The project, known as BRECcIA (Building REsearch Capacity for sustainable water and food security In drylands of sub-Saharan Africa), is a four year program funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) under the Research Council UK (RCUK). BRECcIA (http://www.gcrf-breccia.com/about/) aims to develop research capacities that are self-sustaining and focused on improving food and water security for the poorest of society.
Its vision is to strengthen research capacity and capabilities in institutions in Malawi, Kenya, Ghana and UK to carry out impactful research that leads to positive policy and practice change for sustainable water and food security, which will have benefits for the 270 million people living in the Sub Saharan Africa drylands. The project’s initiation seminar will be held in Kisumu from 9th to 13th July 2018 and organized by University of Southampton in conjunction with MMUST.
The project focus countries (Kenya, Malawi, and Ghana) are representatives of different geographical, climatic, socio-economic and institutional settings and challenges that will allow for comparative research, exchange of ideas, and the development of a richer collaborative network. These countries also have complementary, ongoing university-level research projects and collaborations focused on various aspects of water/food security with institutions at different levels of capacity development. The programme of capacity building activities will be tailored to each institution and its goals through a process of co-evaluation of needs, co-development of activities and co-implementation, including south-south and north-south capacity building and knowledge exchange.

Planned Impact
BRECcIA will deliver impact through a programme of capacity development, capability enhancement, partnership building and targeted research in sustainable water and food security. It will engage with stakeholders, including community level, national and regional bodies. BRECcIA will target research to the most vulnerable ultimate beneficiaries living under the poverty line. Analysis of these vulnerabilities and risks will focus the research towards the needs of their arid and semi-arid land livelihoods and ecosystem services. It will also assess the governance and institutional support required to understand and integrate complex relationships into adaptation, planning and policy development.

The programme of capacity development includes research skills across disciplines and integrative research via workshops, researcher exchanges, specific skills training, and summer schools. Capacity will be targeted from early career researchers to PI level. Capacity development will also address professional infrastructure through a research development framework that seeks to support individual researchers, institutional research strategy, management and support services. It aims to enhance transfer between organizations via UK-south capacity development activities and through south-south training and knowledge transfer. Partners on the project are:

• University of Southampton
• University of Malawi
• University of Ghana
• Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology,
• University of Nairobi
• Kenya Kenyatta University, Kenya
• Technical University of Kenya

• UNESCO International Hydrology Programme
• International Institute for Environment and Development
• AGRHYMET Regional Center, West-Africa
• WaterNet/SADC