Management of research and innovation funds by National Research Fund – Kenya

The Science Granting Councils Initiative in sub-Saharan Africa (SGCI) is a multi-donor initiative funded by IDRC, the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, South Africa’s National Research Foundation, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and the German Research Foundation. Since its inception in 2015, the SGCI has been strengthening the capacities of science granting councils in sub-Saharan African countries to support research and evidence-based policies that will contribute to economic and social development. Specifically, the initiative has been strengthening the capacities of councils in research management; use of data and evidence in policy and decision-making; funding research and innovation projects; strategic communications and knowledge translation; and gender equality and inclusivity.

As part of the SGCI’s second phase, IDRC and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation agreed on a new partnership to deepen and extend SGCI’s strategic engagements with up to 17 councils over a period of four years (2022–2025) in areas that are complementary to ongoing SGCI activities. These areas include supporting the councils to fund and manage research and innovation projects.

The overall goal of this project is to support Kenya’s National Research Fund (NRF) to manage research calls in priority areas that are aligned with the country’s Vision 2030, Third Medium Term (2018–2022), and the Big 4 Agenda priority areas. These areas include health and food and nutritional security. The calls are also expected to strengthen the capacity of NRF to manage research while promoting collaboration with private sector actors and the involvement of women in research and innovation. This project will be implemented over a duration of 33 months with a budget of approximately CAD 575,000.