Capacitating One Health in Eastern and
Southern Africa: ISAAA AfriCenter’s Role
Margaret Karembu, PhD, MBS
mkarembu@isaaa.org
Capacitating One Health in Eastern and Southern
Africa (COHESA) partner orientation workshop
16 December 2021

Network of 20 Biotech Information Centers - BICs
Philippines
ISAAA SEAsia
Global KC
Indonesia
Malaysia
Brazil
China
India
Egypt
ISAAA AfriCenter
ECABIC
South Africa
Thailand
Mali
Pakistan
Russia
Bulgaria
Sri Lanka
Spain
Italy
Japan
Burkina Faso
Bangladesh
ISAAA AmeriCenter
1993
Vietnam
Dual Knowledge and Experience Sharing
Global Weekly e-Newsletter – Crop Biotech Update (CBU)
ISAAA’s Communications' and Global
Knowledge Sharing Initiative
The Drumbeat – Africa Bioscience Trends
• Founded in 1992
as a Not-for Profit
(Public Benefit
Network) co-
sponsored by
public and private
sectors
AfriCenter
Hosted in
ILRI
since 1994
27 years
Focus:
Modern
Biotechnolog
y&
Knowledge-
sharing

Formalized Partnership with ILRI in 2015
Collaborative Activities:
1. Facilitate Science communication training for ILRI
staff, students and visiting scientists (NARS)
2. Support ILRI’s policy outreach program
3. Provide platforms to share research findings and
stakeholder engagement e.g. OFAB, ABBC, Africa Science
Dialogue
4. Organize biosciences study tours for different
stakeholders aimed at experiential learning and
building confidence in biosciences.

The OH Stakeholders’ Engagement Challenge
1. Mind-sets - Breaking the silo mentality among experts &
institutions
2. Weak science communication capabilities and collaboration
across sectoral, interdisciplinary/inter-institutional OH
ecosystem
3. Different information needs and knowledge gaps for varied
audiences
4. Perceived interest vs real interests (WIIFM -What Is In it For
Me)
5. Perceived transparency gaps and mistrust
OH requires a data-driven advocacy and outreach effort PLUS deep
understanding of stakeholders

3 Key Areas of Focus
(Cross-cutting)
Soft Skills
Training
for
Researche
rs
Media
Outreac
h
Policy
Advoca
cy

Policy Advocacy
1. Net-mapping  To understand
relationships and connections of OH
actors
2. Identify key territorial issues  shared
values
3. Increase engagement across OH
sectors to address conflicts 
appropriate platforms
4. Policy Dialogue with OH-relevant
parliamentary committees
5. Policy maker–Researcher–Journalists

Media Outreach
1. Regular Science Cafes to highlight OH
issues for the media  Gov, Education,
Research entities, Beneficiaries
2. Hard and Soft “pushes” within our
Africa-Wide network/DrumBeat
3. Africa Science Dialogue platform for
continued expert/journalists
engagement

Soft Skills Training for Researchers
1. Needs assessment (KAP..)
2. Policy Briefs drafting workshops
3. Science communication training
Story telling; The art of public engagement; Social
media; Pitching; Principles of negotiation; conflict
resolution
4. Partnership creation,
leadership/management

Towards Delivering OH Solutions Together…
Training needs assessment to
best suit the identification,
development, adaption and
delivery of OH solutions
COHESA!

A-S-A-N-T-E
Appreciation to all Partners
Invites you to subscribe
http://africenter.isaaa.org/