The specific objectives of the proposed Building REsearch Capacity for sustainable water and food security In sub-saharan Africa (BRECcIA) project are:

• To enable partner institutions to understand the barriers and enablers to high quality scientific research, and to co-develop a pipeline of capacity-building activities to strengthen research technical and management skills, professional skills, and professional development.
• To develop research networks across African institutions around water and food security, and to leverage these to co-design pertinent research questions on key global challenges.
• To engage in collaborative research programmes that advance knowledge of food and water security in partner countries, identifies solutions to water and food security challenges, and produce a new cohort of trained researchers in this field that are capable of leading and shaping the direction of future research.
• To ensure impactful research that influences policy/practice through engagement with regional climate, hydrological and agricultural information providers, and with stakeholders and policy makers at national and local levels to empower local communities.
• To facilitate sustained research capacity within partner institutions after the end of the project and to provide opportunities to self-propagate capacity to a broader set of institutions and researchers across Africa.

Kenyatta University, University of Nairobi, and Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology in Kenya Universities of Ghana and Malawi, as well as the key African academic partners. Regional centres include AGRHYMET in West Africa and SADC/Waternet in southern Africa.  We are also partnering with impact champions: LEAD and IIED; as well as training champions: SARIMA and Vitae.