September 23, 2025 | Kigali
PEP Executive Director, Prof. Jane Mariara, delivered a keynote at the first CLARITY-Africa Consortium Meeting in Kigali, highlighting PEP’s co-production approach and new initiatives to strengthen evidence-informed policymaking. Her address showcased examples from clean energy and gender-climate projects, underscoring how Southern-led research drives inclusive, climate-resilient policies across Africa.
From September 22 to 24, 2025, members of the CLARITY-Africa Consortium convened in Kigali for their first annual meeting, hosted by the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS).
The CLARITY-Africa Consortium brings together leading voices in climate change and health, including researchers and policymakers from institutions such as Imperial College London, the Rwanda Environment Management Authority, the Wellcome Trust, and several African universities and research centres. The Kigali meeting provided a platform for exchange across these actors, underscoring the importance of collaboration between science and policy.
On September 23, PEP’s Executive Director, Prof. Jane Mariara, who is also a member of the advisory group for the CLARITY-Africa programme, delivered a keynote address on “Co-producing evidence to maximize impact.”
Prof. Mariara informed the participants that central to PEP’s approach is its “learning by doing” model, which combines training, mentorship, peer review, and intensive support for locally-led research. This process is rooted in the co-production of research, where governments and stakeholders are engaged as collaborators from the outset.
She emphasized that co-production means evidence is not driven by academic publication goals but positioned as a mandatory and direct input into ongoing policy decision processes. This ensures research is both relevant and actionable, strengthening national capacity for evidence-informed policymaking (EIPM).
She then turned to PEP’s new frontier — building institutional capacities for evidence-informed policymaking (EIPM) within governments. She highlighted an ongoing Hewlett-funded initiative (2024–2027), designed to remove structural barriers that keep research and policymaking in silos. The programme focuses on strengthening capacities on both sides, creating real-time policy advisory mechanisms, and fostering inclusive frameworks for collaboration between research centres and government institutions. Working through nine research centres across Eastern and West Africa, the initiative will enable policymakers and researchers to work together more effectively, respond quickly to evidence needs, and embed EIP in national policy processes.
She highlighted examples of how the Co-production approach has been applied in PEP initiatives, particularly those of direct relevance to the CLARITY-Africa programme:
- Clean Energy for Development: A Call to Action, funded by IDRC – where interventions are co-designed with ministries, MSMEs, and farmer cooperatives to accelerate adoption of solar irrigation and ag-tech, with a focus on empowering women and youth in climate-smart agriculture.
- Gender Equality and Climate Change, funded by Global Affairs Canada – integrating a gender lens in all analyses, aligning with national climate plans, and addressing barriers faced by women and smallholder farmers in adapting to climate shocks.
The later project demonstrates how co-production ensures that research findings are relevant, trusted, and ready for policy uptake. Prof. Mariara, shared evidence of PEP’s broader impact but cited examples from this project of how governments in Senegal, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Cameroon have increasingly solicited PEP teams to advise on national strategies, provide training, and shape policy dialogues on issues ranging from youth employment to climate change adaptation.
The keynote was very well received, with participants applauding PEP’s approach and impact — particularly the interest shown by governments in collaborating with PEP researchers. They expressed strong interest in PEP’s new EIPM initiatives and opportunities for follow-up engagement.
Through these exchanges, PEP continues to emphasize the importance of bridging research and policy, demonstrating the power of co-produced, Southern-led evidence in driving inclusive and sustainable development.
