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The
Ethiopian Science and Technology Agency (ESTA)
commissioned an independent consultant to undertake an
impact assessment of the national BIO-EARN Phase II
program in Ethiopia
and to highlight the significant achievements of the
BIO-EARN Phase II on capacity and competence in the area
of biotechnology, biosafety, and biotechnology policy
development in Ethiopia.
The
impact of BIO-EARN phase II program was assessed against
BIO-EARN's mission statement and the program objectives,
and expected outputs in the network institutions viz.
Ethiopian Science and Technology Agency (ESTA); Biology
Department, Addis Ababa University (AAU); Institute of
Biodiversity Conservation
(IBC); and Environmental Protection Authority
(EPA).
The
major impacts of the BIO-EARN Phase II programme, which
in effect was a continuation of the Phase I, has
made considerable contribution to Ethiopia
by way of producing five PhD students, purchasing of
research equipment, upgrading of IT infrastructure for
network institutions and creating awareness and capacity
in biotechnology and biosafety policies. There is,
however, a general consensus that the time is too short
to have significant impacts on the adoption and transfer
of technologies. The lessons learnt have been used in
the development of implementation strategy for the
BIO-EARN Programme 2006-2009.
Building
on the strong success of the first two programme phases,
the new BIO-EARN programme (2006-2009) has been prepared
and accepted with a shift of focus from capacity
building to strategic research and policy collaboration.
In the new BIO-EARN programme, Ethiopia
is participating in all the four R4D projects at
different levels and capacities. It is hoped that with
increased participation and
efficient project management,
the BIO-EARN programme's visibility,
sustainability, and realization of impacts will be
achieved in Ethiopia.
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