Kenya scores 4th globally in trusting scientists

It is a religious nation that rates its scientists highly on honesty, concern for society, and competence – Report

by JOHN MUCHANGI

Health30 May 2025 - 00:55

In Summary

“People in countries with high inequality may see scientists as a trustworthy alternative to perceivably corrupt governments and political and economic elites,” says the study.

Kenyans trust scientists more than most people in the world, according to a sweeping global survey.

The study, which involved over 71,000 participants from 68 countries, ranked Kenya fourth globally in trust in scientists – trailing only Egypt, India, and Nigeria, and coming ahead of countries like the United States, China and most of Europe.

This is the most extensive post-pandemic examination of public trust in science. The authors describe it as an effort to understand “how much people around the world trust scientists, and how do levels of trust vary across countries”.

“In most countries, most people trust scientists,” they say in the study published in Nature Human Behaviour journal.

It was conducted by a consortium of 241 researchers from 169 institutions worldwide, including Dr Tabitha Amollo, a lecturer in the Department of Physics at Egerton University.

They found no country where average trust in scientists was low, even though trust varied widely between and within countries.

In Africa, Egypt has the highest trust levels, followed by Nigeria, Kenya then Uganda. Globally, Albania ranks lowest, just below Kazakhstan, Bolivia, Russia and Ethiopia.

The researchers measured trust using an index based on perceived competence, honesty (integrity), concern for society (benevolence), and openness to feedback.

That Kenya ranks this high in a global trust index is not surprising, given that policymaking often leans heavily on politics and ethnic inclination than on scientific evidence.

“People in countries with high inequality may see scientists as a trustworthy alternative to perceivably corrupt governments and political and economic elites,” says the study, titled “Trust in scientists and their role in society across 68 countries.”

The report notes that countries with high trust in scientists managed Covid-19 more effectively. “Societies with high public trust in science and scientists dealt with the Covid-19 pandemic more effectively, as citizens were more likely to comply with non-pharmaceutical interventions and had higher vaccine confidence”.

The study suggests a critical opportunity to the Kenyan government to anchor more decisions in science because they would receive widespread public approval.

In fact, the authors found that people want scientists to play a more active role in public life.

Nearly three-quarters said scientists should work closely with politicians, while more than half supported scientists actively advocating for policies.

Also, 83 per cent of people globally, and particularly in African countries, said that scientists should communicate about science with the public more.

“Public perception of scientific integrity –one of four components of trust –is somewhat high, but perceptions of scientists’ openness are lower,” the authors noted. “Scientists wishing to gain public trust could work on being more receptive to feedback... and invest more effort into communicating about science with the public”.

Importantly, the study cautions against one-way, top-down communication. “We recommend avoiding top-down communication but encouraging public participation in genuine dialogue, in which scientists seek to consider the insights and needs of other societal actors”.

But why does trust in scientists tend to be higher in some lower-income countries (like Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, and India) and lower in some wealthier ones (like Russia, Israel, France or South Korea)?

The researchers found a surprisingly weak or even negative link between economic development and trust in science. People in poorer countries often express more trust in scientists than those in rich countries.

That could be because poor countries often see science as a pathway to development.

“In lower-income countries, scientists and science are often seen as enablers of national progress and economic development”.

In Kenya, science is still associated with positive change, such as better healthcare, agricultural innovations, and mobile technology. This belief may make people more inclined to view scientists favourably.

Lower-income countries also have less intense public scrutiny of science, fewer high-profile controversies, or less polarising debates about scientific topics such as vaccines and climate change.

“In some high-income countries, science has become increasingly politicised, and public trust may be undermined by perceived alliances between scientists and political or corporate actors,” the authors said.

Kenyans and citizens of other poor countries also have higher expectations of scientists.

“People in many African and Asian countries demand more from scientists– they want scientists to speak to the public, influence policy, and solve real-world problems like poverty and disease”.

In that sense, higher trust may reflect higher hopes for what science can deliver. People in these regions may view science as a needed and underutilised force for good.

You might also assume that religiosity is associated with lower trust in scientists, given that some people perceive that science disagrees with their religion.

This study found this is not necessarily correct. “Indeed, we found that, overall, religiosity is positively associated with trust in scientists,” the authors said.

The researchers also investigated what people believe scientists should focus on. Across the world, people ranked improving public health, solving energy problems and reducing poverty as top research priorities.

But here’s the catch: many respondents felt scientists were not doing enough on these issues. The biggest gap was in poverty reduction.

“The responses suggest a substantial discrepancy between what [people] perceive science is currently prioritizing and what they expect scientists to prioritize,” the study says. Globally, people believed that too much research was focused on military and defence technology, an area they ranked lowest in priority.

Interestingly, in parts of Africa (including the Democratic Republic of Congo), people still wanted relatively more investment in military research, possibly due to security concerns.

Kenya’s high ranking in the global trust index comes at a time when the country is only beginning to develop a stronger science-policy interface.

Until recently, Kenya lacked a national policy framework to support scientific research and innovation. It was only in 2023 that the Ministry of Education finalised the National Science, Technology and Innovation Policy.

The Principal Secretary (PS), State Department for Higher Education and Research, Dr. Beatrice Inyangala said last year that Kenya has never had a national Science Technology and Innovation policy since independence.

The draft policy developed in 2023 was validated last year and was expected to be shared with the Parliamentary Committee on Education for input and comments before being forwarded to the Cabinet for approval.