The Global Think In, ‘Thoughts On A Changing World’, was held on 24th April 2017. It brought together academics and experts in various fields discussing the global issues facing and affecting Kenyans. Issues discussed included climate change and its effect on agriculture; World Politics, particularly the presidency of Donald J.Trump and what that means for bilateral trade with African countries and Social Media as a source of world News.
From Nairobi, it was moderated by Dr.Alex Awiti, the director of the East African Institute, Aga Khan University. Before joining the Aga Khan University, Dr.Awiti was a postdoctoral fellow with the Earth Institute at Columbia University, New York. Also in the panel were; Dr.Jemima Njuki, a Senior Program Officer at Canada’s International Development Research Center where she manages agriculture and food security programs; Patrick Gathara, an editorial cartoonist with the Daily Nation, East Africa’s largest daily newspaper and the General Secretary of the Association of East African Cartoonists; and Dr. Bitange Ndemo, the former Permanent Secretary of Kenya’s Ministry of Information and Communication. During his tenure in government, Dr.Ndemo initiated many transformative projects including infrastructural and development programs, as well as marketing Kenya as a destination for Business Processing Outsourcing. He currently lectures on entrepreneurship and research methods at the University of Nairobi’s Business School.
The panel discussed, among other things, the need of actualizing technology in Kenya and Africa, so as to create jobs and therefore curb the lure of the West that is leading to unsafe migration in the search of better livelihoods; Using technology to combat famine that is caused by the effect of climate change on agriculture, and also how to incorporate technology into innovative farming methods, as agriculture is a big source of income in many African countries.
