The National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa is pleased to announce the culmination of its funding call under the Belmont Forum Collaborative Research Action (CRA) initiative with 10 transdisciplinary research projects selected for funding, each led by researchers based at African institutions.

In collaboration with the Belmont Forum, the NRF invited climate change researchers across Africa to apply for CRA funding over a year ago. The Belmont Forum is a group of funding agencies from around the world that support transdisciplinary, globally representative research groups and coproduction/participatory methods to address various global environmental change topics.

The NRF led the development of the CRA to address knowledge gaps and priorities in addressing climate change vulnerability across the continent. These gaps were identified during scoping sessions with the research community. This task was carried out in support of the African Union’s climate, environment, and sustainability goals and priority areas for Agenda 2063.

The call focused on three main themes:

1. Water-Energy-Food-Health Nexus

2. Pollution

3. Disaster Preparedness, Responsiveness, and Recovery.

Additionally, the green and blue economy was identified as a cross-cutting issue, and education and awareness were encouraged as cross-cutting activities.

A total 172 pre-proposals and 59 full proposals were submitted to the NRF by researchers from across the world. The 10 projects led by researchers based at African institutions were selected following a comprehensive review. The projects, which will be funded for three years, represent diverse research efforts that address the complex challenges at the interface of climate, environment, and health in Africa.

“This is one of the most significant funding administration initiatives the NRF has undertaken in recent years,” said Dr Nare Prudence Makhura, Executive Director: International Grants and Partnerships. “It reflects our strong commitment to supporting African-led, solutions-driven research that tackles the pressing challenges of climate change on the continent. Equally, it highlights the sophistication of our funding administration systems to effectively manage complex, multi-partner international collaborations.”

A total of € 4.29 million euros (R86.7 million) has been committed over three years from 14 funders. The NRF will contribute €1 million to support the participation of South African researchers in the inititative. The projects will have a total of 126 team members—10 are African consortium leads, 29 are co-Principal Investigators and 87 are project partners. Of the 126 members, 87 are Natural Scientists, 23 are Social Scientists and 16 are societal partners.

In terms of continental representation, 97 of the team members are from Africa, representing 16 countries: Botswana, Côte d'Ivoire, DRC, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda; five are from Asia, represented by Turkey; 17 are from Europe represented by four countries: France, Germany, Spain and Switzerland; six are from North America, represented by the United States of America; and one is from South America, represented by Brazil.