Despite receiving between Sh 3.9 and Sh 4.7 billions as research money every year, the highest amount ever to a single country among the developing countries, Kenya has not made any major breakthrough in science.

The money is being used for research in life sciences - research on livestock, pests and crops - and is going to organisations based in Nairobi, making the city the only one of its kind in the developing world that is a recipient of such amount of money for research purposes.

Researchers, who made the revelations, are now calling on the government to take keen interest and find ways of maximising the benefits likely to accrue from such funding.

Both local and international researchers interviewed by Horizon, but who preferred not to be named for fear of victimisation, admitted that this billions excludes occasional infusions, which come as windfalls to these institutions.

The tragedy is, such colossal sum of money is not contributing significantly to the country's economic growth and development as it is expected.

International Centre of Insect Physiology and Entomology (ICIPE), Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri), Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), ICRAF and universities, are said to be some of the major recipients of this money.

The problem is, each of these institutions is said to be pursuing its own mission, taking advantage of lack of a government coordinating agency which is supposed to come up with a strategic mission on what the country would need developed using such a whopping sum of money.

One researcher, who preferred to be identified as Dr Aketch commented: " And they are not innovating new ones that can give the country an edge in the global market."

Despite receiving between Sh 3.9 and Sh 4.7 billions as research money every year, the highest amount ever to a single country among the developing countries, Kenya has not made any major breakthrough in science.

The money is being used for research in life sciences - research on livestock, pests and crops - and is going to organisations based in Nairobi, making the city the only one of its kind in the developing world that is a recipient of such amount of money for research purposes.

Researchers, who made the revelations, are now calling on the government to take keen interest and find ways of maximising the benefits likely to accrue from such funding.

Both local and international researchers interviewed by Horizon, but who preferred not to be named for fear of victimisation, admitted that this billions excludes occasional infusions, which come as windfalls to these institutions.

The tragedy is, such colossal sum of money is not contributing significantly to the country's economic growth and development as it is expected.

International Centre of Insect Physiology and Entomology (ICIPE), Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri), Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), ICRAF and universities, are said to be some of the major recipients of this money.

The problem is, each of these institutions is said to be pursuing its own mission, taking advantage of lack of a government coordinating agency which is supposed to come up with a strategic mission on what the country would need developed using such a whopping sum of money.

One researcher, who preferred to be identified as Dr Aketch commented: "Research experts from within and outside the country are now questioning how this money is being used."+

While at the same time blaming the government of lack of a strategy that can direct these institutions on what it really wants developed using such funding.

They say the money being given to research institutions based in Nairobi has not been put in producing cutting age products such as diagnostics devices based on animal and plant diseases that are unique in the tropics, and which can be exported to other countries to earn foreign exchange.

"What is happening is most of the research being done is on established science, and not much is being done to venture into new areas and products," claims a researcher from a leading local research institution.

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