ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a broad analysis of the current health and biotechnol ogy innovation dynamics in Nigeria with a view to understanding the policies and institutions necessary to advance the growth of the sector. The data derives from two separate surveys carried out by the authors in 2004 and 2006 as part of two separate projects. The 2004 study was jointly conducted with the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) and a local research team, and focused on surveying health and biotechnology systems of innovation in Nigeria. The 2004 study was initiated with an inception seminar that included over 100 policy makers and followed with pilot testing of the questionnaire and an empiri cal survey that administered and retrieved 170 questionnaires in total and con ducted over 100 interviews with individual actors from the health innovation system. The study tried to identify the triggers to innovation amongst the major actors, follows through some of the processes and identified the obstacles to cre ating a dynamic system. The main emphasis was identifying inter organizational interactions and their impact on performance and innovation in the sector in Nigeria. A second survey3 was conducted in 2006 and focused specifically on the biotechnology systems of innovation in Nigeria. A total of 240 question naires were administered this time around and again over 100 field interviews conducted with actors in health and agricultural biotechnology. In both studies, the questionnaires and field interviews were aimed at all critical actors in the system including university centres of excellence, public sector research
organizations, biodiversity related organizations, pharmaceutical and biotechnol ogy enterprises, drug certification bodies, health practitioners, NGOs and donors, governmental agencies and policy makers. The analysis presented in this chapter draws equally on the empirical data collected in both studies.4
