Published: Mon, 12 Jul 2010 11:09:24 GMT
Updated: Wed, 13 Feb 2013 16:01:45 GMT
Sida supports a whole range of Swedish research activities that focus on themes and regions, relevant to development cooperation. For example, Sida works closely with Swedish Research Councils in organising joint calls, and collaborates with Swedish Universities as a part of the capacity strengthening activities in the bilateral programs.
Support to the Swedish resource base aims at supporting research
of high quality which contribute to the Swedish knowledge
production in the implementation of development cooperation.
Swedish universities have several key roles in the global
development politics; they function as cooperation partners in the
development of research training and research administration at
universities in Sida's partner countries, and work to generate new
knowledge in order to influence international negotiations and
decision making processes.
With the objective of promoting scientific contacts and network
between Swedish researchers and researchers in developing countries
and strengthening the Swedish resource base Sida supports the
following programmes: Swedish Research Council for Environment,
Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (Formas), Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB):
Contagious Diseases, Partner Driven Cooperation (PDC) and Special
Calls on HIV/AIDS. Results may include, for example PhD training,
guest research, organisation of workshops and seminars, publication
of jointly written articles and the organisation of joint calls
with other donors.
| Achievements in the
Links and U-forsk programmes |
|
Links
The Links programme works to encourage research cooperation
concerning issues of mutual interest between researcher in Sweden
and Asia, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Latin America,
Africa and Europe. In 2012 there were 153 applications, out of
which 47 were granted funding. The recipients were spread across 29
different countries: Tanzania (4), Mozambique, Ukraine (3),
Thailand, Burkina Faso, Kenya (5), Bangladesh, Ethiopia (2), Nepal,
Mexico, Brazil (5), Iran, Malaysia (2), Belarus, Bolivia, Mali,
Colombia, Morocco, Vietnam (2), Uganda (2), Egypt, Serbia, Costa
Rica, Laos, Sri Lanka (2), Chile, Pakistan, Nicaragua and
Zambia.
From 2013 and onwards, the Links programme will be run in
entirety by Vetenskapsrådet (the Swedish Research Council).
U-Forsk
Formerly managed by Sida, the responsibility of the U-Forsk
programme has now been transferred to Vetenskapsrådet. The
programme supports Swedish research of particular relevance to
developing countries. Out of the 157 applications considered in
2012, 37 were granted funding to a total value of almost 109
million SEK, which will be allocated over the coming three
years.
Report: U-forsk - A statistical analysis of Swedish research
support during the period 1997-2010(in Swedish)
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Network support
Since 2004 Sida has supported a number of national
research networks to promote increased contacts between Swedish
researchers, as well as between Swedish researchers and
practitioners within areas of particular relevance for development.
Network support is also used as a tool to improve contacts between
Swedish researchers and researchers in the South. In 2010
the Unit for Research Cooperation initiated support programmes
with four new networks: VAW - Global Network for research collaboration on
violence against women; Sanitation and water supply in
peri-urban areas in developing countries; Universities in inclusive
systems of innovation - Challenges for the 2015 Millennium
Development Goals; and Learning from Each Other - Gender and Development
Network (GADNET) with sub-network Gender and Development in Practice (GADIP)
2010-2012. Each of these networks received a grant of SEK
500 000. Achievements in network support programmes include,
for example, dissemination of research, organising of seminars,
workshops and conferences and development of links between
researchers.
| Achievements in
Network support: GADNET |
|
The Gender and Development Network (GADNET), with its
secretariat at the Centre for Global Gender Studies at the
Institution of Global Studies, Gothenburg University, was initially
granted a one year support in 2004, followed by continued support
for the years 2005-2006, and 2007-2009. The overall allocated
funding for the period 2004-2009 has been 6,538 000 SEK. The
overarching goal of GADNET is to create and maintain a Swedish
national community of researchers in gender and development. GADNET
results include, for example, i) dream-catchers and international
conferences organised, ii) establishment of a member data base,
iii) extension of membership, iv) regular circulation of
newsletters, v) promotion of links with international researchers,
in particular researchers from the South, and vi) establishment of
25 nodes from 13 universities/university colleges where there is
one or more GADNET members.
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Joint calls
Another aspect of results within the Swedish resource base
involve the joint calls that Sida organises with The Swedish Civil
Contingencies Agency (MSB) and Swedish Research Council for Environment,
Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (Formas). The joint
calls contribute to Sida's objective since they create a
collaborative platform upon which actors can combine their
strengths and the knowledge base can be enhanced. Collaborative
efforts produce more reliable and powerful results than does a
stand alone approach. The joint calls aim to increase cooperation
between scientists from Sweden and in developing countries. This
provides both researchers and the funding bodies (Sida, MSB and
Formas) with advantages as programme results are best achieved
through synergy efforts. The idea is that through abandoning the
"silo approach" valuable research results will be delivered. Such
an approach also assists in coordinating and harmonizing program
activities.
| Achievements in joint
calls: MSB and Formas |
|
MSB
Sida and MSBannounce a joint call on the research theme of the
global fight against communicable diseases. MSB and Sida
together fund a three-year program and the applications must be
relevant for both or one of MSB's or Sida's areas of interest. The
project should comprise a 1-6 months stay/year for the main
applicant in Sweden at a recognized research institute/university
in a developing country. The project should include a co-applicant
from a developing country.
Formas
The programme, which is co-funded by Sida and Formas, promotes
high-quality research in support of sustainable societal
development. Such a development requires that the health and
welfare of man and animals together with biodiversity, environment,
nature's production capacity, economy as well as ethical, social
and cultural aspects, should all be considered. A total of 20
research projects were funded through the call and together these
will strengthen the research capacity of developing countries and
promote development-oriented research. Additionally, the funded
projects will promote scientific cooperation between researchers in
Sweden and in developing countries.
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Research Results
The assistance Sida provides the Swedish resource base
with is partially aimed at producing new knowledge. The mission is
to promote research that is of direct relevance to partner
countries, that assists Sida and the
Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs in their work with
development issues or that can be utilised in international
negotiations dialogues and policy making processes.
| Examples of Research
Results |
|
Abalone and seaweed farming in South
Africa
Through the Links programme and the U-forsk programme the Unit
for Research Cooperation supported a research project on abalone
and seaweed farming in land-based systems in South Africa. The
research has included cultivation aspects of seaweeds in the
integrated system as well as analysis of abalone farming from a
larger perspective, including both ecological and socio-economic
impacts of the industry on local and national scales. Thus, this
research project investigates products and business of the private
sector in South Africa that can benefit the people at the base of
the pyramid and contribute to fight against poverty and climate
change.
Scientific output from the project clearly indicates that
seaweeds can successfully be integrated with abalones. The South
African partners have gathered more than a year's continuous data
on growth of Gracilaria and Ulva in experimental integrated tank
cultures. The results have shown that Ulva is the better and more
consistent seaweed to use in integration with abalone. This is
because it has a high growth rate and is less prone to epiphytes
and general fouling of the tanks. Ulva also has the potential for
highest protein content. The highest figures of nitrogen measured
in Ulva correspond to almost 45% protein in the plant, a value
comparable with growth of Ulva in aquaculture systems
elsewhere.
The accumulated information within the project may help the
South African abalone industry to continue playing an important
role as an income generating activity for many disadvantageous
coastal people. The main collaborating abalone farm has today
designed and implemented a 50 % re-circulating abalone seaweed
platform capable of supporting 120 tons of abalone and producing
105 tons of seaweed a year. Two additional farms have also invested
in two large seaweed paddle ponds each for research and development
for feed production and recirculation. These large-scale
initiatives would never been possible without the research findings
resulting from the project.
Scientific findings together with capacity building have been
main results from the project. Overall there have been 39 African
students who obtained financial support through this research and
16 students (7 South Africa, 1 Mozambican, 8 Swedish) received
travel and living expenses for visits between South Africa and
Sweden. In addition 7 supervisor trips were made to facilitate
students experiment setup. A total of 7 honours, 19 masters and 5
PhD's were generated through this project. Five technical documents
were produced, 24 presentations were given at various workshops,
and 18 peer-reviewed papers were published with several more papers
still in manuscript form. Results have been presented at 58
conferences, including both oral and poster presentations. The
project also generated public interest through popular articles
(16) and public lectures (37).
Hydrological and
Hydrodynamic Processes in Ethiopia
Assistance to the Swedish resource base is also
directed towards training of PhD students. In 2010 a Sida funded
PhD thesis on "Modeling Hydrological and Hydrodynamic Processes in
Lake Tana Basin, Ethiopia" was finalised. The objective of the
study was to assess the influence of topography, soil, land use and
climatic variability on the hydrological and hydrodynamic processes
of the Lake Tana Basin. One of the most effective ways of combating
poverty and saving resources is functioning support for water.
Hence, this study contributes to Sidas's development efforts since
clean and plentiful water is a necessity for a reasonable life.
Results from the study indicate that 12 to 30.5% of the
watershed is high erosion potential and that there may be
significant changes in streamflow and other hydrological parameters
in the period 2045-2100. The study investigated the flow
structures, stratification, the flushing time, lake water balance
and finally the Lake's water levels in Lake Tana as response to the
planned water removal. Findings illustrate how the Lake Tana Basin
may experience a negative change in the forthcoming decades due to
climate change as well as over abstraction of water resources. The
planned water withdrawal may lead to an alarming and dramatic fall
of the water levels. The combination of the two models used in this
study can be can be used as a decision support tool to better
understand and manage land and water resources in watersheds and
waterbodies. The study concluded that the lake is vulnerable to
changes in the external conditions. A sustainable use of water
resource of the lake will require awareness of its vulnerability.
To achieve this task the combined watershed hydrodynamic models are
effective tools.
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Bilateral Research Cooperation
Bilateral research programmes give Swedish institutions
the opportunity to cooperate with universities in partner
countries. The aim is to strengthen research activities between
Sweden and developing countries and to promote the exchange of
ideas and information in the search of solutions to pressing
development issues. In Burkina Faso, for example, Sida support for
collaborative research projects between Swedish institutions and
research universities and research centres in Burkina Faso (University
of Ouagadougou, the Polytechnic University of Bobo-Dioulasso and
the Centre National
de Recherche Scientifique et Technologique) involved a
contribution of SEK 10 575 000 for the period 2004-2007.
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