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Science, Technology, and Innovation for Socioeconomic Development

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Chemistry International -- Newsmagazine for IUPAC
From the journal Chemistry International -- Newsmagazine for IUPAC Volume 32 Issue 3

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Science, Technology, and Innovation for Socioeconomic Development

Edited by Sospeter M. Muhongo, Francis P. Gudyanga, Achuo A. Enow, Daniel Nyanganyura

ICSU Regional Office for Africa, 2009

ISBN 978 0 620 45741 5

As part of its outreach activities, the International Council for Science Regional Office for Africa (ICSU ROA) has published a book that showcases the achievements of science and technology in Africa. Science, Technology, and Innovation for Socioeconomic Development highlights the continent’s contribution to the development of science and technology in the world.

Africa has a rich history of indigenous knowledge systems that are still unknown to the outside world. It is also true that research activities in Africa have yielded results that remain largely unpublished in international journals. A good example is in medicine where, for centuries, scientific techniques have been deployed for culturally specific and psychologically significant treatments involving hydro- and thermal therapy, spinal manipulation, quarantine, and bonesetting (orthopaedics).

The book gives an account of modern scientific developments that may contribute significantly to the realization of the objectives of some of the Millennium Development Goals. It brings together, under one cover, research reports from different African scientists and institutions. In addition, it describes African science and technology innovations that are helping to solve some of the chronic developmental and societal challenges facing the continent in the fields of health, the environment, and energy sustainability. The book comprises eleven chapters organized in four sections representing the disciplines covered: health, ICT and mathematics, the environment, and energy. Following is a sampling of various chapters:

  • Ameenah Gurib-Fakim (Mauritius) shows how medicinal plants provide solutions for certain chronic diseases. He advocates the formulation and implementation of biodiversity policies and laws that translate ancestral traditions into modern businesses that will make the continent healthier and keep it prosperous.

  • Charles Wambebe, Hadiza Khamofu, Joseph Okogun, Nathan Nasipuri, Karynius Gamaniel, and the late Rev. P.O. Ogunyale (Nigeria) describe the discovery of an African herbal medicine, Niprisan, which, if successful, will save the lives of many people suffering from sickle-cell anemia on the continent.

  • Bhanooduth Lalljee and Sunita Facknath (Mauritius) discuss the vulnerability of small island states to the effects of globalization and investigate the main measures (including policies) taken by the government of Mauritius to face the challenges.

  • Francis P. Gudyanga, Clement S. Shonhiwa, and Zivai Chiguvare (Zimbabwe) detail the production of biodiesel from nonedible jatropha seeds and the economic importance of this type of energy to the rural community.

This book is innovative in scope and important in its conclusions. The collection of chapters reveals science, technology, and innovation as critical tools for poverty reduction through accelerated socioeconomic development in Africa. It shows the private sector to be an important player in education, research, development, and the commercialization of Africa’s natural products, such as traditional medicine and indigenous knowledge. The book is the first in a series of planned volumes of science, technology, and innovation success stories from Africa that will be published by the ICSU Regional Office for Africa.

www.icsu-africa.org

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Page last modified 12 May 2010.

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Published Online: 2010-05-01
Published in Print: 2010-05

© 2014 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co.

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  1. Masthead
  2. From the Editor
  3. Contents
  4. Secretary General’s Column
  5. Marvels & Ciphers: A New Exhibit at Chemical Heritage Foundation Links Alchemy and Quantum Chemistry
  6. The Tunisian Chemical Society: A Necessity for a Developing Country
  7. An Industry-Academic Partnership
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  9. Han E.H. Meijer Garners 2010 DSM Performance Materials Award
  10. Arun K. Ghosh is Awarded the 2010 IUPAC-Richter Prize
  11. L’Oréal–UNESCO Awards for Women in Science 2010 Announced
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  20. Structure and Property of Polymer/ Clay Nanocomposite Materials
  21. Rare Earth Metal Chlorides in Water and Aqueous Systems
  22. Science, Technology, and Innovation for Socioeconomic Development
  23. An Ontology on Property for Physical, Chemical, and Biological Systems
  24. Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry in Bulgarian
  25. Heteroatom Chemistry
  26. Frontiers in Polymer Science
  27. The COCI East Asian Regional Workshop
  28. MacroMolecular Complexes
  29. Polymer Science and Technology
  30. Chemistry in Africa
  31. Mark Your Calendar
https://doi.org/10.1515/ci.2010.32.3.23

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Masthead
  2. From the Editor
  3. Contents
  4. Secretary General’s Column
  5. Marvels & Ciphers: A New Exhibit at Chemical Heritage Foundation Links Alchemy and Quantum Chemistry
  6. The Tunisian Chemical Society: A Necessity for a Developing Country
  7. An Industry-Academic Partnership
  8. 2010 Thieme–IUPAC Prize Awarded to Phil S. Baran
  9. Han E.H. Meijer Garners 2010 DSM Performance Materials Award
  10. Arun K. Ghosh is Awarded the 2010 IUPAC-Richter Prize
  11. L’Oréal–UNESCO Awards for Women in Science 2010 Announced
  12. In Memoriam–Ari Horvath
  13. Guidance for Substance-Related Environmental Monitoring Strategies Regarding Soil and Surface Water
  14. Evaluated Kinetic Data for Atmospheric Chemistry
  15. Chemical Speciation of Environmentally Significant Metals with Inorganic Ligands. Part 3: The Pb2+ + OH–, Cl–, CO32–, SO42–, and PO43– Systems (IUPAC Technical Report)
  16. Terminology for Reversible- Deactivation Radical Polymerization (IUPAC Recommendations 2010)
  17. Metallomics: Guidelines for Terminology and Critical Evaluation of Analytical Chemistry Approaches (IUPAC Technical Report)
  18. Explanatory Dictionary of Key Terms in Toxicology: Part II (IUPAC Recommendations 2010)
  19. Name and Symbol of the Element with Atomic Number 112 (IUPAC Recommendations 2010)
  20. Structure and Property of Polymer/ Clay Nanocomposite Materials
  21. Rare Earth Metal Chlorides in Water and Aqueous Systems
  22. Science, Technology, and Innovation for Socioeconomic Development
  23. An Ontology on Property for Physical, Chemical, and Biological Systems
  24. Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry in Bulgarian
  25. Heteroatom Chemistry
  26. Frontiers in Polymer Science
  27. The COCI East Asian Regional Workshop
  28. MacroMolecular Complexes
  29. Polymer Science and Technology
  30. Chemistry in Africa
  31. Mark Your Calendar
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