Sida's work with research
Research is one of humanity's main tools for problem solving and development. But low-income countries have little research of their own. This is why Sida supports research that can improve the lives of people living in poverty.
Why do Sida support research?
Research resources are unevenly distributed
The distribution of the world’s research resources is skewed. Almost all of the world’s researchers are located in Europe, North America and East Asia. Sub-Saharan Africa has only one hundredth of the world’s researchers – even though it has one seventh of the world’s population.1
Women are underrepresented
Only 30% of the world’s scientists are women, and research studies often do not take into account differences between women and men, even when relevant.2
Growing scepticism towards science
There are many challenges to the knowledge society, threats to academic freedom and growing scepticism about science.
Examples of what Sida contributes to:
Research contributes to sustainable development
Sida supports research in low-income countries. New research results and innovations have improved the lives of people living in poverty, for example by purifying water, curing diseases, giving more people access to electricity and good healthcare, or growing crops with greater nutritional content.
Low-income countries do their own research
Low-income countries are increasingly recognising the importance of conducting their own research to increase their prosperity. The importance of research is also increasingly recognised in international contexts.
Crises increase the use of new technologies
The economic downturn in many countries has weakened the conditions for innovative ideas and for conducting research. At the same time, the restrictions have led to innovations. One example is remote health counselling using mobile phones.
Sida's work with research
Almost all of the world’s research resources are spent to solve the problems of economically rich countries. Very little money is spent on fighting infectious diseases that affect people living in poverty, or breeding crops that are mainly grown in low-income countries. All countries need to conduct their own research in order to find solutions to problems and develop sustainable societies where both people and the environment thrive.
Research also plays an important role in democracy, as it contributes to critical thinking. Research provides the knowledge needed for people to make wise decisions and question the actions of those in power.
Sida supports opportunities for low-income countries to conduct research in areas that are relevant to the country’s development and future. Through support to research organisations, researchers are trained and the proportion of women conducting research increases. To ensure that the research conducted is useful, researchers cooperate with other actors in society, such as the business community.
Research requires substantial resources. On the one hand, a long and qualified education is required to become a researcher; on the other hand, research takes time and costs a lot of money. Many low-income countries have not been able to prioritise the long-term investment that research entails. Therefore, there is a lack of both researchers and institutions that can produce new knowledge and contribute to new ideas to solve the most pressing challenges.
Sida helps low-income countries increase their research capacity. Here are some examples of programmes and projects that Sida supports.
No one knows better what local problems need to be researched, or what solutions are practicable, than the partner countries themselves. Sida supports the construction of national research systems in Ethiopia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Bolivia and Cambodia. Doctoral students divide their time between their home universities and Swedish universities. Support for libraries, laboratories, IT and research councils is also included, with the aim of creating functional research environments. The cooperation is based on the countries’ own priorities, and the goal is for countries to eventually be able to educate researchers and conduct high-quality research on their own.
Sida supports several research organisations that work to enable countries to conduct their own research, such as the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) for economics and the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA). CARTA trains researchers in health systems. To increase the number of female researchers, Sida supports the Organisation for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD), whose scholarships and networks help women build a research career.
Many research areas relevant to low-income countries are severely underfunded. These include research on a wide range of diseases, agricultural and forestry practices, nature conservation, culture, community development and climate change adaptation.
Many research areas relevant to low-income countries are severely underfunded. Sida therefore supports research that is of great importance in low-income countries. This applies, for example, to research on a large number of diseases, methods in agriculture and forestry, nature conservation, community building and climate adaptation.
Here are some examples of programmes and projects that Sida supports:
To develop vaccines for people living in poverty is rarely profitable for pharmaceutical companies. The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) develops vaccines to protect the most vulnerable against infectious diseases, such as cholera and typhoid fever. IVI’s oral cholera vaccine originates from a recipe developed through a research collaboration between, among others, Gothenburg university and the health research institute icddr,b in Bangladesh. It is further developed in collaboration with several companies in Asia.
Many farmers in Africa, Latin America and Asia are severely affected when their crops are destroyed by insect pests. Sida is supporting the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICPE), where researchers have developed an environmentally adapted method to protect themselves against the larval maize fly. Icipe is also researching how humans can protect themselves and their livestock from disease-causing insects. They are also developing ideas for the food of the future, with insects as a sustainable source of protein.
They also develop ideas for the future of food, using insects as a sustainable source of protein, and conduct research on mosquitoes to prevent malaria.
Artificial intelligence (AI) can be used in countless ways, such as in health, agriculture, education and transport. Sida, together with Canada’s IDRC, has established the Artificial Intelligence for Development in Africa (AI4D) research programme, which aims to enable Africans in all regions to create and use artificial intelligence for healthier, more prosperous and sustainable lives.
Many of the regimes in Southeast Asia systematically violate the human rights of the population. Sida supports a regional network of social science researchers, SHAPE-SEA, which strengthens human rights and peace in the region through research and education.
For research to be useful, it needs to reach out to society. For example, close cooperation between researchers and other actors in society, such as the business community, is important. There is also a need to protect inventions and finance new business ideas. Many of Sida’s partner countries lack innovation systems (systems for transforming an idea into a product or service) and regulatory frameworks such as patents and copyright.
Here are some examples of programmes and projects that Sida supports:
Sida supports the construction of innovation systems for countries to become self-sustaining in bringing innovations to the market. This entails the establishment of meeting places for researchers, authorities, companies and civil society, where they can collaborate on ideas, funding, regulations and marketing. For example, at the regional level Sida supports BioInnovate Africa, which links researchers and companies at the idea stage, with the marketability of new biological products built into the project from the start. This has resulted in successful technologies for growing mushrooms on a large scale and treating wastewater from food industries.
People who live far from a health centre often find it particularly difficult to get good health care. The Social Innovation in Health Initiative develops methods for diagnosing febrile children in the Ugandan countryside and for providing prenatal care over the phone to women in Malawi.
Sida uses challenge funds to finance entrepreneurs and innovators who contribute to economic, environmental and social sustainability. The funds have become increasingly focused on poverty, anti-corruption and developing market systems. In cooperation with Germany, the US and the Netherlands, we have launched the Water and Energy for Food (WE4F) challenge fund to support water and energy efficient innovations in agriculture for large-scale use.
Support for research is Sweden’s most long-term aid and research collaborations often last for several decades. The results in the form of reduced poverty and more sustainable societies usually only come after many years. On the other hand, the effects can be large and long-lasting.
In 2023, Sida’s support for research totalled SEK 440 million.
Updated: January 31, 2024