CAAST-Net Plus Magazine - Issue 6 | December 2015 by CAAST-Net Plus

Magazine December 2015 | Issue 6

In this Issue CAAST-Net Plus and the SDGs A Tangible Legacy Africa Performs in Horizon 2020

CAAST-Net Plus

Building Bi-regional Partnerships for Global Challenges

Contents

Coordinators’ Message

CAAST-Net Plus Enters Final Year A message from the project coordinators Dr Andrew Cherry and Dr Eric Mwangi

Hands on SDGs CAAST-Net Plus and the new global sustainable development goals Refilwe Mashigo

#COP21 Scientific networks crucial for climate action Ludovic Mollier and Dr Jean Albergel

A Tangible Legacy The CAAST-Net Plus contribution to research cooperation on climate change Dr Arne Tostensen

Towards “Fair” Global Research Collaboration A report from the Global Forum on Research and Innovation for Health Katharina Kuss and Dr Gatama Gichini

Early Research Results A CAAST-Net Plus survey of private sector opportunities and barriers in the uptake of food and nutrition security R&D outputs Nouhou Diaby

Infographic Dashboard of Africa’s performance in Horizon 2020

New Horizon 2020 Calls Funding opportunities for EU-Africa collaboration Masahudu Fuseini and Melissa Plath

Horizon 2020 Project Profiles Introducing RINEA and ProIntensAfrica Refilwe Mashigo, Dr Kerstin Garcia, Dr Stefan Wagener, Dr Huub Löffler, and Niina Pitkänen

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Pin it to CAAST-Net Plus Events, links and opportunities

[Image credit: Flickr, Stephen McGrath]

Policy Engagement

[Image credit: Flickr, Ken Teegardin]

Horizon 2020 Know-how

[Image credit: Flickr, Fatima]

For Your Diary [Image credit: Flickr, Sebastian Wiertz]

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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CAAST-Net Plus Enters Final Year A message from the project coordinators

Dr Andrew Cherry Project Coordinator

Dr Eric Mwangi Africa Region Coordinator

Researchers from Africa and Europe are known to be collaborating in 107 Horizon 2020 projects, with environment, health, and food as the leading themes. With the release of new Horizon 2020 calls in October, more opportunities for EU-Africa research cooperation in health, agriculture and food, ICT, transport, energy and research infrastructures are on offer.

Horizon 2020, as well as other regional and national funding programmes, continue to foster research and innovation cooperation between our continents, strengthening the Africa-Europe STI partnership for mutual benefit. As the process continues, a range of initiatives are working to support this partnership. In the context of the newly launched Sustainable Development Goals, and very recent COP21 engagements, our focus in CAAST-Net Plus has intensified around building bi-regional research and innovation cooperation in three societal challenges: health, climate change, and food security. It is important to recall that partners work not so much on the scientific content of these global challenges, but on developing our understanding of critical cross-cutting issues concerning bi-regional cooperation. These issues vary: from private sector engagement in publicly-funded research and innovation, cooperation framework conditions, policy and programming coordination; to research uptake, the provision of information to researchers and policy-makers, as well issues related to formal and informal EU-Africa STI policy dialogue. In climate change, partners are currently pursuing avenues for encouraging more and better bi-regional partnerships. At a meeting held in September in Norway, stakeholders were convened to consider the relative merits of coordinating schemes that foster climate change research capacity strengthening in African universities (pages 6-7). The meeting also looked specifically at building bridges between East African universities and businesses for better use of research outputs and alignment of research agendas with commercial interests. Also in this issue, we report on a CAAST-Net Plus discussion held in collaboration with the EU-funded SEA-EU NET2 project on the subject of fair health research collaboration (pages 8-9). This forms part of CAAST-Net Plus’ interaction with the Council for Health Research for Development (COHRED) in the

development of the emerging COHRED Fairness Index. In food security, partners have been conducting consultations with industry representatives to better understand the publicprivate sector divide in EU-Africa partnerships and to identify mechanisms for overcoming the existing barriers (pages 10-11). Complementing these activities in support of bi-regional cooperation are our frequent workshops around Africa to promote better understanding of how to participate in Horizon 2020, and to offer training to official African National Contact Points (NCPs). Well over 1,000 members of Africa’s research community have now participated in these events, with our most recent NCP training session taking place in Ethiopia during October. We should also remember that CAAST-Net Plus isn’t the only project supporting the EU-Africa partnership. RINEA, funded under Horizon 2020, directly supports EU-Africa STI policy processes at the highest level (page 16). The ProIntensAfrica project, also funded by Horizon 2020, is building a food and nutrition security platform on sustainable intensification in direct support of the policy priorities (page 17). And the ERAfrica II consortium is in the process of discussing a second round of calls for research proposal, which could also support priorities of the EU-Africa partnership. CAAST-Net Plus and the initiatives mentioned above all work closely with the European Commission and African Union Commission to explore routes toward reinforcing EU-Africa STI cooperation. With an eye toward the EU-Africa High Level Policy Dialogue on Science, Technology and Innovation (HLPD), planned for 2016, we are working with these authorities to host an associated stakeholder forum focusing on measures to implement the food and nutrition security priorities stipulated in the HLPD’s FNSSA roadmap. We are looking forward to a busy final year of CAAST-Net Plus in 2016.

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Hands on SDGs CAAST-Net Plus and the new global sustainable development goals Refilwe Mashigo* Research Africa

The lessons and findings from CAAST-Net Plus analytical work on AfricaEU research collaboration offer inputs to be considered in global efforts to achieve the SDGs. In September 2015 more than 150 heads of states met at the UN General Assembly in New York to sign off seventeen brand new sustainable development goals (SDGs). The SDGs arguably represent the most holistic approach yet to address shared social, economic and environmental challenges. Encouragingly, a report of the International Council for Science and the International Social Science Council (Review of the Sustainable Development Goals: The Science Perspective (2015)) says that, unlike the Millennium Development Goals, the SDGs accentuate the role of science, technology and innovation (STI) in addressing global challenges. So what might EU-Africa research and innovation partnerships, and specifically the CAAST-Net Plus project, contribute to this new global effort? Guided by the Joint Africa-EU Strategy, adopted in 2007, CAAST-Net Plus’ ongoing work aims to support EU-Africa STI policy dialogue processes — both formally and informally — and in this sense, the project’s objectives are closely aligned to the SDG ambition to address societal issues through STI. As one of our key objective statements explains: CAAST-Net Plus aims to encourage more and better bi-regional STI cooperation for enhanced outcomes around topics of mutual interest, and particularly in relation to the global societal challenges of climate change, food security and health. To this end, in July this year CAAST-Net Plus shared its findings and recommendations on the framework conditions of EU-Africa research and innovation cooperation with African science ministers, legislators and UNESCO representatives during the African Dialogue on Mobilising STI for Africa’s Development post-2015. Our goal? To work with the science ministers and legislators to explore potential strategies to be considered in their national, regional and global policy-making efforts. So for instance, we launched at the event a flagship CAASTNet Plus report: Africa-EU Research Collaboration on Food Security (2015). This report argues that the implementation and outputs of research findings, and the impact thereof, needs to be thoroughly monitored to ensure tangible outcomes. As the report’s lead author, Judith Ann Francis of the Technical Centre for Rural and Agricultural Development, asserts: “We must be able to better track the outputs and impact, or frame the conditions for future collaboration in such a way that

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the researchers as well as governments, the private sector, including farmers, and the wider society benefit in a tangible way.” Similarly, the CAAST-Net Plus report, Africa-EU Research Collaboration on Climate Change (2014), also presented at the ministers and legislators meeting, refers to a lack of “outcome thinking” at national and regional level. This has resulted in a mismatch between project goals and actual results, argues lead author James Haselip of the UNEP DTU Partnership, which is based in Denmark. The close relationship between research and policy, more often than not, necessitates practical outputs that can actually help address policy challenges. Where these outputs are not delivered, the report suggests, the risk of governments funding initiatives that do not actually address societal challenges is increased. Finally, a report from the first CAAST-Net Plus stakeholder forum held in Uganda in 2015, entitled Findings and Recommendations for Decision-makers: Africa-EU Strategies for Science, Technology and Innovation, proposes a series of policy “viable policy options” for interregional, sub-regional and national levels of government in the adoption of STI for global challenges, including for the African ministers and legislators present at the Ghana event. In her remarks to participants, Ghana’s Deputy-Minister for Environment and STI, Bernice Adiku Heloo, called upon the delegation to consider the role of other sectors, such as the private and educational sectors, in STI partnerships geared toward addressing the SDGs. She added: “As we play our roles in our respective countries, we can build partnerships within Africa and with others outside the continent, to strive towards the SDGs.” CAAST-Net Plus inputs at the meeting were echoed in a communiqué adopted at the conference, which signifies a renewed commitment from African science ministers in the building of S&T partnerships for sustainable development. *Refilwe Mashigo is the CAAST-Net Plus project communications officer at Research Africa. Follow @CAAST_Net_Plus on Twitter, or sign up to our newsletters at eepurl.com/SraTH. The reports referred to in this article can be accessed from the CAAST-Net Plus website.

#COP21 Scientific networks crucial for climate action

Ludovic Mollier* IRD

Dr Jean Albergel* IRD

The 5th IPCC annual report supports the unequivocal claim that global warming is happening and that the human influence on the climate system is clear. From 30 November to 11 December 2015, COP21, also known as the 2015 Paris Climate Conference, for the first time in over 20 years of UN negotiations, reached a universal agreement on climate, with the aim of keeping global warming below 2°C and even pursuing efforts to a limit of 1.5°C above preindustrial levels. Together, the intended national contributions to decrease greenhouse gas emissions do not fall for the moment within these scenarios, but more towards an increase of approximatively 3°C of the global average temperature. Nevertheless, this historical agreement set up a key framework and tools to increase emission reduction efforts. And the conference brought together 195 countries to address climate change challenges by promoting mitigation but also adaptation solutions within a transparency framework. Africa is one of the most vulnerable continents with regards to climate change. Adaptation will therefore be a central factor in the shaping of Africa-EU STI collaboration, alongside the need to explore technological breakthroughs across a range of disciplines, sectors and stakeholders. The participation of Africa in building the scientific basis for assessing risks and options for action needs to be consolidated. In this regard, supporting human capital development in Africa is vital to better observe regional climate changes, predict their impacts

and take action accordingly. Through the COP21 framework, Africa-EU STI collaboration will also need to outline the form such action should take in order to engage in a necessary transition to low-emission and climate-resilient economies and societies. Global challenges need a global and common response. It is crucial to build coordinated scientific networks and engage in collaborative research. Operation networks such as CAAST-Net Plus also have an important role to play in this regard. The main research issues for development are now of a global dimension and climate change is certainly at the root of the new direction taken for Africa-EU STI collaboration. *Ludovic Mollier and Dr Jean Albergel are representatives of France’s Institute of Research for Development (IRD), which is a partner in the CAAST-Net Plus project. [Image credit: Flickr, Arnaud Bouissou - MEDDE / SG COP21]

COP21 [Image credit: Creative Commons Image]

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A Tangible Legacy The CAAST-Net Plus contribution to research cooperation on climate change Dr Arne Tostensen Research Council of Norway

CAAST-Net Plus has in previous years organised climate change consultations with three of Africa’s Regional Economic Communities (RECs). These events have been carried out with an ambition to capture an overview of existing capabilities, identify gaps, and explore opportunities for collaborative EU-Africa ventures.

These consultations — held in Accra, Ghana (with ECOWAS), in Lilongwe, Malawi (with SADC), and in Kigali, Rwanda (with EAC) — have yielded valuable results for CAAST-Net Plus in its efforts to build a platform for bi-regional research and innovation related to climate change priorities. The CAAST-Net Plus Climate Change Stakeholder Meeting that took place in Bergen, Norway, on 7 and 8 September 2015, was carried out against the background of the three previous workshops. Working closely with the East African Community (EAC), the Bergen convening brought together key stakeholders with three key objectives in mind (see box). About 25 participants were drawn from Europe and sub-Saharan Africa, representing a mix of active researchers and scientists, business people, administrators and officials of research councils and relevant policy-making ministries, as well as practitioners and representatives of civil society. While climate change is a cross-cutting concern, the discussion sought to explore how innovations might serve the needs of the health and food security sectors and towards that end, participants from those sectors were in attendance. The workshop format was comprised of plenary sessions and breakout groups for deeper discussion.

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BOX: Goals of Bergen meeting To explore the potential for academicprivate sector collaboration, exemplified by the embryonic relationship emerging between the East African Business Council (EABC) and the Inter-University Council of East Africa (IUCEA). To examine opportunities for strengthened cooperation in capacity-building in the area of climate change. To investigate the prospects for mounting new research funding schemes, modelled, for instance, on ERAfrica, whose experiences and lessons learned were assessed to determine its replicability with an emphasis on research related to climate change issues.

Key Results

academia-private sector interface, presentations were made: by representatives of the EABC and the IUCEA; by the existing BASE project addressing energy issues in Europe and East Africa; by the Knowledge Transfer Partnerships covering larger parts of Africa; and by a Tanzanian innovator who has won a prize for his innovation using nanotechnology in water purification.

By way of introduction Prof. Eystein Jansen of the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research gave a keynote presentation about climate change as a global challenge. In the first break-out group on the

In the second break-out group, presentations were made by the UK Department for International Development about its CIRCLE programme and by the African Academy of Science as its implementer in Africa.

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Similar initiatives were presented on Danidaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Building Stronger Universities programme, on ClimDev under the African Climate Policy Centre, as well as on the Globelics/AfricaLics initiative, based at Aarhus University, Denmark. The discussion dwelled on the needs, challenges, and opportunities for collaboration and synergies between various funding agencies in this field. It sought to explore the possibility for a joint facility or improved separate facilities for strengthening cooperation in capacitybuilding initiatives in climate change. The potential for mounting a new funding facility Ă la ERAfrica was also discussed, and the link to Africa-EU STI policy dialogue support, which was highlighted in a presentation made by CAAST-Net Plus. The deliberations were lively and rich. Experiences and good practices were shared between European and sub-Saharan African stakeholders involved in the financial and technical support of climate change-related academiaâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;industry partnerships. The discussions centred on how the relationship between EABC and UICEA could be intensified and ultimately lead to innovation, patenting and commercialisation of prototypes, be they tangible commodities or services. In other words, the emphasis was put on facilitating the uptake process, rather than collaborative research per se. The ambition was to arrive at a platform or a model to be emulated by other African RECs, and to forge synergies between

institutions in Europe and their African counterparts. The views of the Tanzanian innovator was particularly enlightening with regard to the opportunities and hurdles encountered during the innovation process, through to the commercialisation of a product in which investors are now showing interest. It has been observed that since climate change is a comparatively new field of study, the capacity to engage in such research is limited, especially in Africa. Hence, extensive capacity-building initiatives are needed. Overall, the deliberations went some way towards the creation of a platform or a model that is actionable with a view to strengthening links and cooperation between the academic world and that of industry in the area of climate change and its links to health and food security. The other prong of the workshop, related to capacity-building beyond the purview of Horizon 2020, also generated ideas that need to be developed further. A workshop report is in progress. It will provide further details and set out the embryo of a platform for bi-regional research collaboration between Europe and subSaharan Africa, including initiatives to enhance its effectiveness. The workshop was hosted by the Chr. Michelsen Institute on behalf of the Research Council of Norway (RCN).

The CAAST-Net Plus climate change stakeholder meeting enabled researchers, policy-makers and representatives from the private and public sectors an opportunity to share good practices and experiences in involving academia and the private sector in EU-Africa climate change research collaboration. [Image credit: Dr Arne Tostensen & Twitter, Mike Hughes]

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Towards “Fair” Global Research Collaboration A report from the Global Forum on Research and Innovation for Health Katharina Kuss* FCSAI

Dr Gatama Gichini** MOEST

An expert panel chaired by Dr Gatama Gichini of Kenya’s science and education ministry gathered insights from Europe, Africa and Southeast Asia on two key challenge areas for international health research and innovation collaboration.

Global challenges are linked Donors, policy-makers, researchers and community workers in the health domain have focused for decades primarily on infectious diseases. This is because these illnesses tend to show immediate impediments to human development, in turn affecting a country’s socio-economic development. However, there is a rising international consensus that noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), such as cancer, diabetes or poor mental health, require as much attention as infectious diseases. Although the prevalence of NCDs in Europe remains higher than in Asia or Africa, the social and economic burden of these pathologies is heavy in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Both the scientific literature and more mainstream media channels are flooded with reports about the link between urbanisation and climate change, the rising patterns of NCDs as a result of increased air pollution, heat stress, increased exposure to solar radiation, and drought or flooding, and their direct or indirect effects on respiratory health, mental health, nutrition, the immune system, or the cardiovascular system. Unhealthy societies and poor nutrition are outcomes of neglecting climate change conditions. Because the problems are so closely connected, the dichotomy of tackling global health and climate change separately needs re-thinking. Any policy confusion needs to be clarified both in HICs and LMICs and research agendas in these countries also need to better reflect this nexus.

* **

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International research collaboration works, but it must be “fair” The panel found that there are many drivers of international research collaboration. By working together, researchers from the North and the South can better influence national and international research policies, said Jean-Michel Sers, European Affairs Coordinator at the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD). Deputy-Director for Science and Technology Collaboration from the Kenyan Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Dr Eric Mwangi, highlighted that reliance on Northern partner support is not only determined by an agenda but also by the lack of high-tech advanced labs and inadequate national funding prevailing in LMICs. But, the challenges of international collaboration are numerous, said panellist Mike Kachedwa, who is Chief Research Officer at the National Commission for Science & Technology in Malawi. “Benefit sharing becomes quite problematic in research collaboration that includes partners from North and South. It may provide far too little benefit when risks are too high or sometimes benefits to sponsors are great.” He added: “Nevertheless, international research partnerships enhance conducive framework conditions and strengthen institutional research and innovation capacities in LMICs.’’ The panel concluded that these so-called framework conditions, particularly in LMICs, are often not conducive to effective cooperation. Low research budgets, temporary contracts, poor career perspectives, limited access to knowledge and to published data, lack of technology, difficulty translating research results, and complicated bureaucracy are just some of barriers LMIC researchers face.

Katharina Kuss is EU Project Manager at the Spanish Foundation for International Cooperation, Health and Social Affairs. Dr Gatama Gichini is Assistant Director Research at Kenya’s Ministry, Education, Science and Techonology.

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The panel found external pressure applied when the research data discloses information that can compromise economic or political interests as a particular concern, for example when findings show the contamination of fisheries by metals or antibiotics.

KEY MESSAGES CAAST-Net Plus Poster Presentation at the 5th Stakeholder Meeting of the African Network for Drugs and Diagnostics Innovation (Nairobi, Kenya: 23 to 25 November 2015).

Conclusion The 2015 Global Forum on Research and Innovation for Health follows on from the Global Forum for Health Research, held in 2012 in South Africa. While in the past the forum focused on health research, nowadays it is the utilisation of results for innovation and evidence-based polices that occupies centre stage. By linking global challenges to international cooperation, governments and research institutions need to enhance research conditions so as to be conducive for academia and the private sector and which in the long-term would also contribute to economic growth in low-and middle-income countries. *The panel discussion was jointly sponsored by the CAASTNet Plus and SEA-EU NET projects. Both are funded by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration.

INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION TO PAVE THE WAY FOR POLICY ADVICE AND ENHANCED FRAMEWORK CONDITIONS IN RESEARCH AND INNOVATION GICHINI Gatama1, KUSS Katharina2, MUSOLINO Najia3, WAGNER Isabella4, KACHEDWA Mike5 2

1 Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, KENYA Spanish Foundation for International Cooperation, Health and Social Affairs, SPAIN 3 Council on Health Research for Development, SWITZERLAND 4 Centre for Social Innovation, AUSTRIA 5 National Commission for Science and Technology, MALAWI

INTRODUCTION

OBJECTIVES

CAAST-Net Plus is a network of 26 organisations from Europe and sub-Saharan Africa working together to support bi-regional cooperation in research and innovation. The project is funded for the period 2013-2016 by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme. Project partners contribute to the quality and scope of the AfricaEurope science, technology and innovation (STI) relationship through information and support e.g. to foster improved uptake and translation of bi-regional research outputs into technologies and services. CAAST-Net Plus acts in the context of the Joint Africa-Europe Strategy (JAES) adopted by African and European leaders in 2007, which in the ﬁeld of health expresses the commitment of both parties to further research for vaccines and new medicines for both major and neglected diseases.1

MATERIALS AND METHODS

CAAST-Net Plus aims to: encourage more bi-regional STI cooperation for enhanced outcomes around topics of mutual interest, foster discussion among stakeholders for gathering informed opinion and experience about the biregional cooperation process, examine key framework conditions impacting on the conduct of bi-regional cooperation in health research.

Studies and consultations conducted by CAAST-Net Plus partners have led to an in-depth understanding of Africa-EU research and innovation cooperation in health, highlighting challenges that need to be addressed and pointing to possible areas of intervention for improving partnerships and strengthening bi-regional cooperation. Regular updates on EU-Africa research cooperation are shared via the project’s website, quarterly newsletter, and bi-annual project magazine, as well as through its social media platforms. Amongst its key research publications, CAAST-Net Plus has conducted research focusing on: Africa-EU Research Collaboration on Health: A Critical Analysis of the Scope, Coordination and Uptake of Findings (in progress) Transferring Knowledge into Solutions: Africa-EU Strategies for Science, Technology and Innovation (2014)

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Research agendas to reﬂect the burden of diseases Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as cancer, diabetes or poor mental health, require as much attention as infectious diseases. Although the prevalence of NCDs in Europe remains higher than in Africa, the social and economic burden of these pathologies is heavy, and in Africa, it might soon be higher than the burden of infectious diseases.2 Project partners conducted a bibliometric study on publications in the past decade arising from collaborative health research between Africa and Europe. Based on the volume of co-authored publications, the study suggests that NDCs have not been a research priority. EU-Africa co-publications from 2005-2014 in the selected strands of health research

2000

external pressure lack of high tech or advanced labs, and inadequate local resources which promotes the reliance on partner support that is sometimes not aligned with the interest and needs of the low- and middle-income country (LMIC). In order to improve research conditions and outcomes of health research, CAAST-Net Plus promotes policy revision to address these recommendations:

Facilitate translation of results

1800 1600 1400 1200 1000

Poverty related diseases

800

Neglected diseases

600

Non-communicable diseases

400

Increase research budgets

Engage with private sector

Ensure access to knowledge and data

Improve career perspectives

Reduce bureaucracy

Invest in technology Enhance mobility (visa)

Research contracts to be long term

200 0

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

CAAST-Net Plus partners identiﬁed many barriers impacting on health research and innovation. The frequent challenges listed by researchers are: limited access to information and published data limited budget to conduct research temporary contracts poor career perspectives complicated bureaucracy

The links between the three societal Climate Change challenges: health, climate change and food and nutrition security are strong. There are dozens of reports about the link between urbanisation and climate Food Security change, the rising patterns of NCDs as Health and Nutrition a result of increased air pollution, heat stress, increased exposure to solar radiation, and drought or ﬂooding and their direct or indirect effects on respiratory health, mental health, nutrition, the

Because the problems are so closely connected, the dichotomy of tackling global health and climate change separately needs re-thinking. Any policy confusion needs to be clariﬁed both in High Income Countries (HICs) and LMICs, and research agendas in these countries also need to better reﬂect this nexus.

International research collaboration to be fair North-South cooperation has the potential to influence national and international research policies, but the challenges of international collaborations are numerous. Benefit sharing becomes quite problematic and it may provide too little benefit. Therefore, strengthening institutional research and innovation capacities in LMICs should be a minimum requirement in North-South cooperation. CAAST-Net Plus is also involved in the conception of the COHRED Fairness Index (CFI), an emerging platform that promises to address several of the challenging framework conditions around health research partnerships through a certification system to promote and validate responsible and fair practices in international collaborative health research and innovation.

CFI Building Blocks

The domains, principles, indicators, criteria and means of veriﬁcation structure the CFI. The building blocks determine the elements that assess the level to which collaborations in health research and innovation are fair and responsible.

Technical A Technical Working Group (TWG) consisting of key stakeholders in the Working ﬁeld of health is consulted on a monthly basis to help develop the CFI with Group (TWG) an external perspective. CFI Inclusion

The CFI is a useful system for all levels and sectors in the ﬁeld of health. Embedding the CFI in governments and institutions will help promote a fair distribution of the portfolio of beneﬁts that are derived from doing health research, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

REFERENCES 1

African Union Commission and European Commission (2007). The Africa-EU Strategic Partnership: A Joint Africa-EU Strategy. The African Union and the European Union. Olesen, O.F. and Parker, I.M. (2012). ‘Health Research in Africa: Getting Priorities Right’, Tropical Medicine and International Health, vol. 17, no. 9 pp. 1048–1052. Mugabe, J. (2014). Transforming Health Research into Innovations in Africa: The Effectiveness of National Research Policies in Eastern and Southern Africa. University of Pretoria: Graduate School of Technology Management.

The role of public-private partnerships with local and international companies in promoting innovations in health and medical (‘health’) technologies is an opportunity that should always be explored and nurtured. There is a need for development of health technologies and equipment for use in resource limited African settings. A number of mechanisms discussed aim at improving research, innovation and transfer of health technologies. These included the identification of technology development start-up funds to support technology prototype development, transfer and commercialisation; collaborative ventures between clinicians and engineers aimed at identifying health technology needs that could be translated into research and real products for use in resource limited clinical settings; and enabling forums to showcase new and existing products. Factors that impede the development of health technologies include: import levies or duties that national governments charge on the importation of all parts required for manufacturing of products; bottlenecks at both national and international levels that still exist in the procedures, guidelines and regulations to pre-qualify, evaluate and register the technologies for use; and political will and capacity across African countries to reshape their policies is still key to creating an enabling environment for development of health technologies.

immune system, or the cardiovascular system. Unhealthy societies and poor nutrition are outcomes of neglecting climate change conditions.

The COHRED Fairness Index

Global challenges to be linked Conditions for research and innovation to be improved

Mike Kachedwa National Commission for Science and Technology, Malawi

Project Coordinator: Dr Andrew Cherry (Association of Commonwealth Universities, UK) Africa Region Coordinator: Dr Eric Mwangi (Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Kenya)

CAAST-Net Plus is funded by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no 311806.

Communities in the hard-to-reach areas of Africa have difficulties in accessing health technologies. Deaths can be prevented if essential technologies are used and if clinics and markets in remote areas are appropriately resourced. Much as innovation in the development of technologies is being called for, local stakeholders and the international community must be innovative in implementing equitable, efficient, and scalable programmes that promote access to essential drugs and diagnostics.

CAAST-Net Plus partners presented a poster on framework conditions for fair research and innovation collaboration at the 5th ANDI stakeholder meeting in Nairobi, Kenya. [Image credit: CAAST-Net Plus]

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Early Research Results A CAAST-Net Plus survey of private sector opportunities and barriers in the uptake of food and nutrition security R&D outputs Nouhou Diaby* MRS

CAAST-Net Plus is conducting research on how to bridge the publicprivate sector divide for greater impact on food and nutrition security outcomes around joint Africa-EU priorities. The analysis of preliminary findings of a CAAST-Net Plus survey conducted by Senegal’s ministry of science and education is underway. The survey examines attitudes among Senegalese firms (SMEs, research actors, and others) working in food security towards EU-Africa research cooperation, and the use of research outputs to drive their innovations. The aim of the survey is to gather information regarding mechanisms to improve responsiveness of R&D actors to the needs and opportunities identified by industry, and routes for the input and involvement of the private sector in a collaborative platform for supporting bi-regional health research priorities. Ultimately, the research aims to fill a gap on the mechanisms for enhanced private sector uptake of R&D outputs from bi-regional research cooperation.

Increase in collaborative research projects In Africa, public agricultural research has been experiencing a resurgence in recent years with an increasing number of researchers and funding, even if there are still insufficient resources and even if funding still depends heavily from sponsors from abroad. In the private sector, research is virtually nonexistent. An earlier CAAST-Net Plus study showed the existence of collaborative research between Europe and Africa in the field of food and nutrition security, especially through numerous projects funded by

the EU’s Framework Programme (see the CAAST-Net Plus report Africa-EU Research Collaboration on Food Security: A Critical Analysis of the Scope, Coordination and Uptake of Findings (2015)). But this research is mainly funded by the EU and not African funders. As the report shows, private sector involvement in framework cooperation projects was approximately 15.5%, and civil society representation was approximately 1.5% of total participating organisations.

Poor research uptake The large number of EU-Africa collaborative research projects has not necessarily led to more policy influence, improved food systems and processes, expanded product ranges, markets and trade, or more support to innovation for social and economic gain in either Europe or Africa. The reasons given by the various Senegalese stakeholders surveyed are many, but are mainly due to lack of funding, obstacles associated with political will, and communication challenges. Other barriers highlighted included: + Differences in the motivations and priorities between the private sector and the research community; + Lack of follow-up at the end of projects i.e. at end of funding cycles; + Lack of, delay in, or non-involvement of the private sector in project design; + Mismatch of certain results to private sector needs.

Nouhou Diaby is a representative of Senegal’s Ministry of Higher Education, Universities, Regional University Centres and Scientific Research. *

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KEY MESSAGES CAAST-Net Plus, RINEA Workshop on Non-traditional Approaches to Food Security (Brussels, Belgium: 2 October 2015) Melissa Plath Finnish Universities Partnership for International Development Among the many lessons learned from the discussion, the importance of communicating and sharing between the sectors and actors involved is crucial for better understanding the possible ways for cooperating together.

Vinny Pillay Department of Science and Technology, South Africa There is a need to engage with a broader set of private sector members – perhaps at an individual level.

Judith Ann Francis Technical Centre for Rural and Agricultural Cooperation A take-home message is that we need to change our mindset from looking at small funding baskets for research and look to bigger financing opportunities and partnerships with the private sector in these domains.

How to bridge the gap Stakeholders surveyed generally agreed that multi-disciplinary research and development between and across actors is very important in tackling the food and nutrition global challenge. To increase the impact of research results in this area, and to promote innovation, it is necessary to break down the barriers and to bridge the gap between the private sector and public research actors. To this end, three approaches are suggested:

1 We need to improve the use of research results by the private sector, through taking advantage of new funding opportunities such as, for example, an SME development fund, investments in the application of research results, and participation in programmes such as the European Unionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Horizon 2020 funding instrument. Respondents suggested increasing public funding for research and development, especially in Africa, and the strengthening of private sector capacity in the area of technology transfer. The visibility and the strength of the private sector should be supported through the establishment or strengthening of commercial umbrella or support organisations and the provision of an evidence-base of research and development results.

2 Research actors should also provide answers to the real needs of

industry by involving the private sector right from the beginning, that is, in the setting up of research priorities, in order to promote demand-led agricultural research for development, extension, innovation, and to strengthen capacities. The private sector should be strengthened to be able to formulate and prioritise research needs that enable a shift to more useful applied research. Communication between public and private sectors needs to be improved to increase awareness about innovation opportunities among SME owners and managers.

3 Private sector actors should become more involved in collaborative

platforms to support the definition of bi-regional priorities in the field of food and nutrition security. To this end, actors should be involved early enough in dialogues with other sectoral stakeholders. It is also necessary to develop or strengthen value chains and co-financing possibilities through a clear distribution of costs and benefits. The commitment of the private sector can also be shown through their involvement in business/entrepreneurship incubators. Support to, or creation of, networks among key stakeholders in both communities to facilitate interactions that would enable a harnessing of ideas/inputs and thereby facilitate inclusiveness of relevant stakeholders is sorely needed.

KEY MESSAGES CAAST-Net Plus Workshop on Africa-EU STI Cooperation in Food and Nutrition Security: Innovation & Private Sector Engagement (Johannesburg, South Africa: 26 November 2015) Dr Jean Albergel Institute of Research for Development, France The CAAST-Net Plus intervention created an opportunity for African and European presenters to promote their technology in front of a panel of economic operators and investors looking for innovative technologies by presenting a poster of the selected technology and exchanging individually with industrialists and business managers.

Dr Andrew Cherry Association of Commonwealth Universities While we have a very practiced narrative about the role that scientific and technological research plays in inspiring or driving innovation for economic growth, and a persistent anxiety about a perceived weakness in the academia/research â&#x20AC;&#x201C; business relationship, a striking reality emerging from this exchange was that for many small and medium sized enterprises in the food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture domain, for the small scale entrepreneurs, the link to the scientific and/or technological environment can be a distant one. The scientific or technological dimension of a new product or of a new service is just one of so many pressing practical issues facing SMEs and entrepreneurs and it is unrealistic to expect SMEs and entrepreneurs to share our perspectives. We who inhabit the world of international scientific cooperation must never lose sight of these realities and can ill afford to isolate the S&T contribution from the host of other factors driving business ideas.

The full survey report will be made available to readers in 2016 on the CAAST-Net Plus website. December 2015 | Issue 6

Magazine | 11

Infographic

Dashboard of Africa’s performance in Horizon 2020

Africa in Horizon 2020 (data as of 30 November 2015*)

107 48

PARTICIPATIONS IN

PROJECTS

25 1315 565 45

AFRICAN

PARTICIPATIONS IN

INVOLVED SO FAR

Includes many regional and international organisations based in Africa

COUNTRIES

Includes regional institutions (AUC, WACREN, CORAF, ASECNA) and international organisations based in Africa (UNEP, ILRI)

TOTAL EU FUNDING:

Africa in FP7

(data as of September 2013)

€17m

REGIONAL SPLIT: NUMBER OF COUNTRY PARTNERS North Africa: 4 Southern Africa: 7

TOTAL EU FUNDING:

AFRICAN

PROJECTS

COUNTRIES

INVOLVED

€178m

REGIONAL SPLIT: NUMBER OF COUNTRY PARTNERS North Africa: 5

Southern Africa: 3

West Africa: 7

East Africa: 4

East Africa: 6

Central Africa: 1

West Africa: 7

Central Africa: 1

* Source: CORDIS http://cordis.europa.eu/projects/

COUNTRY

PARTICIPATIONS

PROJECTS

Algeria

67,656

Botswana

47,547

826,000

Burkina Faso

139,756

8,500,000

Burundi

40,031

72,000

Cameroon

280,000

3,660,000

Cote d’Ivoire

136,250

390,000

Egypt

320,751

16,100,000

Ethiopia

578,320

3,660,000

Ghana

816,202

8,200,000

Kenya

2,719,938

12,300,000

Madagascar

10,000

580,000

Malawi

274,787

3,060,000

Mali

100,875

2,730,000

Morocco

1,322,760

15,000,000

Mozambique

454,593

3,360,000

Namibia

35,978

750,000

Nigeria

99,813

3,720,000

Rwanda

380,625

970,000

Senegal

859,953

5,465,000

South Africa

5,062,961

37,300,000

Tanzania

1,496,428

12,000,000

Togo

27,968

275,000

Tunisia

90,250

13,400,000

Uganda

1,279,046

7,700,000

Zambia

342,523

1,640,000

107

16,985,011

164,898,000*

Total

EU FUNDING € (H2020)

* Data excludes the remaining 20 African country participants

12 |

Magazine December 2015 | Issue 6

EU FUNDING € (FP7) 3,240,000

Example Project Fact Sheet ACRONYM AND PROJECT TITLE

EWIT* Developing an e-waste implementation toolkit to support the recycling and the secondary raw material recovery strategies in metropolitan areas in Africa

EU CONTRIBUTION

€1.6 million

LED BY

Consorzio Remedia

PARTNERS

13 from Europe 11 from Africa

(Italy)

(Refer to maps on next page)

DURATION

February 2015 – February 2017

* EWIT is a Horizon 2020 Coordination and Support Action

Portugal Partner: + Servico Intermunipalizado de Gestao de Residuos do Grande Porto

United Kingdom Partner: + University of Leeds

Belgium Partners: + Stad Antwerpen + Worldloop VZW

Austria Partners: + EIEE GesmbH + International Solid Waste Association + Osterreichische Gesellschaft Fuer System-Und Automatisierungstechnik + Technische Universitaet Wien + Universitaet Feru Bodenkultur Wien

Italy Partners: + Consorzio Remedia + Comune Di Firenze + Ancitel Energia e Ambiente Spa + Quadrifoglio Servizi Ambientali Area Fiorentina Spa

Cote d’Ivoire Partner: + Université d’Abobo-Adjamé

Zambia Partner: + Ministry of Local Government and Housing – Choma Municipal Council

Kenya Partners: + International Centre for Research in Sustainable Development + Social and Economic Research Foundation + Kisii County City + Kisumu County City + Ministry of Enviroment, Water and Natural Resources + Mijikenda Youth Association

South Africa Partners: + Council for Scientific and Industrial Research + Mintek - National Mineral Research Organisation + Pikitup Johannesburg (SOC) Limited

For more information:

Contact the coordinators:

Acknowledgment:

http://l.caast-net-plus.org/fE

info@consorzioremedia.it

Stéphane Hogan, EU Science Counsellor to the African Union

December 2015 | Issue 6

Magazine | 13

New Horizon 2020 Calls Funding opportunities for EU-Africa collaboration Masahudu Fuseini* CSIR-STEPRI

Melissa Plath** JYU-UNIPID

Horizon 2020 is the European Union’s biggest research and innovation programme ever. Lasting seven years (2014-2020), it is open to participants from around the world, including Africa. On 14 October 2015, the European Commission published the second Horizon 2020 “Work Programme”, for 2016-2017, with a budget of almost €16 billion.

The 2016-2017 Work Programme includes a number of excellent opportunities for African researchers!

Funding for Horizon 2020 is implemented in three key areas — Excellent Science, Industrial Leadership, and Societal Challenges — and through successive two-year Work Programmes (WP) (for a breakdown of the programme and its budget, see Issue 2 of the CAAST-Net Plus Magazine). The Horizon 2020 programme is open to the world. This means that African researchers can participate in almost any call if it is in collaboration with researchers from Europe.

Open Calls Several topics in the 2016-2017 WP are specifically suited for African participation (see also table overleaf): + In information and communication technologies (ICT), the topic ICT-39-2016-2017: International partnership building in low and middle income countries’ includes both innovation actions (IA) and coordination and support actions (CSA) to reinforce cooperation and strategic partnership with low and middle income countries in sub-Saharan Africa and ASEAN countries. The IA focuses on addressing the requirements of end-user communities in developing countries, while the CSA focuses on fostering research and coordination and supporting collaborative activities between Europe and Africa. + In health, demographic change and well-being, the research and innovation action SC1-PM-

* **

14 |

06-2016: Vaccine development for malaria and/or neglected infectious diseases focuses on addressing bottlenecks in the discovery, pre-clinical phase, as well as on early clinical development of new vaccine candidates for malaria or neglected infectious diseases. Both larger and smaller proposals will be accepted under this topic, with up to €5m available for proof of concept proposals and up to €20m for longer-term implementation projects. + In the food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine and maritime and inland water research and the bioeconomy societal challenge, there are several opportunities for African participation. Three of these in particular support the EU-Africa research and innovation partnership on food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture. The topic SFS-41-2016: EU-Africa research and innovation partnership on food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture is an ERA-NET co-fund, meaning it invites research funders to pool resources to implement a joint call for proposals on FNSSA. SFS-42-2016: Promoting food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture in Africa: The role of innovation is a research and innovation action (RIA) seeking proposals that will review the various approaches towards innovation promoted and implemented in the past. It will also present activities in Africa as a basis for developing a strategy for fostering innovation and enhancing the impact of the EU-Africa

Masahudu Fuseini works at Ghana’s Science and Technology Policy Research Institute. Melissa Plath is Project Manager at the University of Jyväskylä and the Finnish Universities Partnership for International Development.

Magazine December 2015 | Issue 6

research and innovation partnership on FNSSA. SFS-432017: Earth observation services for the monitoring of agricultural production in Africa is also a research and innovation action. This should lead to substantially increased use of Earth observing capabilities and support application systems to produce timely, objective, reliable, and transparent crop and livestock production projections at the national and regional level for the African continent. + The smart, green and integrated transport societal challenge includes a coordination and support action MG-3.6.2016: Euro-African initiative on road safety and traffic management. The topic aims to promote the adoption of sound innovative solutions to address safety concerns and to improve mobility in Africa, particularly in urban areas and along the main corridors. In addition to the topics described above, which focus on collaborative projects, the Marie Sklodowska-Curie actions

represent an excellent opportunity for individual researchers from Africa. Specifically, grants are available for researchers at every stage of the their careers and could be used as an opportunity for African researchers to gain international research experience.

Next Steps In sum, the 2016-2017 Work Programme includes a number of excellent opportunities for African researchers! Beyond the calls specifically targeting Africa, the openness of the Horizon 2020 programme means that there is a huge opportunity for African researchers to undertake excellent research in collaboration with European partners. The Horizon 2020 Participant Portal provides researchers with access to all the information on the work programmes, calls, and financial and legal information.

TABLE: Selected open Horizon 2020 calls for EU-Africa research collaboration Programme Section

Programme Areas

Call Identifier

Topic

Type of Action

Deadline

II. Industrial Leadership

Information and communication technologies

ICT-39-20162017

International partnership building in low and middle income countries

Innovation Action; Coordination and Support Action

IA: 25.4.2017 CSA: 19.1.2016

III. Societal Challenges

Health, demographic change and wellbeing

SC1-PM-062016

Vaccine development for Malaria and/or neglected infectious diseases

Research and Innovation Actions

13.4.2016

III. Societal Challenges

Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine and maritime and inland water research and the bioeconomy

SFS-41-2016

EU-Africa research and innovation partnership on food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture

ERA-NET Co-fund

17.2.2016

SFS-42-2016

Promoting food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture in Africa: the role of Innovation

Research and Innovation Actions

17.2.2016 2nd stage: 13.9.2016

SFS-43-2016

Earth observation services for the monitoring of agricultural production in Africa

Research and Innovation Actions

14.2.2017

MG-3.6-2016

Euro-African initiative on road safety and traffic management

Coordination and Support Action

26.1.2016

III. Societal Challenges

Smart, green and integrated transport

December 2015 | Issue 6

Magazine | 15

Horizon 2020 Project Profiles Introducing RINEA and ProIntensAfrica Refilwe Mashigo

*Research Africa

Dr Kerstin Garcia* RINEA Project Coordinator

Dr Stefan Wagener** RINEA Project Coordinator

RINEA Questions: Refilwe Mashigo Responses: Dr Kerstin Garcia and Dr Stefan Wagener

What is the goal of RINEA? RINEA aims to develop a sustainable model for research and innovation coordination between the activities and programmes of European and African member states and associated countries. The project has 13 partners from Africa and Europe, and a budget of €1.9 million.

How will RINEA employ these partnering resources (budget, consortium) to boost EU-Africa STI cooperation? One of the project’s key resources for maximising its impact is its close links with relevant policy stakeholders across Europe and Africa. For example, several RINEA partners are directly involved in the planning and implementation of the science, technology and innovation (STI) pillar of Joint Africa-Europe Strategy (JAES), including the EU-Africa High Level Policy Dialogue (HLDP) on STI and its structures (see CAAST-Net Plus Magazine, Issue 5 for more information on the HLPD and HLPD Bureau or go to l.caast-net-plus.org/fC). In addition, six African science ministries (Algeria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Namibia, South Africa) as well as three implementing agencies of European ministries (France, Germany, Portugal), that are also members of the HLPD Bureau at present, are RINEA consortium partners. Other countries in the HLPD Bureau are represented in the RINEA consortium by institutions enjoying close links with relevant government departments, as is the case for Finland, Greece, Nigeria and the UK. Most prominently perhaps, the African Union Commission is represented in the RINEA consortium by the African Observatory of Science, Technology and Innovation (AOSTI).

How will RINEA contribute to the SDGs? RINEA serves the processes of bi‐regional STI cooperation within the framework of JAES, as governed by the HLPD. The close association of RINEA with national representatives in the HLPD Bureau offers an informal, yet valuable, route for dissemination of outputs to a key structure in the cooperation landscape. In the same manner, most RINEA partners have close associations with their national authorities and have privileged access to national processes. Partners are similarly close to their countries’ representatives on bodies with responsibility for * **

16 |

international cooperation, such as the Strategic Forum for International Science and Technology Cooperation (SFIC), in Europe, and the Specialised Technical Meeting on Education, Science and Technology (formerly AMCOST), in Africa. These associations again offer the potential for informal transfer of RINEA outputs and their assimilation into higher level processes.

Tell our readers about one ‘big ticket’ activity of the RINEA project. One of RINEA’s key aims is to assist programme owners or funders to define the topics and modes of implementation of a joint cooperation programme, shared by programme owners, and which is based on good practice. In this regard, one specific RINEA task is to initiate and facilitate a platform for STI and development programme owners to have in‐depth discussions on areas and modes for cooperation, with the aim of launching a joint call in defined priority areas.

What other activities should readers expect from RINEA? We will conduct an analysis of EU-Africa partnerships, frameworks and obstacles, and will implement networking activities to reinforce a bi-regional STI partnership between research and innovation actors. As alluded to above, we will focus on the launch and implementation of new joint calls for proposals for European and African STI programme owners and to build on lessons from previously successful initiatives, such as ERAfrica. We will also offer contributions to the evidence‐base for the planning and decision‐making processes of bi‐regional STI governance structures, such as the HLPD, and will offer support in the implementation of the HLPD´s recommendations. We will support the dissemination of the results of our activities through our website, as well as promote EU‐Africa STI cooperation to a wider stakeholder community, assuring effective communication among the various STI roleplayers. Last, we will network with other EC project coordinators in order to identify synergies and develop joint activities based on mutual interests and identified priorities. For more info about RINEA, go to www.rinea.org.

Dr Kerstin Garcia is Scientific Officer at the German Aerospace Centre’s Project Management Agency. Dr Stefan Wagener is Sub-Saharan Africa Head of Unit at the German Aerospace Centre’s Project Management Agency. Magazine December 2015 | Issue 6

Refilwe Mashigo

*Research Africa

Dr Huub Löffler*

Niina Pitkänen**

ProIntensAfrica Project Coordinator ProIntensAfrica, Communications Officer

PROIntensAfrica Questions: Refilwe Mashigo Responses: Dr Huub Löffler and Niina Pitkänen

What is the goal of PROIntensAfrica? PROIntensAfrica has the long-term objective to improve the food and nutrition security, and livelihoods, of African farmers by exploring the rich diversity of pathways leading to sustainable intensification of African agri-food systems. These pathways may include methods ranging from organic farming to high-input farming, and everything between. PROIntensAfrica also aims to develop a proposal for a longterm research and innovation partnership between Europe and Africa, with support from the relevant policy environments.

How will PROIntensAfrica differ from its predecessor project, IntensAfrica? IntensAfrica was conceived as an initiative with three phases: an exploratory phase, a development phase, and an implementing phase. The first phase, launched in 2013 at the policy and institutional level, revealed a high level of commitment and interest from many, and led interested stakeholders into the second phase, which is named PROIntensAfrica. The PROIntensAfrica consortium currently consists of 23 members from different European and African countries, representing research as well as platform organisations. The partners’ specific ambition is to build a partnership proposal and a stable collaboration within the consortium as well as its relevant policy environment. The name PROIntensAfrica intends to illustrate that this is a phase that comes before the implementation phase. We ultimately hope that IntensAfrica will flourish to its full potential, for example, in the form of an ERA-Net co-fund or another set of mechanisms.

How will PROIntensAfrica contribute to an end to hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture? We will focus on promoting sustainable intensification of African agriculture. Sustainable intensification should reduce dependency on inputs, provide for innovative sources of energy, and contribute to adaptation to, and mitigation of climate change. Sustainable intensification in agriculture should also foster social and economic impacts, such as poverty

reduction, employment opportunities in agriculture and agroindustry, and the empowerment of women. We will assess ongoing and emerging intensification pathways and compare them with the appropriate tools and metrics in order to evaluate their multi-criteria performance, based on agronomic, economic and social indicators. The resource efficiency, sustainability, and the social acceptance and conditions for adoption of these pathways will also be considered. Ultimately, PROIntensAfrica’s research and innovation agenda will enable stakeholders to develop and compare ongoing and emerging agricultural intensification pathways in important agro-food chains in Africa. As intensification is a transformative process involving various stakeholders, pathways must also be considered in their social, economic and policy dimensions. We need to scrutinise the changes required in the enabling environment, appreciate the interactions between all stakeholders in the concerned agro-food chains, and identify effective drivers for change.

How will the project support the implementation process of the Roadmap Towards the EU-Africa Research and Innovation Partnership on Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (‘the Roadmap’)? The roadmap, as proposed by the HLPD (see previous page) and by its appointed panel of European and Africa experts, makes explicit reference to PROIntensAfrica. PROIntensAfrica is the tool currently in place to develop the research and innovation proposal for one of the three thematic components of the roadmap. The component in question is dedicated to sustainable intensification and as such PROIntensAfrica already has strong policy support. PROIntensAfrica will also provide direct insights on cross-cutting issues listed in the roadmap — like capacity strengthening, modalities of funding joint activities, monitoring and evaluation — and indirectly within the other two thematic priorities (nutrition and trade) as they connect with sustainable intensification. For more info about PROIntensAfrica, go to www.intensafrica.org.

* **

Dr Huub Löffler is Director at the Wageningen University and Research Centre. Niina Pitkänen is Communications Officer at the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke). December 2015 | Issue 6

Magazine | 17

CAAST-Net Plus Workshop on the Role of Africa’s Regional Economic Communities in EU-Africa STI Cooperation

3-5 February, 2016 | Pretoria, South Africa | enquiries@caast-net-plus.org

Meeting of the EU-Africa High Level Policy Dialogue Platform on Science, Technology and Innovation* Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

April 2016 (TBC)

Where universities work together

Enquiries to: RINEA@dlr.de

*Unity is the new way to work with anyone in universities and research.

*“HLPD” is short for EU-Africa High Level Policy Dialogue Platform on Science, Technology and Innovation. HLPD is a platform for discussions on research and innovation policy between senior officials from African and European countries, mandated with formulating and implementing long-term priorities to strengthen bi-regional STI cooperation. The HLPD is an element of the JAES. HLPD is cochaired on the European side by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Research and Innovation and on the African side by the Congo (as former chair of the African Union’s African Ministerial Council on Science and Technology AMCOST). The HLPD Bureau is a component of HLPD which exists to provide technical and logistic support and to take forward HLPD decisions. Learn more at http://www.rinea.org/en/844.php

It’s a simple place to form groups, share files and work on them together. Built by universities, for universities, with some help from us at *Research

Try it now at www.unity.ac

Registration opens 25 January 2016 Going Global is the world’s largest open forum for education leaders to debate international higher and further education issues and challenges, and to explore collaborative solutions.

Cape Town International Conference Centre 3 – 5 May 2016 Building nations, connecting cultures

The conference will examine the theme, Building nations, connecting cultures through the following lenses: • Education policy: local priorities, national systems and global drivers. • Economic development: skills, enterprise, research and innovation. • Engagement: democracy, social justice and international relations. For more information visit www.britishcouncil.org/goingglobal #GoingGlobal2016 @HEGoingGlobal www.britishcouncil.org/going-global

International Network of Research Management Societies 2016 Congress 11-15 September 2016 | Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre | Melbourne Australia See www.inorms2016.org/news/1.html for more info

Pin it to CAAST-Net Plus Events | Links | Opportunities

al Workshop: Food Security and Rur Innovation Challenges

UK Forum: Science Policy in Food and Agriculture

When: Where: Contact:

When: 27 January 2016 Where: Central London, United Kingdom Contact: (info@forumsupport.co.uk)

29 February – 18 March 2016 Wageningen, Netherlands For more info, visit http://l.caast-net-plus.org/dE

ewable Conference on Africa-EU Ren tion ova Inn Energy Research and When: Where: Contact:

8 – 10 March 2016 Tlemcen, University of Abou Bekr Belkaïd, Algeria For more info, visit http://l.caast-net-plus.org /f0

West and Central Africa Research an d Education Network Conference 2016

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LPD EU-Africa H Forum er d Stakehol

17 – 18 March 2016 Dakar, Senegal For more info, visit http://l.caast-net-plus.o rg/fb

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2016 When: April confirmed be To : re Whe lus.org) ries@caast-net-p ui nq Contact: (e

When: Where: Contact:

11 – 13 May 2016 Durban, South Africa For more info, visit http://l.caast-net-plus.org/fi

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