[SDI-Africa] Taking the pulse of Earth sciences in Africa

[Kate Lance]

http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002150/215081e.pdf#page=17
Taking the pulse of Earth sciences in Africa
UNESCO Natural Sciences Quarterly Newsletter, Vol. 10, No. 1, January–March 2012, p.17-19
Authors have identified the paradox by which African countries are increasingly eager to exploit the continent’s rich georesources to fuel socio-economic development, even as their education systems are unable to rise to the challenge. They have drawn attention to the ‘yawning inequalities across the continent in terms of teaching resources and research facilities.’ This state of affairs spurred African governments to invite UNESCO to launch the Earth Science Education Initiative in Africa in 2008.
To kick-start the the Earth Science Education Initiative in Africa in 2008, UNESCO undertook a series of regional scoping workshops across Africa to assess capacities and needs in Earth science education, research and industry, and identify an appropriate role for UNESCO and its partners.
To complete this preliminary assessment, UNESCO commissioned a survey of publication trends among African Earth scientists between 2000 and 2010 which has just been published. The Journal of African Earth Sciences was chosen as the reference journal for the study. The results are edifying. They confirm the strong imbalance in geosciences, with most
articles coming from just 10 African countries. This would seem to suggest that the Earth Science Education Initiative should focus on fostering geological education, research and collaboration in those countries which are not producing papers.

Read the full report: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002148/214888e.pdf 
A Study Report on The Performance of African Earth Scientists in the Journal of African Earth Sciences (JAES) during the Period 2000-2010 (2011)
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