Platform for African – European Partnership in Agricultural Research for Development

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

African Union Research Grants Success Stories

7 September 2017. African Union Research Grants Success Stories
This leaflet highlights a number of success stories from the African Union Research Grants programme on Africa-Europe collaboration in research and innovation on food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture. [Image credit: CAAST-Net Plus]

This booklet provides a glimpse of a selection of the joint Africa-EU initiatives in FNSSA, sponsored by the first phase of the AURG. Although the projects featured here were approved before the FNSSA priority emerged, they have been conducted in the spirit of the Africa-EU partnership in STI and they are illustrative of just how effectively Africa and Europe collaborate to address our shared interests. 

AFS 4 Food

Project name Enhancing food security and well-being of rural African households through improved synergy between AgroForestry Systems and Food-crops 
Coordinator Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (CIRAD), France 
Total cost €1,500,000 AURG contribution €748,500 
Start / end April 2012 to October 2015 
Participants Cameroon, Kenya, Madagascar

Aval Fonio Rediscovering neglected small grains
Project name Improvement of post-harvest and enhancement of fonio in Africa 
Coordinator Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (CIRAD), France 
Total cost €997,427 AURG contribution €749,466 
Start / end December 2012 to June 2016 
Participants Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal

BIOVA Recycling nutrients through conservation agriculture
Project name Recyclage des Biomasses Végétales et Animales dans les systèmes d’agriculture élevage 
Coordinator FIompiana Fambolena Malagasy NorvezianaFIFAMANOR, Madagascar 
Total cost €973,578 AURG contribution €733,508 
Start / end December 2012 to December 2016 
Participants Belgium, France, Mozambique

INCIP Transforming indigenous chicken production
Project name Improving Indigenous Chicken Productivity for Enhanced Livelihood and Food Security in Sub-Saharan Africa 
Coordinator Egerton University, Kenya 
Total cost €1,041,859 AURG contribution €749,096 
Start / end March 2012 to September 2015 
Participants Malawi, The Netherlands

ITACA Intensifying tilapia aquaculture
Project name Improved management and technological innovation in African tilapia farms and hatcheries 
Coordinator National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Egypt 
Total cost €1,069,280 AURG contribution €748,496 
Start / end January 2013 to December 2015 
Participants Senegal, Spain

Limit CBS Molecular techniques unlock clues to cassava disease control
Project name Limiting the impact of Cassava Brown Streak Disease on smallholders, women and the cassava value chain 
Coordinator Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, United Kingdom 
Total cost €776,116 AURG contribution €620,893 
Start / end December 2012 to March 2016 Participants Tanzania, Kenya, Malawi

Thrips I Eco-friendly pest control in cowpeas
Project name Validation and dissemination of bio intensive eco-friendly management strategies for thrips – a critical constraint to cowpea production in Africa 
Coordinator International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, Kenya 
Total cost €944,875 AURG contribution €749,325 
Start / end March 2012 to March 2016 
Participants Kenya, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Uganda, United Kingdom

Related:
13 September 2017. Copenhagen. UNEP DTU Partnership hosted a public event to discuss how can tackle a range of global challenges, such as climate change, food security and public health.
cooperation between Africa and EU organisations on Science, Technology and Innovation (STI)

The speakers included members of the CAAST Net Plus (CN+) consortium, funded by the European Commission:
  • Vinny Pillay (Minister Counsellor, South African Mission to the European Union Department of Science and Technology) 
  • Andy Cherry (Association of Commonwealth Universities, UK)
  • Benjamin Gyampoh (African Academy of Sciences)
  • James Haselip (UNEP DTU Partnership, Denmark)
Ahead of the Africa-EU summit in Abidjan, in November 2017, the 25-member CN+ consortium has put together a book entitled Africa-Europe Research and Innovation Cooperation: Global Challenges, Bi-regional Responses. 

The book aims to convey the work of CN+ in a digestible format, but also with the purpose of filling the science and technology gap in the existing body of literature on Africa-Europe relations. It raises and answers questions on what the current vision for Africa-Europe cooperation is, how the regions cooperate and what is the way forward.

Related
31 August-1 September 2017. RINEA_STI annual consortium meeting in Helsinki. This meeting discussed the future activities for supporting #EU-#Africa #research cooperation.

 In February 2017, more than 70 scientific experts, programme owners and stakeholders from Africa and Europe were brought together in Brussels to identify joint research and innovation (R&I) needs in sustainable energy, climate change and capacity building, advancing on existing collaborative initiatives. Experts identified different situations and requirements on both sides, with heterogeneity in national programmes and strategies, means and disparities between urban and rural areas. 

The next step ss to develop a ‘roadmap agenda’ similar to the Roadmap towards a jointly funded EU-Africa Research & Innovation Partnership on FNSSA. The roadmap will be based on the technical paper on Climate Change and Sustainable Energy, and will result in the launch of a new EU-Africa R&I Partnership on climate change and sustainable energy, with a specific focus on deployment, capacity building in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and climate services .

Related:
27 September 2017. Brussels. Permanent Representation of Ireland to the European Union. Seminar to discuss the relevant research infrastructures and collaborations and examples of capacity building for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and to examine the enabling policy and regulatory environment for enhancing science cooperation on a global level.

The seminar will also consider agriculture and food security, and how Africa and Europe can cooperate. Research and innovation are pivotal to realisation of the goals of Africa’s transformative agenda. Food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture (FNSSA) was identified as the first priority by the EU-Africa High Level Policy Dialogue (HLPD) on Science, Technology and Innovation.

It is envisaged that the recommendations from the seminar will feed into a broad range of discussions at the AU-EU Summit ( Abidjan, Ivory Coast on 29-30 November 2017).

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