Food and nutrition

Keywords
Sustainable health, adolescents, education, nutrition

Countries
Tanzania, Kenya, Burkina Faso

Summary
Changemaker addresses the increasing epidemic of adolescent obesity in urban sub-Saharan Africa. The project aims at co-designing, implementing, and evaluating the effects and the processes of a comprehensive sustainable health intervention in three exemplary sites: Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Kisumu, Kenya. Ina Danquah and her team are coordinating this project together with Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, and are responsible for the impact evaluation.

Methodology
The sustainable health intervention comprises of four evidence-based strategies: 1) urban farming in schools with satellite farms and organic waste composting, 2) sustainable health modules for classrooms, 3) linking to healthcare workers through health talks using motivational interviewing techniques, and 4) WHO Best Buys: Mass media campaign. Three cluster-RCTs in secondary schools, within the framework of urban Health and Demographic Surveillance Systems, implementation and process evaluation and cost-effective evaluation.

Main Cooperation Partners

• Prof. Kristi Sydney-Annerstedt, Karolinska Institutet (KI), Stockholm, Sweden
• Dr. Ali Sié, Centre de Recherche en Santé de Nouna (CRSN), Nouna, Burkina Faso
• Dr. Abdramane Soura, Institute Supérieure des Sciences de la Population, University of Ouagadougou (ISSP), Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
• Prof. Pilvikki Absetz, Tampere University (TAU), Tampere, Finnland
• Prof. Marleen Temmerman, Aga Khan University (AKU), Nairobi, Kenya
• Sharon Chacha, Food Security for Peace and Nutrition (FSPN), Kenya
• Susan Adhiambo, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (DALF), Kisumu, Kenya
• Dr. Alice Ojwang Achieng, The Technical University of Kenya (TUK), Nairobi, Kenya
• Prof. Mary Mwanyika Sando, Africa Academy for Public Health (AAPH), Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
• Prof. Bruno Sunguya, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS), Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
• Prof. Wafaie Fawzi, Harvard Global Research and Support Services Inc. (Harvard), Boston, USA

Main Funding Partners

• European Commission: Horizon Europe
• HORIZON-HLTH-2023-DISEASE-03-03

Duration of the Project
4 years (01 Jan 2024 – 31 Dec 2027)

Project Homepage
https://changemaker.ki.se/

Team

• Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah
• Dr. Raissa Sorgho
• Grace Wothaya Kihagi (candidate PhD)
• Rhodah Nekesa (candidate PhD)
• Scarion Rupia (candidate PhD)

Contact
Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah, Phone.: +49-228-73-1970

Keywords
Climate change adaptation, fishing, subsistence farming, women, nutrition, health

Countries
Ghana

Summary
Individual and community-initiated climate change adaptation responses are promoted globally, but among vulnerable populations, evidence regarding their availability, implementation and impact on mediating climatic shocks in developing countries is scanty. We aim to identify the adaptation and coping mechanisms adopted by rural smallholder female farmers residing along the Ghana Volta lake and the mitigate effects on livelihoods, household food security and nutritional status. A framework showing the climate adaption strategies and the linkage with household livelihoods, food security and nutritional status will be developed and used to inform a future intervention study. An immediate step will be advocacy program to encourage policy revision and practical actions to support smallholder framers to be climate-sensitive and more climate-adaptive.

Methodology
In this triangulated sequential explanatory mixed-methods study, we shall interview 442 adult females engaged in predominant crop and fish farming in rural communities along the Volta Lake using the climate coping and adaptation strategies assessment tool. The quantitative data in the first sequel will measuring indices that quantifies actual and perceived climate risk vulnerability, adaptation strategies and the intensity of impact of climatic hazards on family income, food stocks and undernutrition. Participants found to adapt very positively or negatively to agriculture climatic stress will be interviewed in the qualitative phase to understand in-depth the triggers of the adaptive or maladaptive coping skills. The responses shall be rated using Likert-type questions and the scores weighted to derive patterns using principal component analysis and other data-tailored regression models and triangulated with the textual data to generate a linkage of the adaptive capacity. At the end of the 12-month project period, we expect to quantify and link the impacts of climate adaptation strategies on mediating the livelihoods and nutritional stocks to inform evidence-based policy and practical actions particularly for smallholder farmers and other vulnerable populations.

Main Cooperation Partners
Dr. Faith Agbozo, University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS), Ho, Ghana

Main Funding Partners
German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)

Duration of the Project
2 years (01 Mar 2022 – 28 Feb 2023)

Team

• Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah
• Marian Abrafi Osei (candidate PhD)

Contact
Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah, Phone.: +49-228-73-1970

Keywords
Climate change adaptation, undernutrition, rural sub-Saharan Africa, children

Countries
Kenya, Burkina Faso

Summary
This project is part of the larger Research Unit “Climate Change and Health in sub-Saharan Africa”, for which Ina Danquah serves as the spokesperson. This subproject addresses the forecasted agricultural losses based on the current CO2 emissions until 2050 and their consequences for the nutritional status of children under-5 years of age living in two selected regions of sub-Saharan Africa. The subproject determines the potential of an integrated agriculture and nutrition program as an adaptation strategy to improve the children’s nutritional status for climate-sensitive nutrients in rural Burkina Faso and Kenya, where climate change will impact agriculture most strongly. The intervention focuses on bio-diversification of subsistence farming by home gardens, and is accompanied by nutrition and health counselling using the 7 Essential Nutrition Action messages by the World Health Organization. For sub-Saharan Africa, bio-diversification constitutes one of the most promising and practicable adaptation strategies for CO2-dependent agricultural losses, for both, the absolute amounts of crops and for the plant contents of protein, iron and zinc. As a novelty, P2 identifies the controversially discussed, potential effects of such an agriculture and nutrition program on the risk of clinical malaria in children under-5 years of age.

Methodology
In the first project phase, the adaptation program was tailored to the needs of the Kenyan region in collaboration with Siaya County Ministries of Health and Agriculture and the non-governmental organization Centre for African Bio-Entrepreneurship (CABE). We determined the horticultural crops to be cultivated and the practicability and the acceptability of the program. A cluster-randomized controlled trial with 2 x 600 households was implemented. We recruited households with children at the age of complementary feed introduction (6-24 months) and followed them up for 1 year. In phase 2 of the project, we will establish the effects of the intervention program on changes in dietary habits, the status of climate-sensitive nutrients, and the risk of clinical malaria among the children after 2 years. We will define the necessary investments to scale-up such intervention programs to the provincial, state, and national levels. Lastly, we will generate adaptation-response functions characterizing the effects of the agricultural bio-diversification and nutrition counselling program under future climate scenarios.

Main Cooperation Partners

• Dr. Erick Muok and Dr. Stephen Munga, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI)-Kisumu, Center for Global Health Research (CGHR), Kisumu, Kenya
• Dr. Ali Sié, Centre de Recherche en Santé de Nouna (CRSN), Nouna, Burkina Faso
• Prof. Till Bärnighausen, Prof. Manuela De Allegri, Prof. Joacim Rocklöv, Dr. Sandra Barteit, Dr. Aditi Bunker, Heidelberg Institute for Global Health (HIGH), Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
• Prof. Harald Grethe, International Agricultural Trade and Development, Humboldt University Berlin (HUB), Berlin, Germany
• PD Dr. Martina Maggioni, Institute for Physiology, Charité – Universitaetsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
• Prof. Christoph Gornott, Prof. Hermann Lotze-Campen, Dr. Katja Frieler, Dr. Fred Hattermann, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Potsdam, Germany
• Prof. Penelopé Vounatsu, Swiss Tropical and Health Institute (Swiss TPH), Basel, Switzerland
• Prof. Harald Kunstmann, Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT), Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

Main Funding Partners

• German Research Foundation (DFG) – FOR2936 Climate Change and Health in sub-Saharan Africa (Kenya)
• Robert Bosch Foundation (RBS) – Robert Junior Professorship 2019 (Burkina Faso)

Further information

The project:

Full Version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCaPuISjx4w 
Short Version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3SQd2QQKrM

The principal investigator: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFJJFP1RqXg

Publications

• Hansen L-S, Wothaya Kihagi G, Agure E, Muok EMO, Mank I, Danquah I, Sorgho R. Sustainable home gardens in Western Kenya: A qualitative study for co-designing nutrition-sensitive interventions. J Rural Studies. 2023 Sep 18;103:103132. doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2023.103132
• Beloconi A, Nyawanda BO, Bigogo G, Khagayi S, Obor D, Danquah I, Kariuki S, Munga S, Vounatsou P.
  Malaria, climate variability, and interventions: modelling transmission dynamics. Sci Rep. 2023 May 5;13(1):7367. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-33868-8.
• Mank I, Sorgho R, Zerbo F, Kagoné M, Coulibaly B, Oguso J, Mbata M, Khagayi S, Muok EMO, Sié A, Danquah I. ALIMUS-We are feeding! Study protocol of a multi-center, cluster-randomized controlled trial on the effects of a home garden and nutrition counseling intervention to reduce child undernutrition in rural Burkina Faso and Kenya. Trials. 2022 Jun 1;23(1):449.
• Yeboah E, Kuunibe N, Mank I, Parisi D, Bonnet E, Lohmann J, Hamadou S, Picbougoum BW, Belesova K, Sauerborn R, Bärnighausen T, Danquah I, De Allegri M. Every drop matters: Combining population-based and satellite data to investigate the link between lifetime rainfall exposure and chronic undernutrition in children under five years in rural Burkina Faso. Environ Res Letters. 2022 Apr;17(5):054027
• Hansen L-S; Sorgho R; Mank I; Schwerdtle P N; Agure E, Bärnighausen T, Danquah I. Home gardening in sub-Saharan Africa: A scoping review on practices and nutrition outcomes in rural Burkina Faso and Kenya. Food and Energy Security. 2022;00:e388.
• Gottlieb-Stroh T, Souares A, Bärnighausen T, Sié A, Zabre SP, Danquah I. Seasonal and socio-demographic patterns of self-reporting major disease groups in north-west Burkina Faso: an analysis of the Nouna Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) data. BMC Public Health. 2021 Jun 9;21(1):1101.
• Mank I, Vandormael A, Traoré I, Ouédraogo WA, Sauerborn R, Danquah I. Dietary habits associated with growth development of children aged < 5 years in the Nouna Health and Demographic Surveillance System, Burkina Faso. Nutr J. 2020 Aug 9;19(1):81.
• Yeboah E, Bunker A, Dambach P, Mank I, Sorgho R, Sié A, Munga S, Bärnighausen T and Danquah I (2021). Transformative Adaptations for Health Impacts of Climate Change in Burkina Faso and Kenya. African Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation; 2485-2500.

Duration of the Project
2 phases of each 3 years (01 Jan 2020 – 31 Dec 2025)

Project Homepage
https://cch-africa.de/

Team

• Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah
• Anaïs Gonnet (project coordinator)
• Erick Agure (candidate PhD)
• Grace Wothaya Kihagi (candidate PhD)
• Sayouba Dianda (candidate PhD)
• Fanta Zerbo (candidate PhD)
• Katharina Westphal (candidate Dr. med.)

Contact
Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah, Phone.: +49-228-73-1970

Keywords
Dietary diversity, dietary patterns, climate change, resilience, sub-Saharan Africa

Countries
Ivory Coast, Benin, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Uganda, Kenya

Summary
Various forms of malnutrition, including hunger, micronutrient deficiencies and non-communicable diseases caused by unbalanced nutrition, threaten food security in Africa. The project HealthyDiest4Africa is based on the central hypothesis that diversification of the food system helps to combat all forms of malnutrition while minimizing its environmental footprint. To this aim, we w  ill monitor dietary diversity in eight African countries representing different regions, and develop target group-specific metrics to measure the diversity of the food system and its health outcomes. In the HD4A project, Danquah and her team are responsible for mapping and monitoring dietary diversity across 8 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Methodology
A production-oriented cluster of the project will explore environmentally sustainable options to diversity food production that specifically address the nutritional requirements identified for the target populations. This includes the development of novel and biofortified crop varieties, utilization of orphan crops with high nutritional value, and diversification of cropping systems and food processing technology. We will link these efforts with a consumption-oriented cluster exploring the consumer acceptance, food safety, and nutritional health effects of diet diversification options. The best solutions that contribute to healthy diets via diversification while also promoting environmental health will be up-scaled via a network of food system stakeholders in eight African countries. HealthyDiets4Africa will also devise communication and policy strategies to maximize outreach and impact of diversified food systems. Thereby the project will help to develop safe, healthy and affordable diets by adopting a diversification strategy that will simultaneously reduce the pressure of food production on the environment.

Main Cooperation Partners

• Prof. Michael Frei, Justus-Liebig-University Gießen (JLU), Gießen, Germany
• Dr. Sali Atanga Ndindeng, AfricaRice (AR), Abidjan, Ivory Coast
• Dr. Irmgard Jordan, International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) and Alliance Bioversity, Nairobi, Kenya

Main Funding Partners

• European Commission, Horizon Europe
• HORIZON-CL6-2022-FARM2FORK-01

Duration of the Project
6 years (01 Jan 2023 – 31 Dec 2028)

Project Homepage
https://www.hd4a.eu

Team

• Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah
• Mahir Bhatt (candidate PhD)
• Phoebe Nabunya (candidate PhD)
• Rebecca Schindlmayr (candidate Dr. med.)

Contact
Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah, Phone.: +49-228-73-1970

Keywords
Financial support of doctoral research on food systems, nutrition, and food security

Summary
The Hermann Eiselen Ph.D. Research Support Program, an initiative of the German Foundation fiat panis, actively supports doctoral research in the fields of food security, nutrition, and food systems. This grant program is designed to provide doctoral students at ZEF with essential funding to conduct empirical research into the critical issue of food security.

Since its inception in 2011, the fiat panis Foundation has funded over 100 research projects at ZEF, all contributing to interdisciplinary doctoral research and the successful completion of dissertations. These studies have furthered understanding of food security challenges and have provided valuable insights into sustainable solutions to end hunger and malnutrition.

Duration of the Project
Since 2011

Project Homepage
http://www.stiftung-fiat-panis.de/en/

Contact
 Dr. Silke Tönsjost, Phone.: +49-228-73-1794

Keywords
food security, adaptation to climate change, environmental protection, social learning, gender, implementation research

Countries
The project spans all countries in Sub-Saharan Africa with a focus on West Africa

Summary
INTERFACES is an accompanying project that will support four BMBF-funded regional research and development (R&D) projects in their endeavor to drive change for sustainable land management in Sub-Saharan Africa. It will do so through impact-driven support activities which build on networking for the regional projects, science communication, social learning processes and capacity development, and by complementary transfer analyses that enable or facilitate the implementation as well as improve the relevance and outreach of the regional projects' research-based findings.

Key bottlenecks for better adoption of technical solutions or ideas for better land management include that the proposed solutions may not necessarily match the constraints or meet the priorities of the stakeholders who are supposed to use them, that there is resistance to change due to power structures, value systems, norms and institutions, or that it is unclear how to achieve the desired change because context-specific behavior change management concepts are missing. To achieve changes towards sustainable land management, a fundamental reorganization is needed across technological, economic, political, institutional and social factors, including paradigms, goals and values. Changes must be gender-responsive and socially inclusive, which means that implementation pathways for sustainable land management must be based on thorough gender and power analyses and lead to outcomes that benefit both women and men of different ethnicities, ages, classes, and income levels.

The outputs from INTERFACES are expected to include scientific and non-scientific publications, the promotion of transdisciplinary research and social learning approaches in order to produce research results that are relevant to practice, the strengthening of already existing networks on land management issues and linking them up with different African and international networks to further contribute to the implementation of the R&D results in the area of land management. Finally, INTERFACES will anchor implementation-oriented research in education and training.

Approach:
INTERFACES has four work areas that together strengthen the integration, coherence and reach of the regional projects with regard to sustainable land management:

1.  Knowledge synthesis through dialogues about future visions and theories of change for sustainable land management - together with the regional projects and actors from science, policy and practice,
2. Support of innovation and implementation processes by identifying change strategies to bridge knowledge-behaviour gaps,
3. Communication, networking and knowledge management and
4. Education and capacity building, e.g. through the integration of teaching content into African and German graduate programs.
   The methods and results of the regional projects find their way into the training of project partners and students with regard to the training of future "change agents".

Main Cooperation Partners

• Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), Ghana
• West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change & Adapted Land Use (WASCAL), Burkina Faso
• University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (UBIDS), Ghana
• University of Applied Sciences Bonn-Rhein-Sieg (H-BRS), Germany
• German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), Germany
• Horticultural Sciences, Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation (INRES) University of Bonn, Germany

Main Funding Partners
Federal Ministry for Research and Education (BMBF)

Duration of the Project
01.10.2022 to 30.09.2026

Project Homepage
https://sustainable-landmanagement-africa.net/en/

Team

• Dr. Tina Beuchelt
• Dr. Hannah Jaenicke
• Dr. Peter Asare-Nuamah
• Cécile Poitevin
• Theresa Weise

Contact
Dr. Tina Beuchelt, Phone.: +49-228-73-4922

Keywords
Labor markets, income diversification, gender, social welfare

Countries
Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia, Zambia

Summary
Households in rural Africa typically have diversified income sources. Beyond own farm production, many also work on other farms as agricultural laborers, have formal or informal employment in other sectors, or pursue self-employed business activities. With rapidly rising population numbers, the diversification of income and employment sources in rural Africa – also beyond the agricultural sector – will likely continue in the coming years and decades. Sufficient generation of decent employment in various rural sectors could contribute to sustainable structural transformation and development, whereas inadequate job availability could perpetuate poverty and natural resource degradation. Hence, studying employment trends and the factors that influence current and future job availability, accessibility, and quality needs to be an integral element of “future-making” research in rural Africa. This project collects and uses data from four Eastern and Southern African countries – Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia, and Zambia – to provide insights under diverse agroecological and socioeconomic conditions. The following research questions are addressed: (1) What income and employment sources do rural households and individuals have, and how are these sources associated with economic and social welfare? (2) To what extent are employment patterns associated with the use of specific agricultural technologies and innovations? (3) What role do rural infrastructure and institutions play? (4) How do labour conditions compare in relevant rural sectors? (5) What are conducive household-level and contextual conditions for sustainable job futures?

Methodology
Together with local partners we collect household- and individual-level data as well as employer data through structured personal interviews. Statistical models are developed and estimated to analyze people’s access to different types of employment, determinants of participation, labor conditions, and effects on income, food security, gender roles, and inequality. Employment trends and their drivers are analyzed with panel data.

Main Cooperation Partners

• University of Bonn
• University of Cologne
• University of Nairobi, Kenya
• Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania
• University of Namibia, Namibia
• University of Zambia, Zambia 

Main Funding Partners
German Research Foundation (DFG)

Duration of the Project
2022 - 2025

Project Homepage
https://www.crc228.de/

Team

• Prof. Dr. Matin Qaim (project leader)
• Dr. Martin Parlasca
• Chrispinus Mutsami
• Jonas Guthoff
• Jackson Elias Nzira
• Jessy Amarachi Ezebuihe

Contact
 Prof. Dr. Matin Qaim, Phone.: +49-228-73-1847

Keywords
Climate change mitigation, health co-benefits, facility-based nutrition intervention, hospitals

Countries
Germany

Summary
The project 'Climate Change mitigation in Hospitals by Optimizing Supply Chains' (KliOL) aims to create a greenhouse gas calculator for hospitals with a special focus on greenhouse gas emissions from supply chains ("Scope 3" emissions) using Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD) as an example. In parallel, exemplary climate change measures will be implemented at the UKHD and evaluated with regard to their impact on the greenhouse gas balance, financial aspects and possible health effects. Ina Danquah and her team have developed a cafeteria-based sustainable diet intervention and identified the impacts on dietary practices, physical and mental wellbeing, greenhouse gas emissions, and costs of the diet.

Methodology
In this quasi-experiment, plant-based menus and educational material on sustainable diets were provided in the largest cafeteria of a German hospital for 3 months. Regular customers (>1/week) in this cafeteria and in a cafeteria without the intervention completed a questionnaire about their socio-demographic and dietary characteristics before and after the intervention period. We also estimated greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) from food intake by Life-Cycle Analysis (LCA) and documented the opportunity costs, staff costs, and monetary costs of the implementation. Difference-in-differences approaches were used to define the effects on sustainable dietary practice, wellbeing, GHGE, and costs.

Main Cooperation Partners

• Dr. Alina Herrmann, Heidelberg Institute for Global Health (HIGH), Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
• Dr. Bernd Franke, Institute for Energy and Environment Research (ifeu), Heidelberg, Germany  

Main Funding Partners
German Federal Ministry for Economy and Climate Protection (BMWK) – National Climate Protection Initiative (NKI)

Duration of the Project
3 years (01 Sep 2021 – 31 Aug 2024)

Project Homepage
https://www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/klimaschutz-in-kliniken-durch-optimierung-der-lieferketten-kliol

Team

• Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah
• Laura Harrison (candidate Dr. med.)

Contact
Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah, Phone.: +49-228-73-1970

Summary
The Malabo Montpellier Panel works to accelerate progress towards sustainable food systems transformation in Africa. It identifies areas of progress and positive change across the continent and assesses what successful countries have done differently. It identifies and analyses the most important policy and institutional innovations and programmatic interventions that can be replicated and scaled up by other countries.

The Malabo Montpellier Panel, co-chaired by Dr. Ousmane Badiane (Executive Chairperson, AKADEMIYA2063) and Prof. Joachim von Braun (Distinguished Professor, University of Bonn), convenes 18 leading experts in agriculture, ecology, nutrition, and food security to facilitate policy innovation by African governments to accelerate progress towards sustainable food systems transformation in Africa.

The affiliated Malabo Montpellier Forum provides a platform to promote policy innovation by using the evidence produced by the Panel to facilitate dialogue and exchange among high-level decision-makers on African food systems transformation, climate change adaptation, and mitigation. The Forum is co-chaired by H.E. Hailemariam Dessalegn, former Prime Minister of Ethiopia, and H.E. Assia Bensalah Alaoui, Ambassador at Large to His Majesty Mohamed VI, the King of Morocco.

Main Cooperation Partners
AKADEMIYA2063

Main Funding Partners

• The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
• The African Development Bank (AfDB)
• The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

Publications

• Malabo Montpellier Panel Brochure
• Malabo Montpellier Panel Factsheet

All other publications can be found on the project website.

Duration of the Project
01.01.2023 - 31.12.2026

Project Homepage
https://www.mamopanel.org/

Team
Panel Members

Contact
Prof. Dr. Joachim von Braun, Phone.: +49-228-73-1800

Keywords
Diabetes mellitus, OMICS, dietary patterns, migration, ethnicity, adults

Countries
South Africa, Ghana, The Netherlands, Sweden

Summary
The OPTIMA project constitutes a primary prevention project with a personalized approach to combat the growing global prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), collectively termed dysglycaemia. Specifically, this project addresses the differences in the pathophysiology of T2D by ethnicity and sex, which so far, has not resulted in respective guidelines for the prevention of T2D. Therefore, the overarching goal of the OPTIMA project is to develop ethnic- and sex-specific clinically feasible and cost-effective algorithms for the early prediction of dysglycaemia to inform culturally acceptable preventative dietary modifications in European and SSA populations. In the OPTIMA project, Danquah and her team lead the work on the statistical analysis of proteomics data and the identification of dietary patterns related to candidate biomarkers.

Methodology
We work with prospective cohort data from two African cohorts (South African and Ghanaian) and one European cohort (Swedish adults). The study uniquely combines proteomics and metabolomics to identify known and novel ethnic- and sex-specific biomarkers that will not only provide pathophysiological insights into dysglycaemia in different populations, but also improve early prediction of dysglycaemia in European and African populations. We will also identify objective biomarkers reflecting differences in diet that relate to risk of dysglycaemia across European and African populations, which will be used to inform targeted dietary modifications for primary prevention of T2D in the different populations. The cost-effectiveness of the targeted dietary modifications, as well as the perceptions among target populations regarding these early preventative strategies will be assessed in the respective countries (South Africa, Ghana, Germany, Sweden) to inform future implementation of personalised prevention strategies.

Main Cooperation Partners

• Prof. Julia Goedecke, South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), South Africa
• Prof. Tommy Olsson, Umeå University (UMU), Umeå, Sweden
• Prof. Rikard Landberg, Chalmers University of Science and Technology (Chalmers), Gothenburg, Sweden
• Prof. Charles Agyemang, University Medical Center Amsterdam, University of Amsterdam (AMC), Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Main Funding Partners

• German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF)
• ERAPerMed – Prevention in Personalized Medicine

Publications

• Katte JC, Sibomana L, Hapunda G, Cikomola JC, Abidha CA.Diabetes in sub-Saharan Africa: what are the next steps? Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2022 Nov;10(11):766-768. doi: 10.1016/S2213-8587(22)00274-1.
• Bonsu Osei T, Mank I, Sorgho R, Nayna Schwerdtle P, Hövener C, Fischer F, Razum O, Danquah I. Aetiological research on the health of migrants living in Germany: a systematic literature review. BMJ Open. 2022 May 30;12:e058712.
• Osei TB, van Dijk AM, Dingerink S, Chilunga FP, Beune E, Meeks KAC, Bahendeka S, Schulze MB, Agyemang C, Nicolaou M, Holleboom AG, Danquah I. Reduced Rank Regression-Derived Dietary Patterns Related to the Fatty Liver Index and Associations with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus among Ghanaian Populations under Transition: The RODAM Study. Nutrients. 2021 Oct 20;13(11):3679

Duration of the Project
3 years (01 Jan 2023 – 31 Dec 2025)

Team

• Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah
• Carol Akinyi Abidha (candidate PhD)
• Dr. Maike Albers
• Tracy Bonsu Osei (candidate PhD)

Contact
Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah, Phone.: +49-228-73-1970

Keywords
Obesity, diabetes mellitus, migration, ethnicity, aetiology, sub-Saharan Africa

Countries
Ghana, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany

Summary
The RODAM study assesses the health and wellbeing of Ghanaian residents in Ghana and Europe and follows them up over time. With this unique approach the RODAM study attempts to unravel the causes of cardio-metabolic disease and its risk factors among African migrants in Europe and non-migrants sub-Saharan Africa. Ina Danquah and her team lead the work on nutrition-related risk factors.

Methodology
In five study sites (rural Ghana, urban Ghana, Amsterdam, London, Berlin), representative samples of almost 6000 Ghanaian adults were recruited between 2012 and 2015. The participants underwent physical examinations, questionnaire-based interviews, and biological sample collection. For the assessment of the usual diet, a Ghana-specific food propensity questionnaire was developed, tested, and applied by the German Institute for Human Nutrition – Potsdam-Rehbrücke (DIfE). Follow-up examinations were conducted in rural Ghana, urban Ghana and Amsterdam between 2019 and 2021. The same data and sample collection methods were applied. For nutrition-related questions, we focus on dietary pattern construction, using data-driven, hypothesis-based and hybrid methods.

Main Cooperation Partners

• Prof. Charles Agyemang and Prof. Karien Stronks, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, University of Amsterdam (AMC), Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• Prof. Liam Smeeth, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), London, United Kingdom
• Prof. Ellis Owusu-Dabo, Kwame Nkrumah University for Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana
• Prof. Frank Mockenhaupt, Institute of Tropical Medicine and International Health (ITMIH) and Prof. Joachim Spranger, Dean of Medical Faculty, Charité – Universitaetsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
• Prof. Ama de Graft-Aikins, Regional Institute for Population Studies (RIPS), University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana

Main Funding Partners
European Commission, 7th Framework Programme and European Research Council (ERC) (PI: Charles Agyemang)

Publications

• Danquah I, Mank I, Hampe CS, Meeks KAC, Agyemang C, Owusu-Dabo E, Smeeth L, Klipstein-Grobusch K, Bahendeka S, Spranger J, Mockenhaupt FP, Schulze MB, Rolandsson O. Subgroups of adult-onset diabetes: a data-driven cluster analysis in a Ghanaian population. Sci Rep. 2023 Jul 4;13(1):10756. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-37494-2.
• Osei TB, van Dijk AM, Dingerink S, Chilunga FP, Beune E, Meeks KAC, Bahendeka S, Schulze MB, Agyemang C, Nicolaou M, Holleboom AG, Danquah I. Reduced Rank Regression-Derived Dietary Patterns Related to the Fatty Liver Index and Associations with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus among Ghanaian Populations under Transition: The RODAM Study. Nutrients. 2021 Oct 20;13(11):3679.
• Assmus F, Galbete C, Knueppel S, Schulze MB, Beune E, Meeks K, Nicolaou M, Amoah S, Agyemang C, Klipstein-Grobusch K, Bahendeka S, Spranger J, Mockenhaupt FP, Smeeth L, Stronks K, Danquah I. Carbohydrate-dense snacks are a key feature of the nutrition transition among Ghanaian adults - findings from the RODAM study. Food Nutr Res. 2021 May 6;65.
• Hampe CS, Sahabandu D, Kaiser V, Telieps T, Smeeth L, Agyemang C, Spranger J, Schulze MB, Mockenhaupt FP, Danquah I*, Rolandsson O*. Geographic location determines beta-cell autoimmunity among adult Ghanaians: Findings from the RODAM study. Immun Inflamm Dis. 2020 Sep;8(3):299-309. * both authors contributed equally
• Danquah I, Addo J, Boateng D, Klipstein-Grobusch K, Meeks K, Galbete C, Beune E, Bahendeka S, Spranger J, Mockenhaupt FP, Stronks K, Agyemang C, Schulze MB, Smeeth L. Early-life factors are associated with waist circumference and type 2 diabetes among Ghanaian adults: The RODAM Study. Sci Rep. 2019 Jul 26;9(1):10848.
• Galbete C, Nicolaou M, Meeks K, Klipstein-Grobusch K, de-Graft Aikins A, Addo J, Amoah SK, Smeeth L, Owusu-Dabo E, Spranger J, Agyemang C, Mockenhaupt FP, Beune E, Stronks K, Schulze MB, Danquah I. Dietary patterns and type 2 diabetes among Ghanaian migrants in Europe and their compatriots in Ghana: the RODAM study. Nutr Diabetes. 2018 Apr 25;8(1):25.
• Danquah I, Galbete C, Meeks K, Nicolaou M, Klipstein-Grobusch K, Addo J, Aikins AD, Amoah SK, Agyei-Baffour P, Boateng D, Bedu-Addo G, Spranger J, Smeeth L, Owusu-Dabo E, Agyemang C, Mockenhaupt FP, Beune E, Schulze MB. Food variety, dietary diversity, and type 2 diabetes in a multi-center cross-sectional study among Ghanaian migrants in Europe and their compatriots in Ghana: the RODAM study. Eur J Nutr. 2018 Dec;57(8):2723-2733.
• Galbete C, Nicolaou M, Meeks KA, de-Graft Aikins A, Addo J, Amoah SK, Smeeth L, Owusu-Dabo E, Klipstein-Grobusch K, Bahendeka S, Agyemang C, Mockenhaupt FP, Beune EJ, Stronks K, Schulze MB, Danquah I. Food consumption, nutrient intake, and dietary patterns in Ghanaian migrants in Europe and their compatriots in Ghana. Food Nutr Res. 2017 Jul 6;61(1):1341809
• Osei-Kwasi HA, Boateng D, Danquah I, Holdsworth M, Mejean C, Terragni L, Powell K, Schulze MB, Owusu-Dabo E, Meeks K, Beune E, Agyemang C, Klipstein- Grobusch K, Stronks K, Galbete C, Nicolaou M. Acculturation and Food Intake Among Ghanaian Migrants in Europe: Findings From the RODAM Study. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2020 Feb;52(2):114-125.
• Agyemang C, Meeks K, Beune E, Owusu-Dabo E, Mockenhaupt FP, Addo J, de Graft Aikins A, Bahendeka S, Danquah I, Schulze MB, Spranger J, Burr T, Agyei-Baffour P, Amoah SK, Galbete C, Henneman P, Klipstein-Grobusch K, Nicolaou M, Adeyemo A, van Straalen J, Smeeth L, Stronks K. Obesity and type 2 diabetes in sub-Saharan Africans - Is the burden in today's Africa similar to African migrants in Europe? The RODAM study. BMC Med. 2016 Oct 21;14(1):166.
• Agyemang C, Beune E, Meeks K, Addo J, Aikins AD, Bahendeka S, Danquah I, Mockenhaupt FP, Schulze MB, Klipstein-Grobusch K, Smeeth L, Stronks K. Innovative ways of studying the effect of migration on obesity and diabetes beyond the common designs: lessons from the RODAM study. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2017 Mar;1391(1):54-70.

Duration of the Project
4 years (01 Jan 2012 – 30 Sep 2015) 7th framework programme
5 years (01 Jan 2018 – 31 Dec 2022) Consolidator grant

Project Homepage
https://www.rod-am.eu/

Team

• Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah
• Tracy Bonsu Osei (candidate Dr. med.)
• Alice Rodriguez Rein (candidate M.Sc.)
• Alexandra Meus (candidate Dr. med.)

Contact
Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah, Phone.: +49-228-73-1970

Keywords
Vegetable production and consumption, Healthy diets, Micronutrients, Food production technologies

Countries
Germany, Ghana, other countries in Africa

Summary
African countries will need to significantly increase their production and consumption of vegetables to address malnutrition and ensure access to healthy foods for the growing population. This is a major challenge, especially in the context of climate change, as heat, water scarcity, and increasing problems with plant diseases and pests make it difficult to increase productivity in the open field. Greenhouse vegetable production could be an important part of the solution for both urban and rural areas. The START project develops new greenhouse technologies ( “deep water cultivation” techniques) for efficient production of various types of vegetables. Research and testing grounds are established at the University of Bonn, considering current and future conditions in Africa.

Ghana is used as one country example. ZEF researchers collect comprehensive data from rural and urban households in Ghana to analyze the role of various types of vegetables for people’s diets and livelihoods and how production and consumption may potentially change through the new greenhouse technologies. Preferences for different local and exotic vegetables as well as the potential acceptance of new production technologies are also investigated. Based on various data sources, future scenarios in which new types of greenhouses produce more vegetables at affordable prices and with less seasonal variation are developed and analyzed in terms of their impacts on nutrition, health, socioeconomic development, and environmental sustainability.

Main Cooperation Partners

• University of Bonn, Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation (INRES)
• University of Ghana
• RWTH Aachen
• Bio Innovation Park Rheinland

Main Funding Partners
BMBF

Duration of the Project
04/2023 - 03/2027

Team
at ZEF:

• Prof. Dr. Matin Qaim (lead)
• Dr. Martin Parlasca
• Elisa Langella
• Benjamin Bonzo

at INRES (Sustainability Campus Klein-Altendorf):

• Prof. Dr. Ralf Pude
• Dr. Marcell Moll

at University of Ghana:

•  Prof. Dr. Felix Asante

Contact
Prof. Dr. Matin Qaim, Phone.: +49-228-73-1847

Keywords
Climate change mitigation, sustainable diets, obesity, diabetes mellitus, urban, adults

Countries
Burkina Faso

Summary
The global obesity epidemic and its adverse health effects have reached sub-Saharan Africa. In some urban settings, like Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou, up to 43% of the adult population are overweight or obese. At the same time, modernised food systems are responsible for 26% of global greenhouse gas emissions, 50% of land use and 70% of freshwater use. International guidelines on the treatment of overweight and obesity recommend dietary intervention programmes that promote reduced calorie intake and increased physical activity. So far, weight loss interventions rarely consider sustainable dietary concepts, including healthfulness, affordability, cultural appropriateness and environmental friendliness. Therefore, we conducted a family-based, randomised, controlled trial (RCT) for the effects of a sustainable weight loss intervention on cardiometabolic, environmental, and economic outcomes in urban Burkina Faso.

Methodology
The project consists of three phases: i) formative and co-design phase using qualitative and quantitative methods, incl. in-depth interviews about the perceptions of healthy and environmentally friendly diets as well as exploratory dietary pattern analysis to describe prevailing dietary practices, ii) implementation and impact evaluation of the RCT, comparing a 6-month sustainable dietary weight loss intervention programme (n=125) with standard weight loss information material and 5 min oral counselling (n=125) (intervention phase: 0-6 months; consolidation phase: 7-12 months), and iii) process evaluation, incl. qualitative impact mapping through focus group discussions (FGDs), cost-effectiveness and budget impact analysis.

Main Cooperation Partners

• Prof. Abdramane Soura and Dr. Roch Modeste Millogo, Institute Supérieure des Sciences de la Population, University of Ouagadougou (ISSP), Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
• Dr. Alina Herrmann, Heidelberg Institute for Global Health (HIGH), Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany

Main Funding Partners
Robert Bosch Foundation (RBS) – Robert Bosch Junior Professorship 2019

Publications

• Weil K, Coulibaly I, Fuelbert H, Herrmann A, Millogo RM, Danquah I. Dietary patterns and their socioeconomic factors of adherence among adults in urban Burkina Faso: a cross-sectional study. J Health Popul Nutr. 2023 Oct 10;42(1):107. doi: 10.1186/s41043-023-00451-w.
• Herrmann A, Gonnet A, Millogo RM, d'Arc Kabré WJ, Beremwidougou TR, Coulibaly I, Ouili I, Zoromé S, Weil K, Fuelbert H, Soura A, Danquah I. Sustainable dietary weight loss intervention and its effects on cardiometabolic parameters and greenhouse gas emissions: study protocol of a randomised controlled trial with overweight and obese adults in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. BMJ Open. 2023 Apr 4;13(4):e070524. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-070524.
• Herrmann A und Danquah I (2022). Klimawandel und Gesundheit aus Globaler Perspektive. DIVI Jahresbuch 2022/2023. MMV Medizinisch Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft.

Duration of the Project
5 years (01 Jul 2019 – 30 Jun 2025)

Team

• Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah
• Anaïs Gonnet (project coordinator)
• Konstantin Weil (candidate Dr. med.)
• Hannah Fülbert (candidate Dr. med.)
• Dorothee Liu (candidate Dr. med.)

Contact
Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah, Phone.: +49-228-73-1970