The Climate Change and Health Innovation Hub for West and Central Africa (CHINNOVA) has announced a new competitive funding opportunity worth USD 1 million, signaling a renewed push to strengthen the region’s capacity to respond to the growing intersection between climate change and public health.

The Second Call for Proposals (CFP2) is designed to support collaborative, interdisciplinary research projects that address how climate variability and environmental stressors are reshaping health systems across West and Central Africa. Running under the Sub-Grants for Collaborative Research and Innovation Projects (2026–2028), the initiative positions research not only as an academic exercise but as a direct instrument for policy and systems transformation.

Unlike traditional fragmented funding approaches, this call emphasizes integrated research consortia that bring together universities, accredited research institutes, and non-governmental organizations with a clear research mandate. Each selected project may receive up to USD 200,000 over a 24-month period, with final funding decisions guided by scientific quality, policy relevance, and demonstrable potential for real-world impact.

At the core of CHINNOVA’s funding strategy is a shift toward climate-informed health system resilience. Priority areas include strengthening preparedness and response mechanisms within health systems, improving climate and health data infrastructure, and expanding early warning systems capable of anticipating climate-sensitive disease outbreaks. The call also highlights the need for innovation in policy design and institutional frameworks, reflecting growing recognition that technical solutions alone are insufficient without governance reform and coordinated implementation.

A notable feature of the programme is its emphasis on equity and inclusion. Research proposals are expected to incorporate gender-responsive approaches and community engagement strategies, ensuring that vulnerable populations are not only studied but actively included in solution design. Risk communication and public engagement are also identified as essential components, particularly in regions where climate-related health risks are intensifying.

The funding opportunity spans a broad set of eligible countries, including Benin, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. This regional scope reflects CHINNOVA’s ambition to build cross-border research collaboration and shared knowledge systems in areas where climate and health challenges are increasingly transnational.

Beyond financing individual projects, the initiative reflects a broader shift in how research ecosystems in Africa are being structured. Increasingly, funding instruments such as this are being designed to bridge the gap between scientific evidence and policy uptake, ensuring that research outputs feed directly into national and regional health planning processes.

The call for proposals remains open until 8 May 2026 at 4:00 PM GMT, with CHINNOVA encouraging applicants to demonstrate strong interdisciplinary collaboration and clearly defined pathways to policy and system-level impact.

Photo courtesy / Google

https://aau.org/2026/03/press-release-chinnova-launches-call-for-1-million-funding-for-climate-and-health-research-in-west-and-central-africa/