African innovation systems as seen through the lens of agriculture and agribusiness – including in Uganda – were scrutinized in a recent World Bank publication (2009).<sup>127</sup> Building research capabilities will take years and requires investment in the entire innovation value chain, starting with the (i) education system and extending to research facilities in universities and dedicated institutes; (ii) their staffing with competent well-paid personnel; (iii) increased budgetary allocations for research and incentives for greater cross country collaboration; (iv) the strengthening of extension services to deliver the findings of research; (v) financing to encourage the utilization of agricultural inputs; and (vi) investment in the infrastructures needed to support increased production of products as well as their storage and marketing.

If the assimilation of new technologies is one of the keys to the growth, then the scarcity and overall poor quality of technical skills is a bottleneck deserving the most attention because this is the one resource that will determine the future performance of the three landlocked economies and because upgrading the workforce could easily take a decade and more. The need to loosen this bottleneck is becoming increasingly urgent because the ‘fourth industrial revolution’ is both intensifying the skill intensity of production and eroding the opportunities for late starters to pursue export-oriented industrialization aided by GVCs.

According to the WEF’s Human Capital Report (2016), Malawi, Rwanda and Uganda are among the lowest ranked countries. Uganda that heads the list is ranked 99<sup>th</sup> ; Rwanda 110<sup>th</sup> ; and Malawi 114<sup>th.</sup> This is mirrored in the Human Development Index: Rwanda 151<sup>st</sup> ; Uganda 164<sup>th</sup> ; and Malawi 174<sup>th.128</sup> The correlation between a country’s human capital ranking and its GNI is apparent from figure 31. Clearly the three countries need to make haste. The path ahead has been signposted by numerous studies that have analyzed the weaknesses of education, training and research systems in SSA and proposed remedies. Public expenditure on education is generally not the principal constraint – Malawi invests 5.8 percent of GDP, Rwanda 3.8 percent, only Uganda lags allocating only 2.2 percent (2015)<sup>129</sup> – it is the way they are spent that results in poor outcomes. A focus on enrollment numbers rather <u>http://hanushek.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/publications/Hanushek%202013%20EER%2037. pdf</u>

> 127 Larsen, Kim and Theus (2009) _Agribusiness and Innovation Systems in Africa_ . <u>http://elibrary.worldbank.org/doi/abs/10.1596/978-0-8213-7944-8; cluster formation and the</u> emergence of innovation systems in Africa is examined by the contributors to Banji OyelaranOyeyinka and

> Dorothy McCormick eds _. Industrial Clusters and Innovation Systems in Africa_ (2007) - - <u>http://archive.unu.edu/unupress/sample chapters/1137 IndustrialClustersAndInnovationSystemsInAfrica.pdf</u> ; Juma et al (2010) examine how health related innovation systems are faring <u>http://belfercenter.hks.harvard.edu/publication/20654/african_health_innovation_systems.html?breadcrumb</u> =%2Fpublication%2F24479%2Fafrica_ebola_outbreak

> 128 UNDP (2016) http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/expenditure-education-public-gdp

> 129 WDI (2017) http://wdi.worldbank.org/table/2.7

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