AFRICAN POPULATION & HEALTH RESEARCH CENTRE KENYA

Their core work

APHRC is a Nairobi-based research centre focused on population health, demographic data, and food systems in sub-Saharan Africa. They bridge European and African research communities, contributing local expertise on livelihoods, smallholder farming, nutrition, and personalised medicine policy dialogue. Their work spans demographic data quality, sustainable food value chains, and building research standards between EU and African institutions.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

APHRC entered H2020 in 2016 through demographic and population research (DEMOSTAF), reflecting their core institutional mandate. From 2020 onward, they shifted decisively toward applied food systems research and EU-Africa health cooperation, engaging with topics like aquaculture, post-harvest technology, and personalised medicine policy. This evolution shows a move from foundational demographic work toward interdisciplinary, action-oriented research with direct relevance to African livelihoods and health outcomes.

APHRC is moving toward applied, multi-sector research linking food security, climate resilience, and health — making them increasingly relevant for EU-Africa collaboration projects with real-world impact goals.

How they like to work

APHRC has never coordinated an H2020 project, always joining as participant or third party — consistent with being a non-EU organisation contributing African-side expertise. Despite only three projects, they have connected with 46 unique partners across 23 countries, indicating they join large, geographically diverse consortia. This makes them a well-networked African partner rather than a project driver.

With 46 consortium partners across 23 countries from just 3 projects, APHRC operates within large international consortia that span Europe and Africa. Their network reflects strong EU-Africa bridging capacity, particularly in East, West, and South African research communities.

What sets them apart

APHRC is one of the few Kenyan research centres with sustained H2020 participation, making them a proven gateway for EU projects needing credible African research partners. Their combination of demographic expertise, food systems knowledge, and health policy engagement across multiple African sub-regions is uncommon. For consortium builders, they offer on-the-ground research capacity in East Africa with established connections across the continent.

Highlights from their portfolio

• HealthyFoodAfrica
  Largest project by funding (EUR 329K), spanning food systems, aquaculture, and smallholder livelihoods across three African sub-regions with a living lab approach.
• EU-Africa PerMed
  Strategic CSA building personalised medicine links between Europe and Africa — positions APHRC at the intersection of health research policy across two continents.