Uganda's top research university and leading East African partner for EU projects in public health, food systems, and agricultural development.
Makerere University is Uganda's leading public research university, deeply embedded in Africa-Europe research partnerships across public health, food systems, and renewable energy. Their H2020 work focuses on adapting and implementing health interventions in sub-Saharan African settings — from cardiovascular disease prevention and respiratory health to district-level health system strengthening. They also bring strong agricultural research capacity, working on food system resilience, dietary diversity, and livestock disease control in East African smallholder farming contexts.
Five health projects including Perform2scale (district health management), SPICES (cardiovascular prevention), FRESH AIR (respiratory health), ALERT (perinatal mortality), and SoNAR-Global (antimicrobial resistance).
Major roles in FOODLAND, HealthyFoodAfrica, InnoFoodAfrica (all food system resilience), PROTEIN2FOOD (plant protein), and COMBAT (livestock trypanosomosis).
SoNAR-Global (antimicrobial resistance networks), PREPARE4VBD (vector-borne disease prediction), and COMBAT (animal disease eco-epidemiology) show growing surveillance capacity.
REFFECT AFRICA (sugarcane waste gasification and biochar), LEAP-RE (EU-AU renewable energy partnership), and SophiA (off-grid energy for health facilities) represent a newer direction.
ISOOKO (peacebuilding through information dialogue in East Africa) and EPICA (eportfolio ecosystem) demonstrate digital engagement capacity.
TWIGA project on transforming weather and water data into value-added services for African agriculture and growth.
In the early period (2015–2018), Makerere focused heavily on clinical and community health — respiratory diseases, tobacco exposure, cardiovascular prevention, and biobanking — alongside initial work on underutilised food crops like quinoa and legumes. From 2019 onward, their portfolio shifted decisively toward food system resilience (multiple concurrent projects on supply chains, dietary diversity, and agro-biodiversity) and added new dimensions in disease surveillance, gender-sensitive research, and renewable energy from agricultural waste. The trajectory shows a university moving from health-focused participant to a multi-sector African research hub connecting food, health, energy, and climate.
Makerere is consolidating as a multi-disciplinary African anchor partner for EU consortia, increasingly bridging food security, One Health surveillance, and off-grid energy — expect growing demand for their field implementation capacity.
Makerere operates exclusively as a consortium partner — zero projects as coordinator across 21 participations, which is typical for non-EU institutions in Horizon 2020. They work in large, diverse consortia (336 unique partners across 59 countries), indicating they are a sought-after African partner rather than a niche specialist tied to a few repeat collaborators. Their value lies in providing on-the-ground research infrastructure, field trial sites, and local expertise that European-led projects need for Africa-focused work.
Exceptionally broad network of 336 unique partners spanning 59 countries, reflecting their role as a go-to African university for EU-Africa research collaboration. Geographic connections are strongest with European institutions (funding side) and East/Sub-Saharan African partners (implementation side).
Makerere is one of the most H2020-active universities in sub-Saharan Africa, offering something European institutions simply cannot: established field research infrastructure, community trust, and regulatory access across Uganda and East Africa. Their simultaneous strength in health, agriculture, and energy makes them a rare multi-sector African partner — most competing institutions specialize in only one domain. For any consortium targeting real-world impact in East Africa, Makerere provides the implementation backbone that turns research designs into field results.
