COUNCIL FOR SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH

Their core work

CSIR-Ghana is the country's principal public research organization, operating across agriculture, food science, environmental management, and industrial research. Within H2020, they serve as West Africa's key research partner for EU-Africa food security initiatives, contributing local agronomic knowledge, field trial capacity, and expertise in tropical crop systems. Their work spans sustainable farming intensification, pest and disease management in tropical perennials, water resource innovation, and value chain development for smallholder agriculture. They provide critical on-the-ground research infrastructure in Ghana for projects that need African field validation and farmer engagement.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the early period (2015–2018), CSIR-Ghana focused squarely on EU-Africa food security partnerships and tropical crop disease management — projects like LEAP-AGRI and TROPICSAFE dealt with foundational agricultural challenges and pest control in perennial crops. From 2020 onward, their portfolio shifted markedly toward environmental sustainability, ecosystem services, climate change mitigation, and circular bio-economy approaches. The recent projects show a more systems-oriented perspective, integrating land management, carbon accounting, water innovation, and value chain thinking rather than single-crop or single-disease studies.

CSIR-Ghana is moving from traditional agricultural research toward integrated sustainability assessment, climate resilience, and circular bio-economy — making them an increasingly relevant partner for environment-agriculture crossover projects.

How they like to work

CSIR-Ghana operates exclusively as a participant or third party — they have never coordinated an H2020 project. They consistently join large, multi-country consortia (164 unique partners across 44 countries), which reflects their role as a trusted African field partner rather than a project initiator. Their value lies in providing West African research capacity, local farmer networks, and field validation sites within large EU-Africa collaboration frameworks.

With 164 unique consortium partners spanning 44 countries, CSIR-Ghana has one of the broadest collaboration networks for an African research center in H2020. Their partnerships bridge European research institutions with African field realities, with particularly strong links in EU-Africa cooperation frameworks.

What sets them apart

CSIR-Ghana is one of the most active West African research organizations in Horizon 2020, offering something few European partners can: direct access to tropical agricultural systems, smallholder farming communities, and on-the-ground field trial infrastructure in Ghana. Their participation in multiple EU-Africa partnership projects (PROIntensAfrica, LEAP-AGRI, LEAP4FNSSA) demonstrates institutional credibility and experience navigating EU project requirements from a non-EU base. For any consortium needing genuine African research capacity — not just a token partner — CSIR-Ghana brings both scientific depth and operational reliability.

Highlights from their portfolio

• WIDER UPTAKE
  Their largest single project funding (EUR 1,024,550) — a significant investment in water-smart solutions showing trust in their delivery capacity.
• DIVAGRI
  Represents their newest direction: bio-based circular agriculture combining solar desalination, biorefinery, and biodiversity — a clear signal of where their expertise is heading.
• LEAP-AGRI
  A flagship EU-Africa ERA-NET partnership on food security that positioned CSIR-Ghana as a key institutional bridge between European and African research communities.