The Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST) has been designated as the Future Earth Africa Hub Southern Africa Regional Node. The announcement was made on November 22, 2024 by the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa. As a Southern Africa Regional Node, MUST will lead a consortia of partner universities including University of Namibia, University of Botswana, University of Venda, Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Zambia and Catholic University of Mozambique and Futura Envi 4ward-asbl of DRC, to drive the Future Earth Sustainability Science.
The Node will champion several regional strategic focus areas to be implemented as Work Packages (WPs).
WP1: Sustainability Science Champions
WP2: Networks and Partner Engagement
WP3: Knowledge Generation, Management and Dissemination
WP4: Science-Policy Interface
In line with the goals of the Future Earth Africa Hub hosted by the NRF, the overall objective of the Node is to support the Southern Africa region and their agro-ecological systems to achieve sustainability outcomes, by developing, testing and proposing optimal sustainability practices, tools, platforms and capacity building and business models for improved livelihoods and sustainable resources use. To this end, the node will:
- Develop and deliver capacity building programmes to generate African Future Earth Champions
- Strengthen stakeholders’ partnership and engagement to create an enabling multi-actor ecosystem that supports packaging and availing knowledge information management and dissemination application of sustainability science.
- Promote policy-science interface for informed decision making and finaly, it will expand opportunities for sustainability science and research as a platform for technology and innovation advancement, leading to business enterprise in southern Africa ecosystems.
The Future Earth Africa Hub is part of the Future Earth Global Network, which is dedicated to expanding the understanding of global sustainability challenges. It aims to broaden the range of actors involved in defining these challenges and to connect top-down and bottom-up approaches to identifying solutions. This is achieved by facilitating research and fostering solutions-oriented collaborations across research, business, policy, and civil society.
The Future Earth Africa Hub (www.futureearth.org) has a mission to strengthen African sustainability science capacities, leadership, networks, foundations, and connections, and to elevate African sustainability scholarship on the global stage. It currently includes a Leadership Centre and Nodes in all regions of Africa. The Future Earth Africa Hub (FEAH) is hosted by the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa and was launched in 2022.
The Director of the Southern Africa Hub Regional Node, Professor David Mkwambisi, who is also the Director of MUST Institute of Industrial Research and Innovation (MIIRI), highlighted that the coming of the Node to MUST and Malawi is an opportunity for the country and all local universities to take an active role in local and global sustainability issues. “It allows national professionals to enhance their capacities and access several opportunities, especially the upcoming researchers working on sustainability science,” said Professor Mkwambisi.
In his communication to MUST, Director of the Future Earth Africa Hub, Dr Michael Nxumalo said: “The National Research Foundation (NRF) and the Future Earth Africa Hub (FEAH) are thrilled to be partnering with you(MUST) to ensure the successful establishment of the Node in Southern Africa. We believe that your leadership will greatly contribute to the growth and impact of Future Earth in the region,” said Dr Nxumalo.
Professor Address Malata, Vice Chancellor- MUST said that entrusting the university to host and lead the Node, validates the capacity and reputation that MUST has created over the years and was visible in Malawi and beyond. She reiterated that MUST will ensure that it successfully delivers on this the initiative to realise its objectives and contribute towards global sustainability efforts. “The fact that our proposal came out first among the applicants and convinced the team at NRF and FEAH to designate MUST as the southern Africa Node of the Hub is clear demonstration of the confidence people have in our capabilities,” said Professor Malata.
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