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The peer assist session note highlights the urgent need for a more equitable and sustainable approach to funding education research in Africa. The session focuses on two scholar programs funded by the African Education Research Funding Consortium (AERFC) members and highlights the disparity in funding levels, with northern organisations receiving significantly more funding despite often subcontracting or sub-granting African organisations. It then focuses on a peer-assist session where participants discussed how to better align existing grants with recommendations for improving inclusivity and equitable power dynamics in the research process. The document proposes numerous actionable steps for funders and northern organisations to implement, including fostering greater south-south collaboration, prioritising local researchers, and ensuring meaningful involvement of scholars from the global south in all stages of research projects.
The opportunity lies in restructuring existing funding mechanisms to better align with the Consortium’s 5 recommendations. By shifting power and resources to African institutions and researchers, funders can support the development of locally-driven solutions to the continent’s unique challenges.
Key Facts:
- Analysis of AERFC member grants in 2023 reveals North American grantees receive 4.5 to 8 times more funding than African grantees.
- Northern organisations often manage/implement projects, subcontracting or sub-granting to African organisations. This model reinforces existing power structures and can limit the agency of African researchers.
Challenges:
- Power Imbalances: The current funding structure, where Northern organisations receive significantly more funding and often sub-grant to African organisations, perpetuates power imbalances. This can lead to research agendas being set by Northern institutions rather than by African researchers.
- Lack of Meaningful Participation: The lack of involvement of individuals with lived experiences in all stages of the research process, from design to dissemination, is a significant barrier.
- Limited Influence of African Researchers: There is a need to ensure that African researchers have a greater say in setting research agendas and shaping program design. This includes having more diverse representation on review boards and advisory boards.
- Structural Barriers to Inclusivity: There is a need to identify and address structural barriers that hinder inclusiveness and equitable participation in research.
Opportunities for Alignment:
- Shifting Power Dynamics: Encouraging Northern organisations to act as facilitators for South-South collaboration rather than maintaining a North-South power dynamic.
- Promoting Local Leadership: Supporting the development of leadership within African institutions and enabling them to set research priorities.
- Strengthening Mentoring and Capacity Building: Focusing on mentorship programs that empower emerging African researchers and provide access to funding for quality research.
- Hosting Scholar Programs in Africa: This would transfer benefits directly to African academic institutions and foster stronger connections among researchers working on similar challenges.
- Encouraging Two-Way Exchange: Programs should be designed to facilitate a reciprocal exchange of knowledge and expertise between Northern and Southern partners. This includes incorporating feedback from African scholars and researchers in program evaluations.
- Building and Leveraging Networks: Creating platforms for sharing information about existing fellowships, research programs, and evaluation findings to avoid duplication of effort and foster collaboration.
- Responding to Local Needs: Ensuring that research questions are driven by local needs and priorities, allowing African researchers to set their own agendas
- Funder Collaboration: Donors can work together to develop shared principles on budgeting, mentorship, and language that are sensitive to local contexts. They can also collaborate on surveys and data collection to evaluate the impact of fellowship programs and understand the needs of researchers.
By addressing these challenges and seizing these opportunities, funders can create a more equitable and effective research funding landscape that supports African-led research and contributes to the continent’s development.