Strength through science

The Research and Development Forum for Science-Led Development in Africa (RANDFORUM) is a new initiative which has been established by the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) and the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). RANDFORUM is a non-political, non profit-making trust which sects to contribute to the resolution of the current development crisis in Africa by encouraging a science and technology culture that will promote science-led development on a sustainable basis. It hopes to do this by establishing strong national and regional alliances between farming and agro-business, industry, university and research institutions and by encouraging information flow between researchers, entrepreneurs, sources of credit and venture capital. It plans to lobby African governments for higher investment in science and technology and for greater regional cooperation by providing a national and international forum for discussion. It also hopes to mobilize funding and the creation of endowment funds for long-term support in priority research and development concerns. Human resource development is another major objective of the trust, which plans to negotiate for positive conditions of work for scientists in key posts and to establish crisis centres and recovery programmes according to need. RANDFORUM, PO Box 49849 Nairobi, KENYAThe Research and Development Forum for Science-Led Development in Africa (RANDFORUM) is a new initiative which has been established by the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) and the..