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International Horticulture Advisors |
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Providing technical advice and supportive training workshops |
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AFORNET was established in the late 1990’s as a pan-Africa platform upon which scientific capacity building in forestry and agro-forestry can develop across the continent primarily through coordinated networking activities and a small research grant scheme administered by a small secretariat based at the AAS. The audit concentrated on both administrative and financial procedures as well as the network’s scientific research and training performances. An 85-page report was produced for Sida in 2006 to guide future policy on Sida’s support to the AFORNET initiative. |
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This European Commission STABEX consultancy is being undertaken by Professor Mantell as leader of a team consisting of an economist and two agronomists that is interacting with three local research institutes responsible in the country for conducting research and extension on two export crops cotton and cashew and on two subsistence crops cassava (manioca) and Solanum potato. The work is concentrated on developing and formulating a three year pilot programme of activities that aims at strengthening competence by introducing new technologies and novel database information systems in two provinces in the north and the south of the country where these crops are important components of rural income generation and food security strategies. |
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A series of intensive workshops on scientific proposal writing were mounted on behalf of VLIR-UOS (the Flemish Inter-University Council) in association with IFS. A total of 82 young scientists from Sub Saharan Africa countries were trained on conceptualization, drafting and presentation of winning scientific research proposals through three one-week workshops held in Lusaka on 8 – 13th September, 2008; Mekelle on 15 – 20th September 2008; and Nairobi on 22 – 27th September, 2008. Each of the three workshops was, on the bases of participant evaluations and the opinions expressed by observers and the local and international resource persons involved in teaching on the workshops, adjudged to have been a success. The expected impact of the three workshops, which will be subsequently monitored, will be increased numbers of successful applications to IFS submitted by postgraduate and postdoctoral scientists based at universities receiving long-term academic support from Belgian institutions. This will help increase sustainability of the VLIR-UOS university partnership scheme at the time that funding eventually ceases at the end of a Programme. |
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Young scientists returning from overseas following postgraduate training often find themselves working in academic environments where there is often minimal support for their particular research interests in terms of equipment, consumables and availability of scientific advice from experienced elder scientists (mentorship). IFS can provide funds on a competitive basis for the first two through its small grant scheme. The third component, mentorship, is an activity that can now operate at a distance what with current day internet and email services. Mentorship is being introduced by IFS as a so-called capacity enhancing activity. With its extensive contacts and database of scientific advisors IFS can now form a platform for the development of a mentorship scheme whereby IFS grantees can if so wish be put in touch with a senior scientist working in a similar subject area who is willing to communicate with the grantee on a regular basis and so support his or her research with timely advice and assist where necessary with the editing of second and third drafts of scientific papers destined for publication in peer-reviewed journals. NAKHLATEC operates the mentorship scheme in collaboration with the various Programme Coordinators at the IFS Secretariat in Stockholm. The picture shows Sinclair Mantell being interrupted by a curious visitor in Honduras while communicating on the internet with an IFS mentee based in Mongolia concerning a short training attachment with a university group in the University of Colorado, USA. Needless to say such distractions are not so frequent! |
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VICRES (the Lake Victoria Research Initiative) is funded by the European Union spear-headed by Sida-SAREC of Sweden. It has two primary objectives: firstly, to improve knowledge of the land-human-environment inter-phases so as to justify interventions that are meant to promote sustainable livelihoods (through the implementation of a team grant scheme which aims to bring together researchers from at least two countries in the lake Victoria Region (LVR) and secondly, to improve access to research findings by individuals and institutions in the LVR. The main objective of the audit was to review the programmer's cost effectiveness, its administration, and the flow of funds from the Secretariat to the grantees and recipient organizations, as well as the administration and flow of funds within the beneficiary institutions and organizations. |
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Coordination of a distance internet mentorship scheme operated on behalf of the International Foundation for Science, Stockholm, Sweden |
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Workshops in Zambia, Ethiopia and Kenya on Scientific Research Proposal Writing |
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Formulation of an agricultural research and extension system in Nampula and Inhambane Provinces, Mozambique |
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Management and Systems Audit of the VICRES Programme based at the Inter University Council of East Africa (IUCEA), Lusaka, Uganda |
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Recent Assignments |
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Below are some examples of projects undertaken in the last 5 years by NAKHLATEC |
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Workshops on improving skills in Scientific Research Paper Writing in Vietnam |
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As a result of the successful workshop on scientific research proposal writing mounted in 2007, the Institute of Biotechnology, Hanoi approached NAKHLATEC in early 2009 to mount a further workshop on Improving skills in drafting and writing scientific research papers for submission to the international journals. This was delivered in August 2009. Both workshops were considered so successful by all who participated that further workshops along similar lines are being planned for other institutions in Vietnam as part of the Sweden—Vietnam Cooperation Programme |
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This workshop was held in collaboration with the IFS and the UNESCO-START initiative on Global Change System for Analysis, Research and Training held in September-October 2007 at the UNESCO IHE-Water Institute, Delft, Holland. The first START Advanced Institute covers climate variability and food scarcity, the second:urbanization, emissions and global carbon cycle and the third: assessing vulnerability of water resources to global climate change thereby providing relevant information to policy makers and governments to assist in formulating adaptation strategies. The workshop, which was designed to assist the Advanced Course participants draft and present their own scientific research proposals in an IFS grant proposal format, was held over 7 days. The workshop was facilitated by Professor Mantell, supported by Dr Richard Hall of IFS. The 23 participants came exclusively from Sub-Saharan African countries. |
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Workshop on Research Conceptualization and Scientific Proposal Writing at the UNESCO-Institute for Higher Education in Water, Delft, The Netherlands |
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