Description

Bioeconomy growth offers the opportunity for countries in Eastern Africa to achieve many of the UN 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goals and supports the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the regional aspirations of EAC Vision 2050. To generate sustainable economic growth and new employment opportunities, countries in Eastern Africa have the opportunity to develop and strategically invest in value addition to its bioresources, and in its agricultural and bioprocessing sector. With this as a background, the East Africa Science and Technology Commission (EASTECO), the BioInnovate Africa Programme, The Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), African Technology Policy Studies (ATPS) and The Scinnovate Centre organized the first regional bioeconomy conference ever in Eastern Africa, with the conference theme “Bioeconomy growth prospects for Eastern Africa”. The conference was held on-line on 21 – 22 October 2020 and was attended by some 200 participants from the region and worldwide. The conference provided opportunities for scientists, technologists and innovators from the academic, public and private sectors to network and share their experiences on the bioeconomy development in Africa and how to build an appropriate enabling environment to foster its growth. The conference also showcased a range of bioinnovation activities and capacity building efforts currently under way in the region.