A 4 year project titled Building Research Capacity for sustainable water and food security In drylands of sub-saharan Africa (BRECcIA) is funded by the Research Council of the United Kingdom (RCUK) under the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) programme. BRECcIA comprises 6 Universities located in 4 countries (Malawi, Kenya, Ghana and the UK), as well as partnerships with 8 international organizations and is being led by the University of Southampton, UK. The main project focuses on climate change and its social and environmental impacts on water and food security in the drylands of Ghana, Malawi and Kenya; and on building research capability and capacity in those countries.
The overall objective of the proposed work is to strengthen research capacity and capabilities in institutions in three SSA countries to carry out impactful research that leads to positive policy/practice change for sustainable water and food security, and to ensure that this capacity is sustained and propagated throughout and after the project.
One of the specific objectives is to facilitate sustained research capacity within partner institutions after the end of the project and to provide opportunities to self-propagate capacity to a broader set of institutions and researchers across Africa. WaterNet falls under two Work Packages, WP1 which deals with Research Development and Implementation, that is co-development of research questions and programmes through the series of workshops, exchanges, and internships; and WP4 which is on Collaboration, Network Building and Sustainability. This WP will expand the existing bilateral partnerships to a multi-lateral network across all institutions, and facilitate collaborative multi-disciplinary work through south-south and north-south networking opportunities and ensure interactions between universities and centres, and complementarity with existing national/regional strategies. BRECcIA related queries can be directed to Dr Tendai Polite Chibarabada.