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
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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