Afya Moja - Health Technology: From Capacity Building to Capacity Strengthening

• Coordinator: Campus Biomedico University of Rome
• Partner universities: Polytechnic University of Bari, University of Bologna, University of Naples “Federico II”, University of Pisa
• Target area: Sub-Saharan Africa, with a focus on Benin, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda

Afya Moja – meaning “One Health” in Swahili – was created to address the gap between the high quality of teaching in African universities and the limited availability of research-focused programmes. This gap directly affects Africa’s participation in global innovation processes and in setting international standards in key fields such as health and biomedical technologies.

To tackle these challenges, the project promotes an integrated vision of human, animal and environmental health, grounded in ethics, equity and mutual trust. Its approach unfolds along four main lines of action.

The first is the creation of new research-based academic programmes in African universities, through mentoring and exchange activities targeting students, faculty and professional staff. The second line focuses on strengthening project design skills, with three executive tracks on drafting, reviewing and managing European proposals, aimed at PhD candidates, academics and administrators from African institutions. The third area involves short schools held both in Italy and in Africa to foster direct exchanges of skills and teaching methods. Finally, the project promotes the direct involvement of African experts in the development of international standards and guidelines, through participation in initiatives already launched by Italian partners in collaboration with NGOs, the European Commission, the European Parliament and the WHO.

The project focuses on four interconnected fields – agriculture and nutrition, biomedical engineering, human medicine, and veterinary medicine and animal production – all aligned with the One Health perspective. A central aim is the shift from capacity building to capacity strengthening: not simply the transfer of knowledge, but the recognition and enhancement of existing expertise across the African continent, aligning it with international standards and practices through peer-to-peer learning.

The Italian consortium includes 12 university departments from 10 different faculties – including agricultural sciences, biomedical sciences, engineering, medicine and social sciences. These offer 41 undergraduate degrees, 56 Master’s degrees, over 30 medical specialisation schools, 24 local PhD programmes and contributions to 7 national PhD programmes. Around 1,000 academic staff will be involved in the cooperation activities.

On the African side, the project relies on a network of 16 partner institutions, with 32 active departments in agriculture, biomedical sciences, engineering, environmental sciences, medicine, social sciences and veterinary medicine. This collaboration is designed to generate a lasting impact by fostering scientific autonomy, academic mobility and shared innovation.