The very first festival of Science and Technology opened yesterday in Yaoundé. The initiative of a Cameroonian Organization is supported French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"Science and its applications contribute to the socio-economic development of countries and towards the protection of their environment. Scientific technical know-how has to leave the laboratories and transmitted in greater numbers." François Ndoum Samnick, president of the Organisation for the Promotion of Scientific and Technical Culture (Copcst), during the press conference which he gave last Thursday, in Yaoundé, at a prelude to the holding, between December 4 to 10, at the Chamber of Agriculture, of the very first Yaoundé Science and Technology Festival (Festy). Organized with the support of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through the Institute for Research and Development (IRD), the Yaoundé Science and Technology Festival (Festy) has a goal of encouraging scientific and technical debates based on the bland facts and actions from daily life.
The official opening ceremony took place yesterday, midday, in the absence of Cameroonian authorities. The French party that supported the festival was present through the representative of the French Foreign Affairs Ministry, the French Ambassador’s representative and the resident representative of IRD in Cameroon. She highlighted the need for the emergence of a Scientific Culture in a developing country like Cameroon. As for the representative from the French Foreign Affairs Ministry, the festival hosted by Organization for the Promotion of Scientific and Technical Culture, is an event which has been held for many years in France, under the banner of “Fête de la science”. Other African countries, like Togo and Senegal, already host a science festival. And the goal of these events, she explains, allows them to raise the issues relating to scientific development, to multiply the linkages between scientists and the public.
For the promoters of Festy, the scientific culture remains largely undefined in the global outlook of Cameroon. This situation persists because of certain parameters: the poor communication between the areas of research and the broader public because of the hermetic language used by scientists, the very weak attention which the medias grants to scientists; within the lycées and collèges, the youth shy away from scientific fields of study. In hoes of improving the linkages and mediators between the public and the scientists, on one hand, between scientists and decision-makers, on the other, the festival which last until Friday, will have the benefit of bringing together on the same location both scientists and the broader public to talk about science and technology as factors in socio-economic development.
Many exchanges are planned under this platform according to an agenda established by the organizers. Specialists from different domains will present exposés, documentaries, reports and even fictions. But, already, on the stands of the exposition yesterday, researchers exposed some accomplishments, ranging from the transformation of some agro-food products, to various technological demonstrations. Papayas, dried Ndolé, etc. Other stands are hosted by environmental organizations. Today, a exposé by the Ministry of Secondary Education is expected on the theme: “Technical Education for Sustainable Development" . Also planned is a video presentation by Anafor on the theme: "Reforestation of Cameroon Woodlands, the urgency for action".
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