Building
Research Capacity in Ethiopian Universities: The Realities and the Challenges
Damtew Teferra, Ph. D.
teferra@bc.edu
Speech
prepared for a
Conference on Higher Education in
15-16
December 2007
United
Nations Economic Commission for
[The African
The tripartite—and universal—mission of a
university is to pursue teaching, research and service. While the three entities
are inextricably woven, the focus of this presentation is on research. Before
starting to talk about the “how” of building research capacity, I took the
liberty of considering “the why” we need to do so.
Research is a power house of knowledge
creation. At a time when the world is transformed into what is widely dubbed as
the knowledge society, the importance of knowledge creation has become ever
more critical and ever more crucial, consequently placing universities at the
center of national development. Even prominent international development
partners, such as the World Bank, have now accepted that reality after having
neglected higher education in
So countries are striving to raise their
global competitiveness through research and innovation by revamping their
higher education system. The Europeans are hard at work establishing the
European Higher Education Area through what is now generally known as the
Bologna Process. The Chinese are determined to establish 100 world class
universities. The Japanese are pushing for further consolidation of their
university system with a target to build three dozen world class universities.
Even the leader of the pack the
In terms of expenditure, US companies were to
spend about $219 billion USD on research and development (R&D) in 2007, a
3.4% increase from the $212 billion spent in 2006.
With those highlights, I now focus on
Creating a Premium Research
Zone: Revitalizing Mother Institutions
We recognize that all institutions are not
born equal. As
On the other hand, in cases where certain
research enclaves and programs are already well developed across several
universities, research institutions and NGOs, a much stronger national research
and innovation synergy could be generated by systematically and strategically
identifying the sites and the programs and coordinating them around their
strength.
Fostering National
Competitiveness
The point here is that as a nation we need
to identify areas of our national competitiveness and capitalize on our
assets—natural resources or otherwise. While it is important (and may even be
at times inevitable) to engage development partners in matters of national
interest, the nation however has to take the driver’s seat in setting its own
policies and determine its own strategies to raise its national
competitiveness. On the same breath, it is important to underscore that these
national strategies should not be compromised for political gains or left to
neophytes.
While it is not my intention to put the Bank
on the spot, I remember writing a critique on the higher education policy paper
it produced for
I earlier used a catchy phrase “national
competitiveness” without much elaboration. What does this term mean as
discussed here? Increasingly, developing countries have become casualties of
scientific and technological advances as they have also benefited from them
tremendously. One such casualty is the replacement of natural products—which
most
With the way and speed in which the trend in
biotechnology is moving fast, it may not be too long for us to loose our main
competitive edge we have with coffee and leather—the country’s major foreign
exchange staples. I know that Starbucks has agreed to recognize and also pay
for the unique Ethiopian coffee brands which it earlier contested; but at a
time when genetic engineering has surpassed all our imaginations, this
celebration may be short lived. The science of cloning, which first gave us
Dolly the Sheep, needs to be a constant reminder that the country’s competitive
edge that abundantly depends on natural products is under threat.
Strong Graduate
Programs—Enhancing Research Capability
In
much of
Knowledge creating capabilities go hand in
hand with knowledge utilizing, knowledge adopting, and knowledge mining
abilities. I would like to emphasize, in light of what I read on the brief
report on the conference and also other comments by high-placed officials, a
nation without appropriate infrastructure and human resources can also not be
able to capitalize on knowledge generated and harvested elsewhere. Capitalizing
on knowledge generated elsewhere requires some basic caliber, capacity and
infrastructure on the ground.
The research and innovative capabilities of
the nation’s universities could be enhanced dramatically through graduate
education if they are directed by competent and accomplished leadership, guided
by concerted strategic mission, and genuinely endorsed by the academic
community. A healthy relationship between these dynamics and others is a
prerequisite to any meaningful results.
The mission of building research capacity in
Ethiopia however is much grandeur than the mandates of respective universities,
and for that matter the Ministry of Education itself; and thus this needs to
closely engage other national stakeholders including (local and federal)
government ministries such as Ministries of Health, Agriculture, Telecommunications,
Environment, Construction, Mining, private universities,
companies/corporations, regional and international organizations, NGOs and
development partners.
Capitalizing
on Success—Tapping Developed Resources
Pockets
of strong research sites already exist in the country that need to be further
nurtured and promoted. For instance, the Ethiopian Flora Project, based at
Kenyans, Ugandans, and Tanzanians used to
come to
While talking about publicity, I must say
that we as a nation are poor at “marketing” ourselves, our intellectuals and
our institutions. For instance, the web sites of virtually all
Dipping
in the Brain Trust—Stemming Brain Drain
We now know that
Needless to say, doing so is
far from easy and is complicated by social, economic, personal, and political
realities. I will not spend much time on the need to stem brain drain—that it
is a well-recognized issue—but will simply note that it needs a great political
goodwill and serious national commitment to ensure that the best do not leave
home in the first place. The recent actions around faculty compensations and
others promised in the future are commendable actions that should help stem the
tide.
While efforts to address the underlying issues
of talent exodus continue, it is also important to consider mobilizing the
intellectual diaspora seriously. Ethiopia has great many intellectual diaspora in
universities, research centers, think tanks, NGOs, businesses, international
organizations, and governments with great potential to be deployed in joint
research and publication initiative; advising, mentoring and hosting graduate
students; sponsoring programs, departments, and events; help establish
endowments; contribute in editing journals and other scholarly works; providing
highly sought, but expensive, journals, books and other resources; and raise
the profile of home institutions in the knowledge capital.
As noted above the effective mobilization of
the intellectual diaspora could be frustrated by several factors. In the case
of
I would however like to stress that without
competent and high caliber faculty and research community based at home,
building research capability in a nation will remain a serious challenge.
Individuals build institutions—and these individuals need to attain a critical
mass on the ground to make a visible impact. With that in mind, building a
critical mass however no more depends on the presence of competence in one
particular site or institution—or even nation, as long as these are effectively
organized and mobilized from wherever they are.
Even great dedication and commitment of the
intellectual community go only so far to build stable and strong institutions.
For example, it may come as a surprise to some of you that
It needs to be strongly stated that raising
the comfort level of researchers, scientists and thinkers, by way of either
minimizing their level of engagement in secondary matters (such as tedious preoccupation
with routine administrative and bureaucratic monotony), or providing them a
modest living and working environment, is a forward looking approach of
national interest. Time lost to Professor Abebe is time lost to his
institution—and his nation. I remember a conversation I had with a senior SIDA
(Swedish) staff sometime back who as he praised the good books of AAU’s
accounting system he lamented the under utilization of the resources they put
to the disposal of the institution (probably due to the excessive and stringent
accounting system). As another expatriate in frustration put it “you cannot get
a penny out of that institution”. The point here is that creating conducive
working and living environment for researchers and intellectuals, in my view,
is not a favor a country is doing to these citizens—but rather a smart strategy
to effectively tap their potential to the nation building and development
process.
Tapping Expatriates: The Potential
at the Home Front
Engaging National
Talent—Prospecting Global Perspectives
It
is distressing to a national scholarly and intellectual community when it is
deliberately or inadvertently ignored on matters of significant national
interest. It is even more demoralizing when the local intelligentsia and human
resources are sweepingly displaced by expatriate consultants and advisors whose
caliber and knowledge are often no more, if not less, than the nationals. To be
sure, generally external entities would not act with the same interest, zeal
and devotion as nationals.
I would like to however quickly underscore
that a country needs to be as outward looking as it is inward and a fair
balance between nationals and expatriates views and roles needs to be struck.
Cross fertilization of ideas is critical in the global world we live in and
there is a great need to work closely with global knowledge networks to enhance
national research capability. The views, perspectives, and input of expatriates
come in handy especially in a small intellectual environment like
Endowment: Mobilizing Private
Philanthropy
Endowing
universities and research centers are common in the Western world, especially
the
Of course, the incentives and the realities
for endowment differ from country to country and every country needs to work
its own way of approaching the ideal. Ethiopian institutions need to work hard
in establishing such endowments. For instance, with generous funding the
Getachew Bolodia Foundation could establish research chairs in critical areas
of national interest.
On the same breath,
Funding and Resources
Needless
to say, without massive financial resources building strong research capability
will simply remain a dream. Research demands not just a one-off major input but
a long-term commitment consistent with the larger mission of building such
capability. In
In
Universities should be equipped with a
dedicated office and trained personnel who track funding opportunities around
the world and advise and direct researchers, help prepare and organize grant
proposals, publicize research potentials and outcomes to appropriate funders,
and so forth.
Scholarly Publication
and Associations
Journals
and other periodicals are a central part of the research enterprise and yet in
much of
In terms of access to scholarly journals and
periodicals, several institutional, regional and international initiatives are
underway to provide free access to African institutions. I hope
There were over 60 professional associations
in the country several years ago. These include Biological Society of Ethiopia,
Chemical Society of Ethiopia, Mathematical Association of Ethiopia, Statistical
Association of Ethiopia, Ethiopian Medical Association, Ethiopian Veterinary
Association, Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Association, Ethiopian Association of
Engineers and Architects, Ethiopian Economic Association, Ethiopian IT
Professionals Association, Ethiopian Inventors Association, and Ethiopian
Wildlife and Natural History Society. These are national intellectual treasures
which need to be actively nurtured and purposefully engaged in the nation’s
resolve to build its research and innovative capacity.
Scholarly associations and societies serve
as important avenues of scholarly dialog, research communication and
information dissemination. These bodies serve as advocates of their scholarly
and professional interest, monitor and shape the rules of the fields, as well
as frame the scholarly etiquette in a national context.
The Nature of Research: Internal
Needs and External Demands
There
has always been tension between research for its own sake (basic/fundamental
research) and research for targeted outcome (applied research). In countries
where resources are limited, preferences almost always focus on applied
research that purports to address social and economic challenges. Of course as
the major funders of research in
Countries are thus left with a choice of
committing own resources on “unpopular” research areas which demands the
creation of synergies around areas of their national interest not benefiting
from external sources.
I would like however to note that even when
a particular research is fully funded by international development partners, other
resources—money or human—flow towards that direction directly or indirectly
competing with the efforts not funded by them.
In my view the research focus of a country
should not simply be dictated by immediate and obvious needs of that nation.
Instead, these should be grounded in the context of a strategic plan which takes
into account national competitiveness well into the future. What do I mean in
simple terms? Do we need to focus on issues of self-sufficiency in food
production? Yes. This is an obvious and immediate need. Do we need a
technology-led development? Yes, but this may not be felt as obvious or
immediate need (that attracts external funding) but one that guarantees
socioeconomic development and raise the level of national competitiveness. The
point here could be summed up,
using an Ethiopian saying, as ende guaya
neqay yefit yefitachnn bcha anmelket which somewhat translates as “let us not simply be blinded by our immediate
needs”.
As a matter of relevance, the shelf life of
knowledge and information is fast becoming short-lived rendering the process of
knowledge acquisition and knowledge consumption somewhat out of sync with what
we are used to. As a consequence, higher education thinkers are now pushing to
focus more on cultivating critical thinkers than producing individuals who are
soaked with facts—facts whose life cycle are getting increasingly ephemeral in character.
Honoring Accomplished
Intellectuals: Recognizing their Rights and Freedom
When
Sometime back I ran into a senior manager of
the
One other example that comes to mind is the
late Dr. Teklehaimanot Retta, the great Ethiopian Mathematician who passed away
with neither the appropriate title nor a proper shelter commensurate to his
person. And many of us who knew him grieve his situation to this day.
Indeed, many great intellectual Ethiopians
fall in the cracks simply because they are considered “disengaged”, “misfits”,
“subversives”, or “threats”.
In my view, if a country is seriously
concerned about its research and knowledge capabilities, its resources are just
never too small to honor its accomplished intellectuals neither its tolerance
level too low to readily dismiss or systematically undermine them. Academic
freedom is central to the nation’s higher education system and research
development—and there is simply no way around it.
When I am talking about academic freedom, I
am not actually confined to the most common culprit, governments, but also students,
colleagues and even society. An intellectual should simply be free to think,
free to write, and free to speak—wherever and whenever—without fear of
government crackdown, collegial pressure, societal backlash or student uproar.
The commitment of a government to nurture research and innovation should not
simply be measured by the public money it puts at the institutions disposal—but
equally by its tolerance to accept and its dedication to protect its
intellectual capital—not only from its own forces, but possibly from other
internal and external threats. To put it in a global socio-political context,
as a wind of democratization is blowing around the world, countries are now
awash with numerous effective and weak oppositions as well as bold critics for
incumbents to worry about the “non-conforming subversives” sheltered in
intellectual institutions.
Nurturing
the New Generation
As much as one forcefully argues in favor of
senior intellectuals honored, respected and recognized, a concurrent effort must
be in place to nurture a new generation of emerging researchers, scientists and
intellectuals. Academic feudalism is a common phenomenon in a small
intellectual environment like the one in Ethiopia and it is not that easy for
many to grow “under a shadow of a large tree”—especially when this tree is
neither productive—as they call it in the business “dead wood”—or “esoteric”.
It is thus imperative that as serious
efforts to honor national talent and pay tribute to senior intellectuals are
made, the new generation of scientists and scholars also nurtured by
instituting special provisions targeting them such as for instance competitive
research grants.
Ministry of Higher Education,
Science and Technology: Time for a New Organ
I
am raising this issue for a third time in such a gathering in
Institutions, departments, and expertise are
reorganized, reshuffled and streamlined to capitalize on their collective
strength, quality and vigor. The repositioning and reconstitution of
organizations represent steps in the realization and enhancement of these
underlying objectives. Nearly a third of the African continent, many countries
in
About two decades have elapsed since the
Commission for Higher Education got disbanded and replaced with the current
organizational arrangement of higher education system which is also more than a
decade old. And yet, major national and global transformations have taken place
around higher education since then which prompts us to seriously consider the
idea of restructuring the national system of knowledge institutions in
Countries all over the world are striving to
overhaul their knowledge institutions to deploy them as engines of development
and, it is my position that,
Conclusion
Research
is a very expensive enterprise. Building such an enterprise for a poor country
like
We realize that the country faces too
many challenges to build strong national research capabilities. While the
challenges may appear to be formidable, the potentials and the opportunities
are thrilling. If we are to tap the potentials and reap the fruits of this
national effort, we need to think out of the box and even take a calculated
risk in doing things we have not done before.
I cannot emphasize enough that our
future well being and our progress heavily depend on the state and quality of
our knowledge institutions and our capability to produce, consume and adapt
knowledge.
*Due
to time constraints the whole speech could not be delivered fully.
About
the Author
Dr. Damtew Teferra is Director for
Damtew is the Founding
Editor-in-Chief (former) of the Journal
of Higher Education in Africa and the Founder and Director of the
International Network for Higher Education in
Damtew holds a Bachelors Degree
(in Biology/Chemistry) from
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