NIBIO’s international activities in Africa
NIBIO’s goal in Africa: To develop evidence-based research and knowledge relevant for civil society/stakeholders to address grand global challenges.
Contacts
Focus areas:
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Climate change adaptation and mitigation in agriculture and forestry sectors
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Food and nutrition security and sustainable food systems
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Renewable energy: Biowaste to bioenergy
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Biowaste to biofertilizer
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Integrated pest management and decision support
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Biodiversity conservation on farmlands
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REDD+ and Forest Landscape Restoration
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Skills development for youth and women in the agricultural sector
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Education
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Capacity building of Research and HE Institutions
NIBIO networks and cooperating partners in Africa
NIBIO currently has project cooperation in more than 12 African countries including Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania, Mali, Niger, Uganda, Benin and Ghana.
NIBIO has active and ongoing research and development cooperation with several CGIAR partners (IITA, ICRAF, CIMMYT, ILRI), ICIPE and 24+ national partners in several African countries (national research institutes, universities, farmer organizations, SME’s).
Current projects in Africa where NIBIO is involved
| Projects |
Funding source |
Role of NIBIO | Thematic focus | Countries where the project is implemented |
| InnovAfrica (2017-2021) | EU H2020 | Project coordinator | Climate Change and Adaptation in Agriculture | Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania |
| Healthy Food Africa (2020-2025) |
EU H2020 | Partner | Sustainable food security and nutrition | Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Ghana, Benin |
| Farms4Biodiversity | Bidiversa/NFR | Partner | Biodiversity on farm lands | Malawi |
| Biofuel Value Chain in Kenya | Norad/MFA | Project coordinator | Skills for Private Sector Development | Kenya |
| CAP-Africa | Norad/MFA | Partner | Combating Arthropod Pests for Better Health, Food and Climate Change | Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania |
| Forest Landscape Restoration Project | MFA/Embassy | Partner | Forest Landscape Restoration | Ethiopia |
| Climate-Smart Agriculture | Norad/MFA | Partner | Development of ICT tools, the VIPS platform | Niger, Mali |
| Fall Army Worm control/with FAO | Norad/MFA | Partner | FAW/VIPS – pest monitoring system | Malawi |
| Gliricidia – agroforestry | Norad/MFA | Project coordinator | Agroforestry for improving soil fertility, food security | Zambia |
| National Carbon Monitoring Center | MFA/Embassy | Partner | REDD+; forest and climate | Tanzania |
Projects
Division of Environment and Natural Resources
InnovAfrica: Innovations in Technology, Institutional and Extension Approaches towards Sustainable Agriculture and enhanced Food and Nutritional Security in Africa
The multidisciplinary project InnovAfrica aims to improve food and nutrition security and adaptive capacity of smallholders to climate change.
Healthy Food Africa
Improving access to nutritious food is a systemic challenge. In order to foster healthier diets, it is necessary to go beyond expanding the diversity of products on the supply side, or raising awareness on the demand side. HealthyFoodAfrica aims to increase the resilience of food systems, and to link food production to nutrition performance, thereby increasing the range and quality of food products for a healthy diet. To achieve this, it engages with farmers, food processors, retailers, civil society organisations (CSOs), policymakers and local experts, and helps them create, and test, innovative technologies, practices and governance arrangements that contribute to a more sustainable, resilient and healthy food system for all.
Division of Environment and Natural Resources
FARMS4Biodiversity: Farmer-led Agroecological Research in Malawi using Scenarios for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
Farms4Biodiversity is an ambitious, interdisciplinary, multi-scalar project designed to address biodiversity conservation, support ecosystem services and improve food security under scenarios of land-use change in the Global South. The project is being implemented in the Northern part of Malawi.
Division of Forest and Forest Resources
Biofuel4Kenya: Improving Framework Conditions and Skills for Private Sector Development in Biofuel Value Chain in Kenya (Biofuel4Kenya)
The main objective of the project is to develop a biofuel briquettes production and supply value chain from waste bagasse to market. Biofuel4Kenya will improve framework conditions for private sector development in the biofuel value chain, in order to boost commercial production of carbonized biomass briquettes from agro-industrial residues in western Kenya.
CAP-Africa – Combating Arthropod Pests for Better Health, Food and Resilience to Climate Change
CAP-Africa will address the most important and pressing continental issues of malaria and emerging infectious diseases (yellow fever and dengue), climate change impact and education, to improve the livelihood of rural communities in the Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia. It is a response to accumulating evidence that addressing these major problems will improve health, food and nutritional security. At the same time, it will build the resilience of the people against the impacts of climate change and enhance the capacity for leadership in scientific research, policy and technology dissemination.
Division of Forest and Forest Resources
Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR)-Ethiopia
The FLR project (2017-2022) has a goal of restoring highly degraded forest landscapes, in vast highlands in north western Ethiopia, into productive agricultural and forest landscapes. The project will adopt a landscape-approach to forest restoration, which will look at the target areas from a multifunctional landscape perspective, combining natural resource management with environmental and social well-being.
Climate Smart Agricultural Technologies for improved Rural Livelihoods and Food Security in Mali and Niger
The objective of the proposed work is to reduce poverty and food insecurity in Mali and Niger. Measures will be taken to protect natural resources and increase farmer incomes by enhancing agricultural productivity, strengthening market linkages, and facilitating new agribusinesses particularly those led by women and youth. The project will provide farmers with options to help increase their resilience and adaptation to the effects of climate change. Overall project activities are expected to lead to more than 20% increase in crop yields and 15% increase in household crop income.
Division of Environment and Natural Resources
Gliricidia Impacts on Soil fertility, Crop yields and Nutrition in Zambia
A joint research effort for documenting the effects of
Division of Forest and Forest Resources
Strengthening the National Carbon Monitoring Center (NCMC) and GHG accounting system in Tanzania
In January 2016, Tanzania launched a national carbon monitoring centre (NCMC) at Sokoine University of Agriculture in Morogoro. The main purpose of the centre is “to build national capacity to measure, verify and report adequately on carbon emissions at national and international level”. NIBIO is the major technical partner to assist Tanzania’s NCMC, and has taken part in the development and establishment of the centre.
Division of Food Production and Society
EthiopiaGrass
Perennial grassland mixtures: a novel approach to forage and food production, land restoration and climate resilience in Ethiopia (EthiopiaGrass).