Research for Connected Savanna Futures

SAFI's six centres provide specialist homes for research while collaborating across shared programmes.

Their development is phased, with activities shaped by leadership, partnerships and resources. Four shared platforms support data, policy, finance and international collaboration. Learning across them is carried by the Savannah Futures Academy.

Four institutional priorities — climate-resilient landscapes, population health, peace and indigenous governance, and food futures — set the strategic frame. The six centres below are the specialist homes that deliver that agenda, with indigenous knowledge, culture, policy engagement and community participation cross-cutting throughout.

River, palms and savanna landscape — climate and environments

Climate, Environment & Landscape Futures

Climate, ecosystems, water, biodiversity and landscape stewardship.

Smoke rising from vegetation beside a road, with people standing nearby

Population Health Innovation Futures

Environmental health, NCDs, NTDs and resilient health systems.

Beekeepers harvesting honey under a shelter, with hives in the grassland behind them

Food Systems and Bioeconomy

Agriculture, nutrition, enterprise and bioeconomy.

Traditional leaders and community dialogue at a regional gathering

Peace, Security & Borderland Futures

Governance, mediation, mobility and human security.

Pearl millet in the savanna — indigenous crops and ecological knowledge

Culture, Indigenous Knowledge and Governance

Traditional governance, heritage, language and culture.

Solar-powered cooking platform in a rural savanna community

Sustainability and Resilience

Shared platforms for data, policy, climate finance and global partnerships.

SAFI Research-to-Action Pathway

Our shared process for turning evidence into practical outcomes — developed with the communities and institutions who use the findings.

1

Frame the Question

With the people who will use the findings

2

Generate Evidence

Interdisciplinary, rigorous and context-sensitive

3

Explore Options

Policy dialogue, innovation and stakeholder engagement

4

Test Responses

Living labs and community-based research

5

Learn and Adapt

Assess what works, then share it through the Savannah Futures Academy

6

Drive Impact

Use tested evidence for sustainable outcomes for environment and society