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FUTURE AFRICA
RESEARCH LEADERSHIP FELLOWSHIP
The Future Africa Research Leadership Fellowship (FAR-LeaF) is an early career research fellowship program focused on developing transdisciplinary research and leadership skills.
Report summaries | July 2026
The Future Africa Research Leadership Fellowship (FAR-LeaF II) programme team monitors and evaluates the program's success through performance reports and regular focus groups with the selected candidates and mentors. Key performance indicators for the programme include: The number of qualifying Fellows enrolled for the fellowship who complete the programme. Well-designed transboundary and transdisciplinary research projects that address relevant matters aligned with the FA
2 days ago
Research Masterclass 2026: From Concept to Career
🚀 Research is about transforming ideas into evidence, evidence into publications, and publications into impact. I am delighted to serve as Host/Convener of Research Masterclass 2026 for Prof Tafadzwa Maramura from the University of Namibia, Namibia. Prof Maramura will share her expertise with students, early-career researchers, research assistants, and academics seeking to strengthen their research capacity and navigate the research journey more effectively. 🔬 Topics includ
3 days ago
Y1 Progress report | Ruth Wainaina
Enhancing Climate Resilience through Innovative Science Communication: A Case of Smallholder Farmers in Murang’a County, Kenya 1. Background The research project seeks to strengthen climate resilience among smallholder farmers in Murang’a County through innovative, culturally responsive and context-specific science communication. The research recognises that effective climate resilience depends not only on the availability of scientific information but also on how that inform
3 days ago
Y1 Progress report | Fenet Belay
Climate Smart Coffee Futures: Integrating Climate Modelling, Molecular Breeding, and Gender Responsive Adaptation Strategies for Resilient Coffee Production Systems in Ethiopia This project addresses the multifaceted impacts of climate variability on Ethiopian coffee production by establishing a holistic, transdisciplinary framework that integrates macroscale climate projections, microscale crop physiology and molecular breeding pathways, and household-level social dynamics.
3 days ago
Y1 Progress report | Ferdinald Lubobi Shamala
Genome-Wide Identification of Resistance Loci for Napier Head Smut Disease in Napier Grass (Cenchrus purpureus) The first year of the fellowship has focused on establishing a strong foundation for understanding the genetic basis of resistance to Napier head smut disease in Napier grass (Cenchrus purpureus). This work directly contributes to the overarching goal of developing disease-resistant Napier grass varieties that will improve forage productivity and enhance the resilie
3 days ago
Y1 Progress report | Ololade Latifat Abdulrahman
Climate Vulnerability and Adaptive Capacity of Tomato Value Chain Actors: Empirical Evidence from Nigeria The Tomato Value Chain (TVC) is a crucial component of Africa's food system, contributing significantly to the continent’s economy. It is a complex system involving multiple actors who are highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, thereby affecting their livelihoods. In Nigeria, the tomato value chain is significantly affected by climate change, which disrupts p
3 days ago
Y1 Progress report | Grite Mwaijengo
An Integrated Framework for Sustainable Schistosomiasis Control in a Changing Climate: A One Health Approach for Northeastern Tanzania During the initial phase of the fellowship, I undertook several foundational activities to ensure the smooth, effective implementation of the project. I conducted stakeholder consultations through both virtual and in-person meetings across the project catchments, engaging key stakeholders from the water, environment and health sectors. These c
3 days ago
Y1 Progress report | Jacob Ageykum
Harnessing Community Resilience and Machine Learning for Adaptive Malaria Control amid Climate Change in the Upper West Region of Ghana The first year of the research project focused on establishing the scientific, ethical, technical, and stakeholder foundations necessary to develop an artificial intelligence-driven, climate-informed malaria early-warning framework for Ghana. Over the reporting period, substantial progress was achieved across ethical approvals, stakeholder en
3 days ago
Y1 Progress report | Agnes Kapinga
Community-based approaches for nature-based solutions in flood-prone areas: The case of the Dar es Salaam Metropolitan Development Project, Tanzania Fieldwork in the flood-prone wards of Dar es Salaam offered both encouraging and challenging experiences. Ward leaders and youth were consistently willing to guide the research team to specific sites and households once the purpose of the research had been explained, and were generally forthcoming, often raising concerns about fl
3 days ago
Y1 Progress report | Jabulani Nyengere
Addressing Disproportionate Impact of Climate Change: Development and Upscaling Granulated Urine Fertilisers to Enhance Food Security in Southern Malawi’s During the first year of the research project, substantial progress was made in moving the study from an approved concept into an active research and implementation pathway. The project addresses the disproportionate impacts of climate change on marginalised farming communities in southern Malawi, particularly those affecte
5 days ago
Y1 Progress report | Piwai Tshuma
Solar-Driven Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Pollutants: Utilising Monolithic MOFs for Sustainable Water Remediation During the first year of the fellowship, a series of advanced water-purifying materials called monolithic MOFs was successfully developed and characterised in the laboratory. These materials were tested for their ability to degrade harmful dyes in water under visible light. The best-performing material achieved 90.4% pollutant removal under optimised cond
5 days ago
Y1 Progress report | Jaquiline Ndosi
Agricultural Innovation System Toward Empowering Women Farmers to Adopt Climate Change Adaptation Strategies: A Case Study of Maize Production in Katavi and Mara Regions, Tanzania The first year of my research fellowship has been highly productive and marked by substantial progress toward achieving the project's research objectives. The fellowship has significantly strengthened my research capacity, expanded my professional network, and enhanced my leadership skills, while pr
7 days ago
Y1 Progress report | Gabriel Ndimbo
Food Insecurity and Children's Malnutrition Severity in Agroecological Zones of Tanzania: Insights from Njombe Region This report presents progress achieved during the first year of the 24-month FAR-LeaF research project on food insecurity and the severity of children’s malnutrition in agroecological zones of Tanzania, with a focus on Njombe Region. The project aims to generate evidence on how household food insecurity, agroecological conditions, and socio-economic factors in
7 days ago
Y1 Progress report | Tafadzwa Maramura
Integrating Smart Technologies in Community-Led Water Governance for Climate Adaptation in Cape Town During Year 1, the following core research activities were completed: Publications and Outputs: Two systematic review articles directly stemming from the project were submitted to and accepted by a Taylor & Francis Q2 journal. Furthermore, one book chapter was accepted by the United Nations Economic Commission after being presented at a workshop. Project Setup: The research te
Aug 16
Y1 Progress report | Alassan Assani Seidou
Improving Decision-Making of Pastoral Land Politics for Women Livestock Farmers in Drylands of Benin (West Africa) In the first year of this Programme, I focused on refining the research design, conducting fieldwork, engaging stakeholders and collecting empirical data. A mixed socio-economic and transdisciplinary approach was used, combining household surveys, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, field observations and longitudinal monitoring of selected lives
Aug 16
Y1 Progress report | Ato Fanyin-Martin
Generation of Sustainable Energy from Microwave Catalytic Pyrolysis of Agro-Products Progress during the first year has aligned with the approved work plan, with substantial achievements in establishing the scientific, technical, and stakeholder foundations required for the project's successful implementation. Although some activities have progressed more slowly than originally anticipated due to equipment procurement, the project remains on course to achieve its overall obje
Aug 16
Y1 Progress report | Pearl Lefadola
Upcycling Food Waste into Value-Added Products: A Sustainable Approach to Food Loss in Botswana’s Tomato Supply Chain During the first year of the project, several activities were undertaken to establish a strong scientific and operational foundation for the study. A major focus was capacity building, in which I successfully completed a Systematic Review training organised by the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM). The training enhanced
Aug 16
Y1 Progress report | Yusuph Aron Kafula
Towards Resilient Freshwater Ecosystems: Pinpointing Interactive Effects of Light, Temperature and Pesticide Pollution on The Structure and Functioning of Temporary Ponds To predict and mitigate the impact of pesticide pollution on freshwater ecosystems, pesticides are typically subjected to ecological risk assessments that feed into environmental policies and regulations. As part of the first steps in conducting such assessments, the acute toxicity of a pesticide is determin
Aug 16
Y1 Progress report | Judith Falola-Olasunkanmi
Resilient Cropping Systems for African Smallholders: Integrating Weed Management, Climate Adaptation, and Agronomic Innovations My first year of the fellowship has been both professionally enriching and scientifically rewarding. The fellowship has provided an exceptional platform to develop my research, strengthen my technical capacity, expand my professional network, and advance climate-resilient agriculture for smallholder farming systems. The project has progressed from pl
Aug 16
Co-creators of interactive resources for climate change literacy
Dr Sarah Otanga, FAR-LeaF II Research Fellow, Future Africa | Maseno University, Kenya To address the urgent global problem posed by climate change, climate change education (CCE) is a crucial tool. CCE empowers individuals to understand and proactively respond to the impacts of climate change. Although CCE is often framed as simply presenting the right knowledge to learners, simply knowing about climate change does not translate into understanding it or knowing how to respon
Aug 16
The programme seeks to build a network of emerging African scientists with the skills needed to apply transformative research methods and approaches in addressing complex sustainability challenges in Africa, including inter- and transdisciplinarity, systems thinking, and futures literacy.
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