By Eutychus Ngotho Gichuru, PhD Candidate in Educational Management, Makerere University
Archangel Byaruhanga Rukooko, Associate Professor (Philosophy ), Makerere University
Academics today, around the world, are confined by the way their research output is measured. Indicators that count the number of times their work is cited by other academics, and the relative prestige of journals that publish their papers, determine everything: from career development to research funding.
What does this international system mean for African scholars like ourselves? Our work has found that metrics for measuring excellence are instead acting as a disadvantage for…
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By Lateef Olalekan Bello, Project Researcher, University of Tokyo
Smallholder farmers in west Africa’s Sahel face a harsh and worsening climate. Rainfall is erratic, temperatures are rising, soils are degrading, and droughts have become more frequent.
In Mali and Niger millions of rural households rely on rain-fed farming. These stresses pose a threat to food security and livelihoods.
As agricultural economists we conduct research on how climate-smart interventions affect farmers’ crop revenue and income. Our
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By Hayley Clements, Senior Researcher, African Wildlife Economy Institute and Centre for Sustainability Transitions, Stellenbosch University
Alta De Vos, Associate Professor, Centre for Sustainability Transitions, Stellenbosch University
Matthew Child, PhD candidate, University of Pretoria
Siviwe Shwababa, Associate Researcher, Rhodes University
South Africa has a thriving wildlife economy – enterprises like trophy and meat hunting, ecotourism, live wildlife sales and game meat production.
Over the past few decades private (predominantly white) farmers have converted millions of hectares once reserved for livestock into game ranches. These enterprises generate profits and jobs…
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By Duncan Mitchell, Honorary Professorial Research Fellow, University of the Witwatersrand
The Namib desert of south-western Africa can be extremely hot – the surface temperature can be over 50°C. But a surprising number of around 200 beetle species live on its bare, inhospitable-looking sand dunes.
Scientists studying them were perplexed by the astonishing behaviour of one of the beetle species – a darkling beetle, Onymacris…
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By Małgorzata (Gosia) K. Citko-DuPlantis, Assistant Professor in Japanese Literature and Culture, University of Tennessee
Social media has turned traditional Japanese matcha into a commercial trend, though its roots lie in Zen Buddhism. A scholar of premodern Japanese literature unpacks that history.
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By Kristen Marie Beavers, Research Professor of Health and Exercise Science, Wake Forest University
Health and fitness trends come and go, and many fads don’t deliver on their promises – remember vibrating belts or sauna suits? Today, weighted vests, made from sturdy fabrics like nylon and filled with iron sand or small weights, are gaining widespread use. Here’s what to know about them:
Weighted vests have…
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By Patrick Jackson, Assistant Professor of Infectious Diseases, University of Virginia
A new year might mean new viral threats.
Old viruses are constantly evolving. A warming and increasingly populated planet puts humans in contact with more and different viruses. And increased mobility means that viruses can rapidly…
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By Kymberlee Montgomery, Senior Associate Dean of Nursing, Drexel University
Mary Ellen Smith Glasgow, Professor of Nursing, Duquesne University
The 2025 tax and spending law lowers the federal loan borrowing limits for nursing students, raising the up-front costs of nursing school.
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By Emily Wanderer, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh
Recent advances in computer vision and other types of artificial intelligence offer an opportunity for facial recognition to apply to bears and other animals.
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By Christopher Neubert, Deputy Director, Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems, Arizona State University
Kathleen Merrigan, Executive Director, Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems, Arizona State University
Farm bills – famously complex legislative and spending balances between farm subsidies, food assistance, conservation and more – have tended to be passed about every five years since 1933.
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