Will the innovation council created to advise African nations on science have enough funding, asks Linda Nordling.

Funding agencies should support closer interaction between development NGOs and scientists, argues research and policy analyst Charlie McLaren.

As the Obama administration begins a second term, USAID's Alex Dehgan describes how the agency will build on its science-for-development agenda.

Kenya has bypassed its own biosafety watchdog in banning GM foods, which will stifle balanced debate of GM in Africa, says Linda Nordling.

A six-country assessment shows how women's inclusion in science should be supported, write gender experts Sophia Huyer and Nancy Hafkin.

The US development agency looks set to build on its 'development science' efforts during Barack Obama's second term, writes David Dickson.

Cuba's early warning approach holds lessons for other countries, write disaster risk reduction specialists Veronica F. Grasso and José Rubiera.

Despite some success in science, Pakistan underachieves because it lacks structures for commercial innovation, says Athar Osama.

The world's food security depends on the quality of the forward-looking agricultural studies we are carrying out today, says Mark Holderness.

Muslim countries must alter their stance on the social sciences if they are to use technology to its full potential, says Athar Osama.

Ten years after introducing a Biodiversity Act, India is yet to put it to serious use, say Shalini Bhutani and Kanchi Kohli.

A paralysed science system means that Uganda's desire to fund a landmark project out of its own coffers could backfire, says Linda Nordling.

A lack of evidence to convince policymakers holds back progress on grassroots innovation in agriculture, say Brigid Letty and Martin Bell.

The latest round of challenges to India's drug patent laws is a fight that must be won for the world's poor, says Priya Shetty.

Efforts to build innovation systems are too government-centric and tend to ignore a key ingredient — the private sector, says Athar Osama.

IBM's choice of Kenya for its African research lab is not the end of private sector tech investment for other countries, says Linda Nordling.

Implementation of the Rio+20 outcome must account for changes in the global innovation landscape, says tech policy expert Ahmed Abdel-Latif.

Pakistan's science establishment, though taken in by an implausible claim to fuel automobiles with water, cannot afford to lose the creative potential of true innovators, says Athar Osama.

The developing world needs support for low-tech health innovations that do not compromise on effectiveness, says Priya Shetty.