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In response to the Second Call for Concept Notes on ‘Innovation Incubation and Promotion of Targeted Value Chains and Bio-resources Innovation Policy and Sustainability Analysis in Eastern Africa’, the Bio-Innovate Program received a total of 21 Concept Notes from applicants from the six Bio-Innovate Program participating countries of Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.
After the preliminary screening of the concept notes by the Bio-Innovate Program secretariat against the initial criteria, 11 concept notes pre-qualified for further evaluation by the external technical review panel. The technical evaluation process of the eligible concept notes from the second call by the external reviewers was carried out from 15th February – 7th March 2011.
The Bio-Innovate Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), at its 3rd meeting held on 14th and 15th April 2011 selected 6 concept notes to be further developed into full proposals. The meetings of consortium teams of the qualified concepts to develop full proposals were facilitated by the Bio-innovate Program secretariat. The full proposals were evaluated by 3-4 external reviewers from 27th May – 17th June, 2011. The qualified proposals were presented to the TAC for funding consideration. We are pleased to report that Bio-Innovate Program will support the following four innovation incubation and policy projects consortia over a period of three years:
- Use of biosciences for value addition and diversification to enhance commercialization of sorghum and millet products in Eastern Africa; Lead institution: Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania
- Bio-enhanced seeds and seedlings for east Africa; Lead institution: Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya
- Industrial enzymes for sustainable bio-economy: Large scale production and application in industry, environment and agriculture; Lead Institution: Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia
- The Biosciences innovation policy analysis for Eastern Africa; Lead institution: Uganda National Council for Science and Technology, Uganda
The first three projects focus on innovation incubation and promotion of targeted value chains (Thematic area 3), and the last project focuses on biosciences innovation policy and sustainability analysis in eastern Africa (Thematic area 4). The innovation incubation and policy projects from the second call will be supported for three years period (August 2011- July 2014) with a total fund of SEK 26, 250,000 (approximately, USD 3,500,000). The Bio-Innovate projects from the second call will help build agricultural and environmental innovation incubation and targeted value chains in the region and a supportive policy environment for bioresources innovations. For more details Contact Bio-Innovate Secretariat: Dr. Seyoum Leta Bio-Innovate Program Manager, International Livestock Research Institute P.O. Box 30709, Nairobi, Kenya Email: s.leta@cgiar.org Direct line: +254 (0)20 422 3216 Fax: +254 (0)20 422 3001 Website: www.bioinnovate-africa.org
