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Global North–Global South research partnerships are still inequitable

Nature Human Behaviour volume 7, pages 2042–2043 (2023)Cite this article

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Previous authors have called for more equitable Southern involvement in agenda-setting processes2,3 and produced guidance for transboundary research partnerships4. Nevertheless, our experience and that of Southern colleagues shows that the design of research projects and associated capacity-sharing activities and the negotiation of partnerships (including budget and responsibilities) continue to be led and dominated by the interests of Northern donors and scholars.

Currently, research agendas are frequently set by the broad thematic concerns of Northern donors, governments and funding agencies. This benefits Northern-based researchers who are able to follow their latest thinking. It also prevents researchers from pursuing long-term investigations and effective agenda-setting processes that respond to community needs. For instance, ‘forest landscape restoration’ has been targeted recently as a ‘nature-based’ solution to biodiversity loss and climate change. In such cases, Northern academics tend to prioritize global metrics to identify restoration potential and are less concerned with context-specific studies, such as land tenure security, that can provide critical insights to their effectiveness5.

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Acknowledgements

We thank N. Hockley for his comments on this piece. O.S.R. is funded by the European Union (DCI-PANAF/2020/420-028) through the African Research Initiative for Scientific Excellence (ARISE) pilot programme, and the USAID Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research programme (AID-OAA-A-11-00012). O.R.A. acknowledges the mandates given by the Commission for Research Partnerships with Developing Countries (KFPE) to the Centre for Development and Environment at the University of Bern to work on the topic of decolonization of Northern–Southern research collaboration.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. École Supérieure des Sciences Agronomiques, University of Antananarivo, Antananarivo, Madagascar

    O. Sarobidy Rakotonarivo & O. Ravaka Andriamihaja

  2. Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    O. Ravaka Andriamihaja

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  1. O. Sarobidy Rakotonarivo
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  2. O. Ravaka Andriamihaja
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Correspondence to O. Sarobidy Rakotonarivo.

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Rakotonarivo, O.S., Andriamihaja, O.R. Global North–Global South research partnerships are still inequitable. Nat Hum Behav 7, 2042–2043 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01728-0

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