Question

How has light technology contributed extensively to basic science?

Answer 1

Ideally, this section should document: the new firms that have been brought into being as a result exploiting science and technology opportunities; the new products and processes that have resulted; the number of jobs that have been created as a result of technology - based firms that have been started; the contribution of science and technology to Gross Domestic Product (GDP); and the development of new industry clusters of high technology firms. In the introduction, we showed that there are theoretical and methodological problems in trying to isolate the contribution of science and technology to GDP. However, it is generally agreed that science and technology is critical for economic growth even when its precise contribution has rarely been determined. We shall therefore examine the less controversial contributions of science and technology in the rest of this section. Science and technology has contributed to Africa =s development in at least four areas: agriculture, transport and communication, energy, human and animal health; education and the environment. African agriculture has witnessed considerable transformation in several respects. Crops that were formally alien to the continent such as wheat, barley, rice, maize, tomatoes and apples have been successfully introduced and adapted to different countries in Africa. Many research results from the agricultural research institutions on the continent have been successfully disseminated to farmers. This dissemination has transformed plant breeding, agronomy, physiology and horticulture. The impact of these results has been manifested in higher yields; the introduction of disease, and pest - resistant varieties; and the production of crops of higher nutritional value. Our Table 8 gives the lowest and highest yields achieved in the four most popular staple foods of Africans - maize, sorghum, cassava and yams. When these are contrasted with traditional yields, the impact of new technology becomes obvious. The highest yield increases were achieved with respect to root crops. Perhaps the most remarkable impact of science and technology has been manifested in the health and medicine areas. The percentage of children under one year immunized against the common childhood diseases of tuberculosis, DPT, polio, and measles averaged 63%, 50%, 50%, and 51% respectively for all of sub - Saharan African in 1993. Other measures of health facilities also show that science and technology have made important contributions to African development. Life expectancy, although still generally low, has risen steadily in all of Africa, except for a few countries ravaged by the Aids plague. Access to health services has improved; maternal and infant mortality has been falling drastically in the last two decades. At the beginning of the Twentieth Century, the bulk of sub - Saharan Africa (SSA) was unaffected by the Industrial Revolution. Colonialism introduced some form of primary processing of basic raw materials, and mineral resources that supplied the industries of the colonial masters. The primary processing was further extended following political independence. Many of the industrial establishments in Africa thrived under heavy protection in the past. With increasing liberalisation, Africa=s manufacturing must harness the resources of science and technology in order to attain competitiveness. Manufacturing value - added still remains very low in most African countries with the exception of South Africa, Mauritius, Zimbabwe and a handful of other countries. Manufacturing poses the most critical challenge to African countries for harnessing the resources of science and technology for development. It is also the area in which Africa=s backwardness is most conspicuous.