JUBA – After the sound of gunfire fell silent in Southern Sudan, marking the end of one of Africa’s longest running civil wars, Pio Kowr Ding decided he would return home to the autonomous region to take up an agricultural research job with the government.
With a masters degree in soil and land evaluation, and experience working for the Agricultural Research Corporation’s Land and Water Research Center (LWRC) in Khartoum, Ding was keen to help the region rebuild its agricultural research. But when he arrived in 2008 he realised that the task was actually to start from scratch and the living conditions were tough.
“It is very discouraging — completely the opposite of life outside here — and it is difficult to cope,” he says.
Although peace returned to Southern Sudan in 2005, several economically vital sectors in the region lag behind, even as the clock ticks towards the expiry of the five-year lifespan of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the north and the south.
As well as claiming 2.5 million lives, the war also drove 4 million people out of the region.
Attracting scientists back is proving tricky. A drive to lure scientists back to rebuild Southern Sudan’s agriculture has attracted just seven researchers so far.
“Those of us who found courage and returned cannot even find research equipment or facilities like the ones we had in the diaspora,” says Ding. “That is why a lot of my friends and colleagues are still there.
Worried by the dismal performance of the sector, Southern Sudan’s government has now looked abroad and brought in the renowned agricultural research scientist and plant pathologist, Joseph Mukiibi, the founder of Uganda’s National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO), to run a new research institute.
The region ‘could feed East Africa’
Mukiibi, who once led NARO’s research on food crops, forestry and livestock, is now spearheading the re-establishment of a strategic agricultural research plan in Southern Sudan.
“We are to re-establish what existed before, we have to see what is on the ground, what network, which model do we want that will suit Southern Sudan best,” he says.
The government needs to start training its own people, or tap cheaper labour from neighbouring areas, he says.
“This region has a population of ten million people in an area three times the size of Uganda, which has 32 million people. A lot of Southern Sudan is empty land: if the government is serious, it can start agricultural projects here that can feed the rest of East Africa.“
The real key, however, is to attract scientists back because, he believes, modern agriculture cannot succeed without research. Mukiibi believes the region has an untapped seam of highly qualified nationals who continue to live abroad.
“Very few people in the diaspora would be willing to leave their plum jobs and comfortable lifestyles to come back home. You can imagine that after 20 years of war, education is limited, people and resources are just not here, and those who are coming back need some time to settle back in.”
Making a start
And the working environment is indeed far from inviting. He recounts the grim state of a former research station in the town of Yei.
“I can tell you it’s empty, in a sorrowful state. There is a lab but it is in darkness. There is nobody and no research equipment, just some dilapidated staff houses, which are empty,” Mukiibi says.
“Can you imagine someone in the diaspora who has a fully functioning lab with running tap water and electricity? And you’re telling him to come to the bush where there is no power, and where he can run out of water and not even have a pit latrine?”
Many Sudanese scientists are proud of their nation but that is not enough. “They cannot eat nationalism,” Mukiibi says.
“Human resources are limited but we will start with what we have. We will start small, with one centre, make it functional and, with the experience we get there, we will move to the next centre, learning from mistakes and strengths. We will ultimately build the system.”
Foreign input, indigenous priority
Mukiibi compares the Southern Sudanese experience to that of Rwanda after its civil war and genocide in the early 1990s. The Rwandans “opened up and got people from Uganda and Kenya even as they returned to be trained to take over the operations of their research institutes”, he says.
His team is now developing the strategic research plan, which must be completed by March 2011. It will be based on that of Kenya’s Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) and Uganda’s NARO, and it will be put out for discussion with stakeholders at every step — “that way, you have many chances of having it implemented”.
Other than Mukiibi and Ding, the team comprises a plant breeder, an entomologist, a horticulturalist and an agronomist, all of them Southern Sudanese who have returned since the war ended.
Loro George Leju Lugor, director general of research, training and extension services at Southern Sudan’s agriculture and forestry ministry, makes these points about the plan:
“First, we do not want to rely on imported seeds year in, year out. Second, we want to upgrade our national germplasm of indigenous crops. And third, we want to improve crop production technology for our own consumption and export.”
He says the emphasis should be on indigenous crops in the region’s six agro-ecological zones: green belt, iron-stone plateau, flat plains, Nile-Sobat River, hills and mountains, and semi-arid areas.
Moving into production
At the newly established research unit, Lugor says that seed production and the creation of a database of all locally grown crops will be a priority.
“We are distributing seeds proven to do very well in the agro-ecological zones after importing them from Uganda and Kenya,” Lugor says.
“The production of our own, locally bred seeds, and their distribution to farmers is not something we can do within a year: it will take two to three years to be fully established due to the many challenges involved in conducting research work in the situation we have in Southern Sudan,” he concedes.
Like Mukiibi, Lugor says challenges range from financial constraints, the diversity of the country, and lack of infrastructure and manpower.
Without returning professionals, he says, the region lacks the “think tanks” needed to plan and execute agricultural research work.
“We are making proposals to international research organisations and bilateral partners but it’s not easy to get the money needed. For example, we budgeted for US$56 million but have received a small fraction of this, so we are prioritising the crops and seeds we need to produce and develop.”
A number of non-governmental organisations and bilateral partners including the Dutch government, the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation, and World Bank and the US Agency for International Development partners have offered to assist in the research, says Lugor.
Others that have expressed interest, he adds, include international research organisations such as KARI, the International Livestock Research Institute in Kenya, the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa, in Uganda, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, in Kenya, and the Kenya Forestry Research Institute.
The seven researchers who have made it home no doubt await these developments with great interest.
By Paul Jimbo - SciDev.Net
Research In Motion Reports Third Quarter Results
WATERLOO, ONTARIO — (Marketwire) — 12/16/10 — Research In Motion Limited (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM)(TSX: RIM), a world leader in the mobile communications market, today reported record third quarter results for the three months ended November 27, 2010 (all figures in U.S. dollars and U.S. GAAP).
Highlights:
- Record BlackBerry(R) smartphone shipments of 14.2 million grew 40% over the same quarter last year
- Revenue grew 40% over the same quarter last year to $5.5 billion
- Q3 Earnings per share of $1.74 were up 58% over the same quarter last year
- Cash increased by $446 million to $2.5 billion at the end of the quarter
Q3 Results:
Revenue for the third quarter of fiscal 2011 was $5.49 billion, up 19% from $4.62 billion in the previous quarter and up 40% from $3.92 billion in the same quarter of last year. The revenue breakdown for the quarter was approximately 82% for devices, 15% for service, and 3% for software and other revenue. During the quarter, RIM shipped approximately 14.2 million devices.
Approximately 5.1 million net new BlackBerry(R) subscriber accounts were added in the quarter. At the end of the quarter, the total BlackBerry subscriber account base was over 55 million.
“We are pleased to report another record quarter with strong growth in shipments of BlackBerry smartphones leading to record revenue, subscriber additions and earnings. RIM’s business continues to grow and diversify as BlackBerry adoption accelerates in markets around the world,” said Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO at Research In Motion. “With strong results and momentum from our recent product introductions, as well as growing excitement from our partners and customers around upcoming smartphone, tablet, software and service offerings, we are setting the stage for continuing success.”
The Company’s net income for the quarter was $911.1 million, or $1.74 per share diluted, compared with net income of $796.7 million, or $1.46 per share diluted, in the prior quarter and net income of $628.4 million, or $1.10 per share diluted, in the same quarter last year.
The total of cash, cash equivalents, short-term and long-term investments was $2.47 billion as of November 27, 2010, compared to $2.03 billion at the end of the previous quarter, an increase of $446 million from the prior quarter. Cash flow from operations in Q3 was approximately $975 million. Uses of cash included capital expenditures of approximately $300 million, common share repurchases of approximately $133 million, and intangible asset purchases of approximately $45 million.
Q4 Outlook:
Revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011 ending February 26, 2011 is expected to be in the range of $5.5-$5.7 billion. Gross margin percentage for the fourth quarter is expected to be similar to third quarter levels. Earnings per share for the fourth quarter are expected to be in the range of $1.74-$1.80 per share diluted.
Update on RIM’s Board of Directors:
RIM announced today that its board of directors has appointed co-Chief Executive Officers Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis as co-chairmen of the board. John Richardson remains as lead independent director of RIM and will continue to facilitate the functioning of the board independently of management. The board believes these appointments, in conjunction with Mr. Richardson serving as lead independent director, represent an appropriate and effective leadership structure for RIM. RIM also announced today that Jim Estill has resigned his position as a director of RIM due to a business conflict. RIM thanks Mr. Estill for his 13 years of serviceon the board.
Conference Call and Webcast:
A conference call and live webcast will be held beginning at 5 pm ET, December 16, 2010, which can be accessed by dialing 800-814-4859 (North America), 416-644-3414 (outside North America). The replay of the company’s Q3 conference call can be accessed after 7 pm ET, December 16, 2010 until midnight ET, December 30, 2010. It can be accessed by dialing 416-640-1917 and entering passcode 4310313#. The conference call will also appear on the RIM website live at 5 pm ET and will be archived at http://www.rim.com/investors/events/index.shtml.
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