The United States International University-Africa has been selected as one of the ten recipients of an International Development Research Center (IDRC) COVID-19 rapid response initiative grant to document the pandemic’s impact on food systems in sub-Saharan Africa. The research will be studying gender-sensitive implications of COVID-19 on youth Agripreneurship resilience targeting over 500 entrepreneurs across the country.
Of the 16 organizations targeted by IDRC for funding, 10 were selected for their capacity and leadership to generate locally relevant evidence. Other organizations selected alongside USIU-Africa include the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), the University of Malawi, Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project in Zimbabwe, Economic and Social Research Foundation in Tanzania, The SAMRC/Wits Centre for Health Economics and Decision Science in South Africa, National Agricultural Research Organization of Uganda, the Centre for Population and Environment Development in Nigeria, the Cooperation Society for International Development in Canada and the Consortium for Economic and Social Research in Senegal.
The project will be collecting short-term data on the impact of the pandemic (and control measures) on local food systems, specifically, on the most vulnerable populations, document planned and spontaneous responses in real-time and the rewiring of food systems as they happen, and inform recovery policies for a more efficient and equitable policy and action that minimizes or alleviates the impacts of COVID-19 on nutrition and food security.
