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Africa holds many of the world’s most challenging and complex problems. Hunger, disease, economic instability and social and political strife are among the many crises that Africans face daily.

Extensive problems such as these need immediate answers. Ohio State is leading the way to solve and eliminate these problems.

The recently formed Africa Network allows individuals in different areas of academia and research to work together with one common goal: Creating and sustaining peace and prosperity on the stricken continent.

“There are more than a hundred members in this network, all doing significant work on the continent of Africa,” said Jacqueline Jones Royster, executive dean of the Colleges of the Arts and Sciences and original organizer of the network.

The core mission is to provide a forum for university members to develop models for sustainable action; form a community for action-minded scholars; serve as a resource about African partnerships, teaching and research; and produce solutions by turning knowledge into community action.

The Colleges of the Arts and Sciences has taken the administrative lead in forming the network, but is partnered with the Office of International Affairs and the Center for African Studies. Through the partnership, expansive cross-discipline expertise is available to help solve Africa’s troubles.

While the network acts as a one-stop shop for Ohio State’s research and collaboration on the continent, the program is made up of numerous projects in various fields of work.

“Ohio State is not shy about stating that it is a global institution,” Royster said. “We cannot operate on a global landscape if we ignore an entire continent, so awareness about the work that our faculty, staff and students are doing in Africa is critical.”

The Africa Network projects are as diverse as the problems that plague the continent. A few of the projects include:

• Women’s Work: Janet Parrott, an assistant professor in the Department of Theatre, is collaborating with Columbus hospice care activist Cathe Kobacker on a documentary about South African women battling HIV/AIDS, and the American women who want to work with them.

• BioCassava Plus Project: The root of the cassava plant is the primary food source for 250 million people, including sub-Saharan Africans. Richard Sayre, a professor in plant, cellular and molecular biology, is the head of BioCassava Plus, a multidisciplinary scientist group working to make the plant safer, more nutritious and disease-resistant and easier to store for longer periods of time.

• Thoza-Embangweni Adopt-A-School Program:
The program was initiated 10 years ago by Columbus-area schoolchildren who donated books to schools in northern Malawi. Today, Ohio State students raise money to purchase building materials for the schools and then travel to remote locations to add classrooms and restroom facilities to school buildings that need them.

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Ohio State’s Africa Network turns education, experience into action