Youth fare better financially than adults in the processing of cassava in Ghana. They could also surpass them in production and marketing if they had more access to credit and extension services, says Nana Anima Akrofi, a 2016 IDRC Research Award recipient.

Ghana is the world’s sixth largest producer of cassava and the crop remains the country’s most important staple food. Cassava is also of growing economic importance and could provide jobs for women and youth while increasing food security.

Akrofi set out to determine what role youth play in the cassava value chain and how their performance compares to that of adults. “The main challenge youth face is poor access to credit and extension services,” she says. “This inhibits their production activities. They are, however, relatively more profitable in processing — by turning the roots into dry flakes or flour — than adults.”

Akrofi credits the IDRC Research Award for enabling her “to identify issues in agri-food businesses that could generate options for improving food and income security,” she says. It also “opened the opportunity for me to pursue further studies and undertake academic research.”

In 2010, Ghana adopted World Health Organization guidelines for quickly and inexpensively diagnosing malaria. Yet, says Nana Yaa Boadu, healthcare practitioners still treat feverish patients without testing. Building on her 2011 IDRC Doctoral Research Award, Nana's 2014 Research Award helped her identify why this practice persisted and how to improve compliance.

Working in the field, “I saw firsthand that where socio-political structures are lacking, and economic resources too few to adequately address competing priorities, the resilience of providers, as well as patients and communities, can be critical to strengthening and delivering healthcare,” she says. “The passion of the community to participate in identifying and solving local problems, and the hope in the eyes of health workers struck a deep chord in me that I won’t easily forget.”

“Global health challenges are largely a product of the contexts in which they occur,” says Boadu. “Practical solutions — making training more useful, for example — should therefore go beyond activities like repetitive training exercises and address root causes.”

“IDRC gave me the unique viewpoint of understanding health research and programming from a funder’s perspective,” says Boadu. “As a research consultant, this big picture thinking now guides my approach to planning and delivery for clients.”