Magazine December 2014 | Issue 4
In this Issue The Entebbe Forum New CAAST-Net Plus Study HLPD Bureau Update
CAAST-Net Plus
Building Bi-regional Partnerships for Global Challenges
Contents
Coordinators’ Message
Progress and Forward Plans A message from the project coordinators Dr Andrew Cherry & Dr Eric Mwangi
3
Transferring Knowledge Into Solutions Reflections from the Entebbe forum Ismail Barugahara & Stefan A. Haffner
4
Africa-EU Climate Change Research Collaboration Findings from a CAAST-Net Plus study James Haselip
5
Food and Nutrition Security on the Agenda An update from the HLPD Bureau Nienke Buisman
6
Visualising CAAST-Net Plus Where we fit in and what we do Research Africa
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Building Bridges Challenges and opportunities in the EU-Africa health research and innovation cooperation environment Gerard Ralphs, Dr Najia Musolino & Katharina Kuss
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Lessons in Co-financing Second phase of ERAfrica planned Refilwe Mashigo & Jean Albergel
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Ideas to Projects to Impacts Results and learning from two FP7 projects Refilwe Mashigo, Aurore Guieu, Els Duysburgh & Marianne Meijboom
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Research and Innovation for Global Challenges Next year South Africa will host a major conference on the role of universities in development The Association of Commonwealth Universities
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Pin it to CAAST-Net Plus Events, links and opportunities
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[Image credit: Flickr, Kristian Niemi]
Policy Insights
[Image credit: Flickr, Joyce Seitzinger]
Learning and Uptake
[Image credit: Flickr, National Eye Institute]
For Your Diary [Image credit: Flickr, Studio curve]
CAAST-Net Plus is funded by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n0 311806. This document reflects only the author’s views and the European Union cannot be held liable for any use that may be made of the information contained herein. The CAAST-Net Plus Magazine is produced by Research Africa Address: A307 Gate House, Black River Park, Observatory, 7925, South Africa Phone: +27 (0)21 447 5484 Fax: +27 (0)21 447 9152 Email: info@research-africa.net Web site: www.researchresearch.com/africa
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Magazine December 2014 | Issue 4
Progress and Forward Plans A message from the project coordinators
Dr Andrew Cherry Project Coordinator
Dr Eric Mwangi Africa Region Coordinator
The end of 2014 marks the end of the second year of the CAAST-Net Plus project cycle. We’re pleased with our progress and looking forward to new challenges in 2015.
Last month CAAST-Net Plus convened its first stakeholders’ forum in Entebbe, Uganda. In the context of present global societal challenges, including most pressingly the unfolding Ebola crisis, the central theme of the forum — Transferring Knowledge Into Solutions — was chosen precisely to focus attention on the collective action by European, African and other partners that is needed to address these challenges. Specifically, we asked participants to reflect on the points of intersection between food and nutrition security, climate change, and health challenges, as well as how new solutions at both the level of policy and implementation can be leveraged through bi-regional science, technology and innovation (STI) collaboration. As the article about the forum in this issue reveals (Page 4), the discussion was both buoyant and robust, and from participants we heard that bridges between private and public sectors across health, food security and climate change challenge areas must be more effectively bridged through cross-sector partnership. To coincide with the Entebbe forum, CAAST-Net Plus also last month launched a new report, which critically analyses Africa-EU research collaboration in the domain of climate change (Page 5). This report forms part of a series of three themed studies that are designed to provide substantive inputs into ongoing policy-level discussions, including those
CAAST-Net Plus partners held their first Annual Meeting in June 2014, in Lisbon, Portugal [Image credit: CAAST-Net Plus]
taking place within the High Level Policy Dialogue on STI (HLPD). In the coming months, we expect to launch a second report, focusing on food and nutrition security, which coincides with ongoing HLPD work on developing a roadmap for cooperation in this area (Page 6). We are also excited about a series of health consultations, one of which took place alongside the launch of EDCTP-2 in South Africa in December 2014, and one of which will be hosted in Botswana in 2015. These consultations will inform a third analytical study in preparation. Our ambition is that all three studies will form part of the background to the second CAAST-Net Plus stakeholder forum to take place alongside a major conference on research and innovation for global challenges in South Africa, in May 2015 (Page 15). CAAST-Net Plus aims to advance STI cooperation between the two regions. But what does this mean in practice? Cooperation activities emerge in various forms: joint innovation platforms, joint funding schemes in areas of mutual interest, public-private partnerships, networks of excellence, capacity building programmes, and the plethora of informal configurations that may emerge from researcher and innovator stakeholder interaction. All of these types of interaction fall well within the scope of interventions that, through its work to support the creation of an enabling environment for collaboration, CAAST-Net Plus can catalyse moving forward. We hope you will continue to journey with us.
Around 60 delegates attended the first CAAST-Net Plus stakeholders’ forum in Entebbe, Uganda, from 24-25 November 2014 [Image credit: CAAST-Net Plus]
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Transferring Knowledge Into Solutions Reflections from the Entebbe forum
Ismail Barugahara UNCST
Stefan A. Haffner PT-DLR
CAAST-Net Plus organised its first stakeholders’ forum from 24-25 November 2014 in Uganda. Our focus? Africa-EU strategies for science, technology, and innovation in addressing societal challenges. Co-organisers Ismail Barugahara and Stefan A. Haffner share key results.
The event was co-hosted by three CAAST-Net Plus partners: Uganda’s National Council for Science and Technology, the Project Management Agency at German Aerospace Center, Department for European and International Cooperation, for the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, and the South African Department of Science and Technology. It brought together 60 African and European stakeholders from business, academia, government and civil society. The Entebbe forum offered CAAST-Net Plus an opportunity to achieve three results: 1. The forum provided a multi-disciplinary and intellectual platform for discussion and dissemination of ongoing analytical work being undertaken by CAAST-Net Plus. It added value to this work by providing contextual perspectives to the societal challenges, demonstrating their interconnectedness and concrete examples of how knowledge has been successfully translated into practical solutions to societal challenges using thematic or holistic approaches. 2 It increased participants’ awareness about the new AU and EU policies, programmes and instruments for science, technology and innovation (STI) underpinning cooperation among stakeholder communities in Africa and Europe. In particular, the forum dedicated a session to the presentation and discussion of Horizon 2020, the European Union’s research and innovation funding instrument, and STISA-2024, the African Union’s new strategy. 3. Participants collectively contributed to ongoing STI policy dialogue processes in Africa and Europe through engaging in animated discussion about a food, nutrition and sustainable agriculture roadmap produced by the Expert Working Group of the High Level Policy Dialogue on STI. Several of the forum participants have accepted an invitation to participate in a survey towards the finalisation and eventual implementation of the roadmap. A forum report is in preparation and will be published on the CAAST-Net Plus website (l.caast-net-plus.org/8g).
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Magazine December 2014 | Issue 4
Dr Garry Aslanyan World Health Organisation’s Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases
Synergies between health, climate change and food and nutrition security research need to be enhanced beyond just conversations.
Patrick Worms Senior Science Policy Adviser, World Agroforestry Centre
Far too much valuable research is not being considered by the private sector. Regardless of where the research is coming from, entrepreneurs need to take up the knowledge provided to produce even better services and products.
Dr Jason Mochache Chief Education Specialist and Architect, African Development Bank
African researchers have not created strong linkages with the industry. Researchers need to know what industry needs, so they can incorporate these needs into research processes in order to actually improve what industry is trying to produce.
Dr Eric Mwangi CAAST-Net Plus Africa Region Coordinator / Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Kenya
African partners in Africa-EU partnerships need to be willing to fund programmes in health, climate change and food and nutrition security, and not only rely on research funding from other regions.
Africa-EU Climate Change Research Collaboration Findings from a CAAST-Net Plus study James Haselip UNEP DTU Partnership
CAAST-Net Plus is pleased to announce the release of a new study: Africa-EU Research Collaboration on Climate Change: A Critical Analysis of the Scope, Coordination and Uptake of Findings.
The report, prepared by a team of CAAST-Net Plus partner representatives, seeks to provide new and relevant analysis in the context of Joint Africa-EU Strategy objectives and the role of STI especially within the bi-regional partnership.
To download this report go to l.caast-net-plus.org/83
“Our overall aim was to investigate the extent to which – and how – research-based knowledge is being used to inform policy-makers in developing effective responses to climate change, as well as whether and how bi-regional research and development outputs are being translated into technologies, goods and services,” says lead author, James Haselip, a researcher at the UNEP DTU Partnership. UNEP DTU Partnership (formerly UNEP Risø Centre) is a Collaborating Centre of the United Nations Environment Programme and a leading international research and advisory institution on energy, climate and sustainable development, based at the Technical University of Denmark. The report’s findings are intended to be both instructive and constructive for programme owners, project leaders and policymakers alike, Haselip says.
“We highlight various findings, however its main significance is in revealing the low level of ‘outcome thinking’ among those working at the interface of research and policy, which appears to explain the difficulty stakeholders have in attributing research outputs to demonstrable outcomes. “Furthermore, based on our primary research with key actors, there is a general lack of clarity regarding the mechanisms or theories of change, which undermines efforts to reflect upon the implementation of research projects, or face the hard question of what difference they made.” Says Haselip: “This study had a broad and ambitious aim and, in reality, we have only touched upon the main issues. However, we believe this report provides a relevant and important basis upon which to conduct further, more focused, work.” This report is the first in a series of three CAAST-Net Plus reports that focus on the impact of research cooperation between European and African actors in three global societal challenge areas: health, climate change, and food and nutrition security.
Research Questions + To what extent does the climate change knowledge produced by Africa-EU collaborations correspond to the bi-regional political priorities? + What is the thematic and geographical distribution of this knowledge? + To what extent is this knowledge being appropriately interpreted and applied to public policy-making processes? What are the barriers and constraints to this uptake? + To what extent is this knowledge being applied to private or public-sector technology development and investment? What are the barriers and constraints to this uptake?
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Food and Nutrition Security on the Agenda An update from the HLPD Bureau
Nienke Buisman European Commission *
At their November 2013 meeting, senior officials of the EU-Africa HighLevel Policy Dialogue on Science, Technology and Innovation agreed to start working towards a jointly funded EU-Africa Research and Innovation Partnership.1 Their starting point? Food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture, writes Nienke Buisman.
The focus on food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture (FNSSA) recognises that while, broadly speaking, there are differences in the FNSSA situations between African and European countries, there is also substantial convergence around regional goals and policy objectives. Moreover, FNSSA is high on the global agenda, but there is a clear fragmentation of efforts that need to be overcome. Taking forward the HLPD’s conclusions, the HLPD Bureau, currently co-chaired by the European Commission (DG Research and Innovation) and Congo Brazzaville (as chair of AMCOST), convened a working group of leading African and European FNSSA experts, and charged the group with developing an input for a roadmap towards building the EU-Africa Research and Innovation Partnership, setting out short, medium and long-term-milestones.2 What is exciting and different about this process is that this is a real departure from the past. It is about developing a framework for cooperation based on mutual interest and mutual benefit. As such, it is a distinct and deliberate departure from what were once traditional cooperation frameworks based on Africa’s development priorities and it directly reflects the shared core values of the new EU-Africa Research and Innovation Partnership. Although a final version of the roadmap is not expected until June 2015, the Expert Working Group
(EWG), which kicked-off at the end of April 2014 with a meeting in Brussels with the HLPD Bureau, delivered a first preliminary draft input in July of this year. Working mostly in a virtual environment, there has been an iterative exchange between EWG and Bureau members to develop an input to the roadmap that is due to go out for consultation very shortly. There will be a couple more face-to-face EWG meetings in early 2015 to incorporate feedback from consultations beyond which the final input will be delivered to the HLPD Bureau, anticipated in April 2015. The HLPD Bureau will then further discuss and develop the roadmap amongst policy-makers and potential funders in view of the third meeting of the EU-Africa HLPD, anticipated in the second half of 2015. The current draft input to the FNSSA Roadmap proposes an EU-Africa Research and Innovation Partnership with two broad avenues. The first avenue focusses on the potential priority topics for research and innovation cooperation under the FNSSA umbrella. The second avenue focusses on the mechanisms by which the partnership could be implemented. In defining the indicative research and innovation themes for the first avenue, experts drew on a series of agreed criteria for prioritisation: Relevance to African and European priorities; Expected impact of research and likelihood of uptake; Capacity for joint research based on comparable and complementary
Nienke Buisman is Policy Officer STI Cooperation with Africa, DG Research and Innovation, in the European Commission’s International Cooperation Directorate. Adopted by the Heads of State at the 2010 Africa-EU Summit. The experts include: Helena Gómez Macpherson, Philippe Petithuguenin, Joachim von Braun, Luís Goulão and Jeff Waage from Europe; and ,from Africa, Johnson A Ekpere, Paco Sereme, Daniel Nkoola Kisauzi, Ibrahim RM Benesi and Mohammed Jeenah.
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Magazine December 2014 | Issue 4
scientific expertise; Scalability; and Efficiency - the likelihood that investment will fill a research gap or synergise investments in similar area. The first suggested theme of sustainable intensification recognises the common challenges that are faced by Africa’s and Europe’s converging trajectories as they move towards a knowledge-based intensification system, producing more and better food in the face of rising input costs, increasing competition for and degradation of natural resources in the context of climate change. The second suggested theme of agriculture and food systems for nutrition acknowledges the failure of food systems today to generate acceptable levels of nutrition. While global dietary inadequacy takes many different forms, are all linked to limitations in the production, availability, access, affordability and consumption of highly nutritious foods. The third suggested theme of expansion and improvement of agricultural markets and trade draws attention to the role of joint research in reducing constraints to more and better trade such as in lowering non-tariff barriers around food quality and safety, in creating monitoring surveillance and diagnostics, in reducing price volatilities, and in developing mechanisms for linking smallholders to markets.
of mechanisms. It sets out short- to medium term milestones, building on existing instruments of cooperation such as the ERAfrica initiative or FP7 support actions, such as CAAST-NET Plus and PAERIP. It also sets out ideas in the domain of capacity building. In the long-term, the draft input is suggesting to learn from existing platforms of cooperation that are based on the principles of coownership and co-funding. The added-value of a potential EU-Africa Research and Innovation Partnership lies in the fact that it will be based on lessons learnt from past cooperation activities, proposes to put in place an enhanced system of coordination, involves the broader mobilisation of research and innovation actors on both continents, is designed jointly and will link research to innovation. The EU-Africa HLPD Bureau looks forward to continuing its endeavours towards the development of this potential EU-Africa Research and Innovation Partnership in the area of FNSSA.
The final suggested theme in the first avenue of the draft input to a roadmap brings together three crosscutting topics which separately and collectively have the potential to support the overall partnership: enhanced coordination, innovation and capacity building (human resources, research infrastructure, ICT). To assure effective and equitable implementation, the second avenue suggested by the draft input of the EWG considers some of the modalities for supporting the EU-Africa Research and Innovation Partnership. While this part of the draft input remains to be further developed, it is already clear that implementation could rely on a basket
Kick-off meeting of the EU-Africa High Level Policy Dialogue Expert Working Group on 30 April 2014 in Brussels [Image credit: European Commission]
CAAST-Net Plus is cooperating with the HLPD Bureau to organise the upcoming Expert Working Group meeting in February 2015. More information will be available on www.africa-eu-partnership.org.
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Visualising CAAST-Net Plus
Where we fit in and what we do
Infographic 1: Actors in the EU-Africa STI Cooperation Landscape
Infographic 2: How CAAST-Net Plus Interacts in this Landscape Global EU-Africa Implementation Environment
EU-Africa Policy Environment
EU-Africa Research and Innovation Environment Local
Infographic 3: CAAST-Net Plus Goals
+ Support the EU-Africa STI cooperation policy dialogue
Advancing Sub-Saharan Africa-EU Cooperation in Research and Innovation for Global Challenges
+ Strengthen EU-Africa STI cooperation and partnerships
+ Address global challenges of health, climate and food security through collaborative platforms
Infographic 4: The Political Context for CAAST-Net Plus: 4th EU-Africa Summit Priorities
PEACE AND SECURITY
Key focus areas: Human Security, Political Stability, Governance, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth
DEMOCRACY, GOOD GOVERNANCE AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Key Focus Areas: Economic, Social, Civil, Political and Cultural Rights
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Key focus areas: Higher Education, S&T, Mobility, Migration and Employment
SUSTAINABLE AND INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH AND CONTINENTAL INTEGRATION
Key Focus Areas: Investment, Infrastructure, Continental Integration, Agriculture, Food Security and Food Safety
GLOBAL AND EMERGING ISSUES
Key focus areas: Climate Change and Environment, Arms Control, International Governance
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Infographic 5: Select Findings from CAAST-Net Plus Research on EU-Africa Collaborations in Health, Food Security, and Climate Change Health
Source: CAAST-Net Plus Magazine (June 2014).
A total of
49
The highest rate of
entities were
involved in the sample of over
150
AFRICAN
PRIVATE
PRIVATE SECTOR
SECTOR
PARTICIPATION originated from
PARTICIPATION originated from
SOUTH
FRANCE AFRICA
projects reviewed
Food Security
EUROPEAN
COOPERATION CHALLENGES:
COUNTRY COUNTRY
The regional or geographical distribution of these private project participants
private sector
The highest rate of
Source: Africa-EU Research Collaboration on Food Security: A Critical Analysis of the Scope, Coordination and Uptake of Findings (forthcoming)
How significant are the following as possible bottlenecks in enhancing Africa-EU S&T collaboration for addressing the global FNS challenge? (Rated out of 5)
Spider chart showing project focus areas in relation to food security pillars. Access
Answer options
Rating average
Policy/political will
3.65
Bureaucracy (government)
3.95
Human resource capacity
4.00
Physical infrastructure
3.96
Private sector engagement
3.52
Farmer engagement
3.78
Financial resources
4.22
Markets/market access
3.61
Lack of ownership
3.74
Access to ICTs
3.90
Behaviour/culture
3.52
Climate Change
30.0%
Other
Stability
25.0% 20.0% 15.0%
11.1%
10.0%
3.7%
Focus on Decision & Policy Processes
5.0%
5.2%
3.7%
17.8%
13.3%
7.4% Knowledge / Data Base Platform for Communication & Dissemination of Research
Availability
0.0%
11.9%
25.9%
Utilisation
Capacity Building
Ecological Fundamental
Source: Africa-EU Research Collaboration on Climate Change: A Critical Analysis of the Scope, Coordination and Uptake of Findings (2014)
Geographic focus of projects analysed. 0
2
4
Division of EU FP6 and FP7 climate change projects according to their overall focus. 6
8
10
12
East Africa Sub-Saharan Africa West Africa Central Africa North Africa Oceans general All Africa Europe Non region specific Mediterranean
Adaptation Mitigation Both December 2014 | Issue 4
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Building Bridges Challenges and opportunities in the EU-Africa health research and innovation cooperation environment Dr Najia Musolino COHRED *
Katharina Kuss FCSAI **
The need for effective health research and innovation cooperation between nations and regions, but also between sectors, has been highlighted in the context of the Ebola crisis. Gerard Ralphs spoke to two CAAST-Net Plus representatives about the project’s work to advance this bi-regional, inter-sectoral partnership.
What are some of the current priority areas of health research and innovation cooperation between Africa and Europe? A key priority in health research cooperation between Africa and Europe is to channel efforts and funds to capacity building, transfer of knowledge, and skills development for research on neglected and infectious diseases in Africa. Another priority area is tackling non-communicable diseases (NCDs): according to the World Health Organization, pathologies such as cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases will account for 46% of mortality and nearly 40% of the disease burden in subSaharan Africa by 2030. Gaps need to be filled in the sphere of research for drug development to support health development priorities in Africa. Among the many lessons we are learning from the current Ebola crisis is that there is still a strong need to prioritise a health research agenda and clinical plans that are aligned with the public health challenges faced locally in Africa. Cooperation in innovation between the two continents is also a must. Innovation in health care is not just about the development of sophisticated technology for diagnosis and treatment. It is also about smarter and cost-efficient means of health service delivery to local populations, keeping in mind the social determinants of health.
CAAST-Net Plus is especially interested in building bridges between public and private sector actors for better health outcomes that meet the needs of citizens in both regions. In what ways is CAAST-Net Plus helping to realise this ambition? CAAST-Net Plus partners have been working together intensively to discover how to bridge the public-private sector divide in order to deliver greater impact on health outcomes. Over the past six months we have hosted three workshops in Germany, Gaborone and South Africa during which we have gathered key public and private actors to help us to think through this important issue. A key task, moving forward, is to
* **
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produce a consolidated report documenting findings from these consultations. The ultimate aim of this synthesis report will be to inform policy-makers about the barriers to and niche opportunities for involvement of the private sector in health research.
The European Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership launched its second phase in South Africa during December 2014. How are CAAST-Net Plus and EDCTP working together? Our joint interest in bridging the public-private sector divide led to an EDCTP and CAAST-Net Plus joint session at the Seventh EDCTP Forum in Berlin earlier this year. However, the mandate of CAAST-Net Plus goes beyond poverty-related and neglected diseases. We aim to identify new niches to enhance EU-Africa health research cooperation and these aspects are discussed with our stakeholders at workshops, such as the satellite event to the EDCTP launch conference that took place in Cape Town in December 2014. The Executive Director of EDCTP, Prof. Charles Mgone, is a member of the CAAST-Net Plus external advisory committee, which provides an important opportunity for synergy.
The Council on Health Research for Development, a CAAST-Net Plus partner, recently launched its Africa Office. Tell our readers about the genesis and objectives of COHRED Africa. With over twenty years of hands-on experience in developing tools and delivering support to maximise the impact of research and innovation on the health and development of LMIC populations, COHRED has recognised the rising importance that LMICs give to investing and building their own research systems and capacities. Within this context, we have decentralised COHRED’s growth out of Geneva and launched COHRED Africa in Botswana on 6 -7 November 2014 as a related independent, non-profit organisation. COHRED Africa will implement COHRED’s programmes in Africa, in particular its technical support to governments and the private sector in research and innovation for health.
Dr Najia Musolino is Senior Specialist, Global Action at the Council on Health Research for Development (COHRED). Katharina Kuss is EU Project Manager at the Foundation for International Cooperation, Health and Social Affairs (FCSAI).
Magazine December 2014 | Issue 4
Lessons in Co-financing Second phase of ERAfrica planned
Refilwe Mashigo Research Africa
Jean Albergel ERAfrica Coordinator
Countries participating in ERAfrica are negotiating a second phase of the initiative. Jean Albergel of the Institute of Research for Development in France spoke to Refilwe Mashigo about the negotiations, and shares lessons from the first phase of the pioneering EU-Africa fund. The project involves 15 African and European countries that jointly support bi-regional research and innovation projects.
Why was ERAfrica created?
What challenges did you face?
ERAfrica was created in late 2009 by European and African countries, which wanted to consolidate and advance their bilateral relations in science, innovation and technology. The project is also one of many being implemented as part of the Africa-EU Joint Strategy adopted in 2007 to develop science in Africa, among other objectives.
Aligning different national and institutional regulations was difficult. Different levels of experience and differing funding capacities required careful planning to accommodate everyone and to ensure that all participating agencies retained an equal say in how the final product turned out. The time was also shorter than we would have liked. The European Commission gave us seed funding and we were obligated to fulfil conditions of the grant agreement. This sometimes meant spending a lot of effort on tasks that were not necessarily vital to the project’s main objective.
This was the first time that African and European countries set up a joint funding pot. How easy was it to put the project together? The entire process of jointly creating the necessary funding mechanisms and processes for the first ERAfrica call for proposals was a learning experience. Partners participated on an equal footing and this required us to constantly refine our interaction to meet all national and institutional demands and to ensure that all voices were heard and respected. In the end, we were able to create an exceptional working relationship to the point where numerous partners described the coalition as a group of friends or even a family.
What lessons can you share? An equal partnership requires equal input from all parties and consensus through patient negotiation and mutual respect. Creating a joint fund can be a complex process as each country has its own rules and regulations but we were able to navigate them. This should encourage more engagements of the same nature.
Will there be a second call for proposals? There is a great desire among ERAfrica partners to continue, and in particular for a second call to be funded as soon as possible. There are many preparations that need to be made for this ambition to be realised so we are careful not to set any firm deadlines. Nevertheless, the initiative has created an interim secretariat that is shared by the South African Department of Science and Technology and the southern African office of the French Institute for Research for Development. The secretariat will look into the creation of a second phase of ERAfrica. We want to recruit more partners for the ERAfrica consortium, particularly from Africa before issuing a second call, if that becomes a reality. It is likely that future funding might include a mechanism to help consortia funded in the first phase to publish or commercialise their research. An earlier version of this article was published on Research Professional (http://researchresearch.com/).
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Ideas to Projects to Impacts Results and learning from two FP7 projects
Refilwe Mashigo Research Africa *
Aurore Guieu, MOMI Consortium Project Administrator
The European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) supported a plethora of projects in areas of interest for both Europe and Africa. Representatives from two FP7 projects in the domains of health and food and nutrition security spoke to Refilwe Mashigo about the outcomes of their work.
Missed Opportunities in Maternal and Infant Health | MOMI To address maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa, the MOMI project is dedicated to improving postpartum services by conducting health system research to strengthen integrated postpartum health care delivery. The project commenced in 2011 and concludes in 2016. Aurore Guieu and Els Duysburgh are based at Ghent University’s International Centre for Reproductive Health.
What are the objectives of the MOMI project?
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out what are the determinants to improve this delivery, we focus on health systems and services rather than on clinical interventions per se. The interventions are developed at our four sites under the condition they are appropriate, sustainable, effective and replicable. They are implemented in health facilities as well as in communities.
What happens next? Will the project’s research results be converted into, for example, a new service, product, or social outcome?
MOMI seeks to improve maternal and newborn health through a focus on the post partum period, which has too often been overlooked. By concentrating on the first year after childbirth, our project aims at reducing the risk of death and improving women’s well-being. We believe that the integration of maternal, newborn and reproductive health care during the postpartum period can result in better postpartum care, which in turn has the potential to improve health outcomes for women and their children.
MOMI is developed in close cooperation with stakeholders and policy-makers at the four research sites, with the objective of strengthening support for better postpartum care. Because sustainability is critical to our interventions, the project has trained health facility staff as well as community health workers on postpartum care and family planning, a set of skills that will remain when MOMI comes to an end. Facilities and communities are also being equipped with sustainable tools: logs to improve reporting and follow-up of postpartum visits, dialogue sessions in the communities, bicycles to facilitate home visits.
What was the nature of the research that was undertaken?
In what ways has the project already achieved its objectives?
The objectives are to be reached through health system research undertaken in a district or sub-district in four sub-Saharan countries, namely Burkina Faso, Kenya, Malawi and Mozambique. Because we want to point at missed opportunities in care delivery and find
MOMI is currently in its third year and will run until 31 January 2016. Our interventions are consequently ongoing. MOMI discerns that the Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5, to reduce child mortality and improve maternal health respectively, require a
Magazine December 2014 | Issue 4
Els Duysburgh, MOMI Consortium Project Coordinator
Marianne Meijboom INSARD Project Coordinator
substantial reduction in the rates of mortality among women in postpartum and newborns. Project outputs, such as the Cross-Country Situation Analysis of Maternal and Newborn Care in Burkina Faso, Kenya, Malawi and Mozambique report, have relevance not only in African countries, but globally.
A MOMI-trained traditional birth attendant explains danger signs during the postpartum period to mothers in Kaya, Burkina Faso [Image credit: MOMI]
Learn More About MOMI Visit the MOMI project website: www.momiproject.eu.
Part of the MOMI consortium at work during a visit to Ntchisi, Malawi [Image credit: MOMI]
Including Smallholders in Agricultural Research for Development | INSARD INSARD was a three-year project which ran from 2011-2013, with field work in Senegal, Tanzania and Zambia and coordination and policy dialogue in Europe. It aimed at improving agricultural research systems in Africa by involving non-governmental organisations and farmer organisations. INSARD was a partnership of the ETC Foundation, the Eastern and Southern Africa Small-scale Farmers’ Forum (ESAFF), Professionals for Fair Development (GRET), Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM), and the Réseau des Plates-formes nationales d’ONG d’Afrique de l’Ouest et du Centre (REPOAC). INSARD project coordinator, Marianne Meijboom, is a Senior Advisor at the ETC Foundation.
What were the objectives of the INSARD project? The project sought to help civil-society organisations (CSO), both non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and farmer organisations (FOs), become more actively involved in influencing agricultural research and development (ARD) in Africa. The main objectives were to design a mechanism for coordination and communication among European
The maternity ward of the Tete Provincial Hospital in Chiuta, Mozambique [Image credit: MOMI]
and African CSOs (FOs and NGOs) involved in influencing policies and practices around ARD; agree on CSO research priorities and a strategy to communicate these to other stakeholders, bringing them into the international agenda; and lobby key African and European research organisations and donors to involve smallholders in ARD.
What was the nature of the research that was undertaken? The research focused on how CSOs can better contribute to influencing ARD agendas. Studies were conducted to map CSO engagement and resourceallocation processes in ARD in sub-Saharan Africa and the EU and to identify opportunities and challenges for achieving greater participation of CSOs in prioritising, formulating, implementing, monitoring and evaluating ARD. Furthermore, the project piloted the joint development of smallholder-centred research proposals by bringing together farmers, researchers and CSOs. The project has demonstrated that CSOs can play an important brokering role in the development of good quality research proposals based on farmers’ own research priorities.
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example, INSARD presented this key message at the 34th Brussels Development Briefing, the European Commission’s conference on Research Serving Development, the Second Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development, meetings of the Global Forum on Agricultural Research, the European Forum for Agricultural Research for Development, and the Platform for African European Partnership on Agricultural Research for Development (PAEPARD), and other international and national workshops. INSARD also made use of strategic networks such as Prolinnova and PAEPARD that are committed to continue pursuing INSARD’s vision. - Quotation by Geoffrey Chonga, a farmer from Kanyongoroka village, Zambia, during a INSARD national workshop Farmers preparing cherry peppers for market [Image credit: Bawinile Mtolo]
Farmers and researchers in the field monitoring a fish farming experiment in Tanzania, and mutual learning about local innovation processes in Benin [Image credits: Laurens van Veldhuizen and Bernard Triomphe]
What happens next? Will the project’s research results be converted into, for example, a new service, product, or social outcome? INSARD developed a policy-influencing strategy and made use of several key events to disseminate its message of the importance of increasing the participation of well-informed CSOs in ARD to better address smallholder research needs. For
In what ways did the project achieve its objectives? INSARD even overachieved on some of its deliverables. Farmers, CSOs and researchers in Senegal, Tanzania and Zambia developed nine joint research outlines instead of the three required as project deliverables. INSARD partners grasped opportunities to present their key messages in more national and international events than foreseen. This reflects the relevance of and interest in the subject: for example, in Tanzania, high-level officials attended a national meeting to discuss the future of local seeds and smallholder farmers — the topic of a joint research proposal developed in Tanzania. However, much more still needs to be done to institutionalise the involvement of CSOs in ARD to better address smallholders’ research needs.
Learn More About INSARD Download the INSARD Summary Periodic Report published on the European Commission’s Community Research and Development Information Service portal http://cordis.europa.eu/result/rcn/58056_en.pdf
* CAAST-Net Plus is grateful to both the INSARD and MOMI projects, and the interviewed participants, for their collaboration in the production of this article.
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Magazine December 2014 | Issue 4
Research and Innovation for Global Challenges Next year South Africa will host a major conference on the role of universities in development
2015 is a critical year for global policy on international development. The contribution of science and technology, and innovation, to achieving development goals is beyond question. But donors and policymakers must consider these contributions in their new global development policy frameworks.
Key research and innovation constituencies – including universities, funders, policymakers, and the private sector – must be able to respond to individual opportunities as well as addressing global challenges through their dayto-day operations. Stakeholders – including universities, the business community, and civil society – must ensure that the research agenda and its outputs are relevant, in order to use this potential to maximum benefit.
Specifically, the conference will establish the practical structures, policies, and incentives needed to ensure that science, technology, and innovation play a critical role in development.
The key to achieving this is bringing together research institutions, funders, policymakers, and the private sector in an open, honest, and international dialogue. To this end, the Association of Commonwealth Universities, in conjunction with Southern African Research and Innovation Management Association and South Africa’s National Research Foundation, will hold an international conference in 2015 on the theme of Research and Innovation for Global Challenges.
CAAST-Net Plus will hold a joint session with the DFID-funded Development Research Uptake in Sub-Saharan Africa (DRUSSA) project on the relationships between university research partnerships, the policy environment, policy uptake and the contribution of the private sector for solutions to global challenges. For more information about the CAAST-Net Plus role at this important meeting, write to andy.cherry@acu.ac.uk.
Universities, funders, policy-makers, and private sector actors must address global challenges in their day-to-day operations
It will also move beyond making the case for and identifying good practice in universities and other research institutions, to examine how they can be supported in a coherent way to ensure impact.
CAAST-Net Plus @ the Conference
ACU-SARIMA Conference Aims + Emphasise the importance of a strong science base to addressing common global challenges – highlighting first-hand examples of how the relationship works in practice + Highlight successful policy initiatives – and their scaling up – in the promotion of science as a tool for development, and how governments and funding bodies can use their resources to maximum effect + Identify barriers to the uptake of science as a tool for development, and address how these can be overcome + Build effective collaboration between the next generation of researchers, policymakers, and other stakeholders, ensuring the sustainability of key relationships + Identify ways to develop capacity among the next generation of researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders www.acusarima.com The event will take place from 11-14 May 2015 at the Indaba Hotel and Conference Centre, in Johannesburg, South Africa.
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Pin it to CAAST-Net Plus Events | Links | Opportunities
Research Uptake Symposium and Training Exchange
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ient Africa Climate Resil it 2015 Infrastructure Summ When: Where: Contact:
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When: Where: Contact:
29 – 31 March 2015 Abuja, Nigeria Dr. Uzodinma Adirieje (hefossnigeria@gmail.com)
ACU-SARIMA Conference 2015 When: Where: Contact:
11 – 14 May 2015 Johannesburg, South Africa For more information and to register (acusarima@easternsun.co.za)
CAAST-Net Plus Annual Meeting
When: 10 – 11 May 2015 Where: Johannesburg, South Africa Contact: Dr Andrew Cherry (andy.cherry@acu.ac.uk)
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The next Magazine December 2014 |issue Issue 4
of the CAAST-Net Plus Magazine will be published in June 2015