Innovative and visionary thinking combined with inspired leadership and mobilisation can go a long way in bringing relief to Africa’s poor. But is that enough?

Take the case of Ethiopia’s Southern Nations Nationalities and People’s Region (SNNPR), where poor hygiene and sanitation are the main causes of ill health. In 2003, the region’s Bureau of Health launched a community health strategy that aimed to educate households on hygiene and sanitation and promote the building of household latrines.

More than 70% of the world's HIV-positive population live in Sub-Saharan Africa. At the end of 2010, the number stood at 22.9 million. That's the grim and sobering reality and the African AIDS community has every reason to view the situation with great pessimism. But the news isn't always bad.

While rainfed agriculture accounts for more than 95% of farmed land in Sub-Saharan Africa, groundwater is pumped from the ground for use in most households in rural areas. The latter is also used for small-scale irrigation. As rainfall patterns become increasingly variable while climate change tightens its grip on the continent and water becomes scarcer, access to groundwater will become progressively more urgent.

There are many terms used to describe the processes by which knowledge generated through research finds its way to those who need it—be they practitioners (health workers, farmers, engineers, community workers) or policymakers in government and other agencies. The terms “research communication”, “research dissemination” and “research utilisation” (or “research into use”) are familiar in the university and development research sectors.