RFPs: Accelerating Catalyzing Solutions for Climate Change’s Impact on Health in Ethiopia

This Grand Challenges request for proposals seeks innovative research and pilot/feasibility projects utilizing transdisciplinary approaches to better adapt to, mitigate, or reverse the combined, deleterious effects of climate change on health in Ethiopia. These innovations include early warning and disease surveillance systems to respond to climate-event-driven surges in malaria and other vector borne diseases; as well as improved mapping of expanded vector ranges and vector-borne disease transmission. Preference will be given to innovations that are formulated locally or adapted from other contexts. They are especially interested in 1) locally led, system-level innovations that are scalable and sustainable and 2) cross-cutting solutions at the intersection of multiple scientific and engineering disciplines.

Topic Areas

• Health Outcomes – including systemic and compounding impacts of climate change on health. They are seeking solutions targeting:
  • Early Warning and Disease Surveillance: They seek proposals that build resilient systems to mitigate health impact of climate change. Solutions may include: accurate surveillance systems for early detection of vector-borne, waterborne; and zoonotic diseases; that predict the impact of climate-related events (heat, flood, population, vegetation; and zoonotic migration) and vectors and diseases introduced to new localities. Where possible, employment opportunities should be created for rural women.
  • Gender Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion: Women are disproportionately impacted by climate-sensitive health risks. Women are themselves a vulnerable group, and they can also fall into many other vulnerable groups. As such; they seek solutions that address the increased risks related to maternal; newborn, and child health. Solutions should address gender disparities in access to food, health care, education; and economic well-being. Also of interest are solutions that address the vulnerability to forms of gender-based violence and post-traumatic stress disorders arising from climate change-driven conflict.
  • Community Health Ecosystems: They are looking for proposals that strengthen the resilience and adaptability of health care service delivery and supply chains to climate related changes. These solutions can include anticipatory action; adaptation of provisions; quality, and accessibility of essential services to vulnerable communities; especially women, capacity building for health care professionals and community health actors. They are also interested in solutions that help individuals and families respond locally to new ailments and challenges brought about by climate-related events.
  • Measurement & Evaluation (M&E): They encourage proposals focused on development of harmonized M&E frameworks and systems for programs that better incorporate climate considerations.
• Nutrition — unaernutntion is a consequence or ciimate cnange—ana it makes people more suscepuoie to its effects, particularly extreme heat exposure which poses unique risks for pregnant women, newborns, and infants under 2 years old. They are seeking solutions that address:
  • Heat stress and nutritional status; in particular gestation weight gain, low birth weight; preterm birth, small for gestational age, early growth faltering (in children <6 months), and child wasting.
  • Heat stress and micronutrient status; including anemia and breastmilk quality.
  • Improved real-time monitoring and surveillance of wasting and the spatial relationship between climate vulnerability and undernutrition.
  • Integration of climate risk into social protection schemes and the inclusion of nutrition products and services as part of an essential nutrition package within social safety net programs.
  • Innovation in the composition of specialized nutritious foods (e.g., RUTFs to treat severe acute malnutrition), considering susceptibility of raw ingredients to climate shocks; price volatility, and decreased nutritional quality.
• Knowledge Management and Data Integration of Climate and Health Databases – Many vector-borne diseases may increase in localities that were not prepared for them before the advent of climate-change. They seek solutions that integrate data from climate scientists, disease modelers, and government health officials to help address the rise of specific diseases. Potential areas of interest include, but are not limited to:
  • Facilitating community participation in/crowd-sourcing data collection to track climate change impact at local level (e.g.; changes in weather patterns or detection of invasive vector species)
  • Integrating commercially available databases and local data into early warning systems that can drive decision making, working to ensure sex-disaggregated data when relevant.
  • Researching the relationship between climate change and the spread of vector-borne diseases (e.g.; changes to vector populations or disease transmission dynamics) to develop early warning systems to prevent outbreaks.

Funding Information

• The funding level is up to USD $100,000.00, for each grant.
• The period of performance is up to two years.

They are looking for proposals that:

• Demonstrate that projects are led by Ethiopian investigators, local stakeholders, or community-led organizations. Global partners may be included, but proposals must demonstrate at least 80% of the funding is going to an investigator in Ethiopia. A principal investigator should not submit more than one proposal as a principal investigator.
• Come from women-led organizations or involve projects led by women and focused on reaching women.
• Articulate how the project will lead to near-term impact and how the impact will be sustained over the lifetime of the project and beyond.
• Articulate the scalability of the solution beyond a small local region or population. Strong consideration will be given to approaches that can scale to multiple geographic areas, demographic groups, etc.
• Demonstrate engagement with local and/or regional communities, decision- makers, and adopters.
• Promote inter-sectoral co-ordination and collaboration.

Geography of Interest

• Ethiopia

Eligibility Criteria

• This initiative is open to organizations based in Ethiopia, including nonprofit organizations, for-profit companies, government agencies and academic institutions. Collaborations with global partners is acceptable, however, at least 80% of the funding needs to be awarded directly to organizations based in Ethiopia

Ineligible

• They will not fund proposals that:
  • Do not support communities and countries to adapt and be resilient to the effects of climate change on health in Ethiopia.
  • Do not demonstrate that the majority of the work proposed will be undertaken by investigators and/ or local stakeholders living in Ethiopia.
  • Do not plan for or demonstrate a pathway to sustainable impact and scalability.
  • Are not linked to or have no plan to engage relevant key stakeholders and decision makers from the affected communities.

For more information, visit Grand Challenges.