grossberg, Tel: (012) 302 2811, e-mail: acgrossberg@hsrc.ac.za

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Arlene C. Grossberg

Science Communication

Research Use and Impact Assessment

Human Sciences Research Council

134 Pretorius Street

Pretoria 0001

Tel 012 302 2811

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