Sub-Saharan Africa

Newcastle University and Makerere University in Uganda are working with visual arts organisations in East Africa and the UK. They are leading the development of:

• workshops
• artist toolkits
• new commissions
• curated projects

The project has worked with more than a hundred independent artists, art writers and art professionals. It's enabled researchers and students in both regions to learn directly from the first-hand experience of those working in the field.

For more information, visit our Global Challenges Academy.

Researchers from Newcastle’s School of Engineering are investigating the long-term change in both natural environments and urban systems. There is a strong focus on water security and sustainable infrastructure.

This included a project in Kampala from 2018-2020. It aimed to build resilience to pluvial flood risk, by considering both direct and indirect impacts.

Newcastle University academics are leading ground-breaking research in close collaboration with universities, hospitals and medical foundations in:

• Tanzania
• Kenya
• Ghana
• Nigeria
• Ethiopia
• UK

This research provides reliable data on the prevalence of stroke and Parkinson’s disease. They are also looking to see how these diseases are perceived and the role that local support groups can provide.

Furthermore, students have directly contributed to this research through fieldwork placements at medical centres in Tanzania.

Find out more about Stroke, Parkinson’s and healthy ageing in East Africa

Researchers from the School of Environmental Sciences head the TROPical landScapes (TROPS) lab. This is where extensive fieldwork in the tropics takes place, with sites in:

• Tanzania
• South Africa
• Gabon

TROPS investigates biological and human well-being benefits provided by agroforestry in tropical landscapes. It combines social and ecological methods to quantify how and to what extent integrated landscape management can enhance benefits to and from agriculture. 

Find out more about tropical landscape conservation

Newcastle University Geography researchers are investigating the cultural and economic dimensions of food consumption and agriculture. This is critical to confronting Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in Kenya and Malawi.

The project looks at the changing cultures of poultry meat consumption and agricultural systems. It explores ways in which it shapes antibiotic use or misuse in farming, with implications for tackling AMR.

The African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) and N8, the eight most research-intensive Universities in the North of England, including Newcastle, have implemented a three-year programme. It will utilise interdisciplinary research to develop a new understanding of the African food system and help tackle global challenges of:

• disease
• poverty
• climate change
• food insecurity

The partnership operates across six sub-Saharan African countries:

• Ghana
• Kenya
• Malawi
• South Africa
• Tanzania
• Zambia

It also fosters capacity building and skills development for academics in both regions.