This webinar launches the African Research Universities Alliance’s ARUA Centres of Excellence Quarterly Webinar Series, a new platform to showcase cutting-edge research, strengthen collaboration, and highlight capacity building initiatives across ARUA's centres of excellence.

The inaugural webinar is jointly hosted by the ARUA Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Food Systems (ARUA-SFS) and ACEIR under the theme ‘Connecting Inequality Research with Food Systems Transformation in Africa’.

The webinar explores the critical intersections between food systems transformation and inequality, examining how research can contribute to building more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable societies across Africa. While food systems play a central role in economic development, nutrition, livelihoods, and environmental sustainability, persistent inequalities continue to shape who benefits from agricultural and food system transformation. Understanding and addressing these inequalities are essential for achieving equitable development outcomes.

The session showcases how ARUA-SFS and ACEIR are generating evidence-based knowledge, strengthening research capacity, and supporting policy engagement on issues related to food security, nutrition, poverty, livelihoods, climate resilience, and social inclusion. It will also demonstrate how interdisciplinary research can contribute to addressing complex development challenges in line with Africa's Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals 2030.

Speakers

The webinar features presentations from the leadership of the two centres of excellence to give an overview of their centres' research priorities, flagship projects, capacity building programmes, and opportunities for collaboration within and beyond the ARUA network:

  • Prof. Frans Swanepoel, Director, ARUA Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Food Systems, and
  • Prof. Vimal Ranchhod, Co-Director, African Centre of Excellence for Inequality Research.

A special feature of the webinar is the Early Career Researcher (ECR) Spotlight Session. Selected ECRs hosted by the two Centres will present their ongoing research and demonstrate how their work contributes to the Centres' research agendas and ARUA's broader mission of strengthening African research capacity.

The ECR presenters and their topics are:

  1. Dr Fawziyah Olarinoye: Hydrate-based carbon capture and water purification using renewable energy and cocoa pods
  2. Dr Fransisca Acheampong Adoma: Using remote sensing to predict soil nutrient variability in African agro-ecosystems
  3. Dr Qhelile Ntombikayise Bhebhe: Enhancing food and nutrition security through the integration of traditional foods in Southern Africa
  4. Dr Amare Mezgebu Alamrew: Feasibility of climate-smart aquaculture technologies for sustainable food and nutrition security in Ethiopia
  5. Dr Kwadwo Danso-Mensah: Climate shocks and household welfare – assessing the role of household assets in Ghana
  6. Dr Fienassah Akim: Unpacking the evolution of inequality of opportunity in educational achievement in South Africa

Opportunities for collaboration

The webinar series forms part of ARUA's commitment to enhancing research excellence, increasing the visibility of African scholarship, and fostering collaboration among researchers working on key development challenges across the continent. Participants will be encouraged to explore interdisciplinary research collaborations, joint grant opportunities, mentorship arrangements, and partnerships that strengthen Africa's research ecosystem. The series will also provide a platform for identifying common research interests and developing collaborative approaches to address shared development challenges.

Who should attend?

The webinar is open to researchers, academics, postgraduate students, ECRs, policymakers, development practitioners, funding agencies, civil society organisations, and other stakeholders interested in food systems transformation, inequality research, and inclusive development.