Blogs

Health facilities are vulnerable to impacts from disasters, such as earthquakes or floods. These disasters can disrupt health facility functionality either through direct impacts, such as building damage, or indirect impacts, such as disruptions to supply chains. In addition, disasters impact local communities, increasing health needs and disrupting health demand through reduced accessibility due to […]

In global supply chain context, the Living Income (LI) concept is increasingly recognised as a key indicator for understanding poverty. It has grown importance particularly when it comes institutional due diligence, such as the EU Deforestation Regulation and Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, and private sector sustainability programmes. Yet, several methodological questions still surround the […]

Nigeria holds considerable potential for vegetable production, which can help meet the high domestic demand for fresh produce and improve the country’s food security. Yet, many farmers struggle with low productivity and getting vegetables fast to market in good condition remains a major challenge. Post-harvest losses, mismatches between supply and demand, and reliance on informal […]

This seems to be the universal response when questions are raised about the meaning or implications of an evaluation, a rapid assessment, or policy review. Results may be clear and factual, but once they reach politicians, managers, or decision-makers, evidence is often filtered through their beliefs, values, and priorities, potentially leading to misinterpretation or selective […]

A newly published blog by Oliver Callaghan, Abishkar Subedi from Wageningen University and Research and KIT Institute’s senior advisor Eelco Jacobs, explores the question: can seed governance contribute to peace in fragile and conflict-affected contexts? Written in the context of Action Learning Process 4 (ALP-4) as part of the ISSD Africa programme, the blog unpacks […]

Agri-Food Industry Organizations (AFIOs) have increasingly gained recognition and attention as key actors in fostering inclusive agricultural transformation. Defined as organisations that can bring together farmers’ groups, cooperatives, and agri-food SMEs, AFIOs are often engaged in activities ranging from production and aggregation to processing and trade. With their deep embeddedness in local value chains, their […]

Today, April 7th, 2025, is World Health Day and marks the launch of a year-long campaign on maternal and newborn health. Titled Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures, the campaign calls on governments and the global health community to intensify efforts to end preventable maternal and newborn deaths and to prioritize women’s long-term health and well-being. At […]

For International Womxn’s Day we take the opportunity to critically reflect on the climate crisis and its intersection with gender. We use an intersectional feminist approach to highlight the relational nature of power, which dictates how climate crises and gender equality are being framed, and how that affects the solutions proposed to combat climate change. […]

Have you ever heard of schistosomiasis? Probably not. Half of the population in Tanzania is affected by this parasitic disease that can lead to severe health problems. KIT epidemiologists Jake Mathewson and Ente Rood are working together with Dr. Humphrey Mazigo, a Professor of Public Health, from the Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences […]

Amartya Sen, the renowned Indian philosopher, economist and Nobel laureate, published his book, Development as Freedom, in 1999.  In this masterpiece he articulates a vision for development out of poverty that goes beyond basic income and describes the process of development as the need to provide choices for people.  The concept of freedom is foundational […]

You may think of tuberculosis (TB) as a deadly infection of the past, yet it remains one of the leading causes of mortality in many countries today. While TB exists in every part of the world, 80% of cases and deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. Epidemiologists at KIT Institute have spent over a […]

In a speech delivered at the launch of the Feminist Edge alumni network, a professional development program for gender trainers at KIT Institute, Arturo Escobar invited us to recognise care as the foundation of life and therefore, as central to systemic radical social change. In today’s fast-paced world, where productivity and progress often overshadow the […]

In October, global health professionals gathered in Berlin for the World Health Summit (12–14 October), under the theme “Taking Responsibility for Health in a Fragmenting World”. KIT Institute Advisor Harry Coleman was in attendance and sent us his dispatch from the summit.

Our Gender Advisors Joke Manders, Camilo Antillon and Mariam Charara Ruiz were in Kenya beginning of July to take part in the Young Women for Awareness, Agency, Advocacy and Accountability (YW4A) Regional Impact Symposium. They sent us their dispatch from Mombasa. After five years of implementation (2021–2025) across Egypt, Kenya, Palestine and South Sudan, the […]

Our colleague Nicola Francesconi was at Michigan State University (MSU) from 23 to 26 June for the CANR-Europe Partnership Forum, which brought together researchers and institutional partners from across Europe and the US. He sent us his dispatch from East Lansing, home to MSU. Earlier this summer, I had the pleasure of participating in the […]

Senior epidemiologist Mirjam Bakker was in Pakistan for the start of a new research project and visited a chest camp. She sent us a dispatch from Islamabad. From 26 to 31 January I travelled to Islamabad in Pakistan to prepare and join the 2-day kick-off and protocol development workshop of an exciting new research project with the objective to develop innovative active case finding (ACF) approaches to optimise […]

Our colleagues Nicola Francesconi, Lisa de Graaf, Boudy van Schagen, Coen Buvelot, and Sandra Quintero were in South Sudan from the 17 to 21 February for the annual A3SEED project retreat. They sent us their dispatch from Juba. Since 2021, KIT Institute has collaborated with IFDC on the A3-SEED project (Accelerating Agriculture and Agribusiness) in […]

The Ministry of Health of Rwanda is making great strides in their fight against Tuberculosis. In their efforts to further reduce the burden of TB, the Rwanda Biomedical Center (BRC), with support from KIT Institute, has implemented a MATCH analysis to identify areas where TB case finding within Key and Vulnerable Populations (KVP) will need […]

Knowledge is power and, for now, knowledge is dominated by the richest countries. Thus Dutch magazine Vice Versa writes in its report on the Power of Knowledge conference; Kennis dekoloniseren is pijnlijk en nodig (Decolonising knowledge is painful and necessary). The annual Power of Knowledge conference is the latest initiative to bring together professionals concerned with […]

Thirty students sponsored by the Kenniscentrum Global Health joined the Power of Knowledge event on 1 September 2022. They were all asked to share their reflections on the event; of which five were chosen and published. Creating equitable partnerships The main goal of the event was to examine how the North-South paradigm shapes the flow […]

In Italian, ‘Se vogliamo che tutto rimanga come è, bisogna che tutto cambi .‘ In the lead up the Power of Knowledge event, Sandra Alba, Senior Epidemiologist at KIT, grapples with what redressing the power imbalances in knowledge exchange means to her and why it’s vital we address this issue now. This famous Italian saying comes […]

As a public health professional who has written several peer-reviewed articles, Dr. Oti is very vocal about the power imbalances that plague the practice of global health. He has spoken at many events about decolonizing knowledge. Before he travels to Amsterdam from Nairobi, Kenya, he speaks to us about why he considers it important to […]