UQ and Sub-Saharan Africa

University of Queensland (UQ) researchers are helping workers in developing countries make the agribusiness sector fairer and better value.

Global businesses, donors and governments have each pursued a Green Revolution agenda in Africa, Asia and South America since the 1960s. Its aim was, in theory, to produce more food, reducing food insecurity and poverty. This was done via improved seed varieties, chemical fertilisers and other agrochemicals.

UQ has delivered the Hexapro vaccine candidate from the US with the Vaxxas high-density microarray patch (HD-MAP).

In a world first, a satellite-based global coral reef bleaching monitoring system will scan the Earth’s oceans for coral-killing bleaching events in real-time.

Africa is often referred to as the cradle of humankind – the birthplace of our species, Homo sapiens. There is evidence of the development of early symbolic behaviours such as pigment use and perforated shell ornaments in Africa, but so far most of what we know about the development of complex social behaviours such as burial and mourning has come from Eurasia.

An international team, led by UQ researcher Professor Anna Koltunow, seek to improve the lives of farmers in sub-Saharan Africa using self-reproducing crops.