How COVID-19 has affected research productivity in Africa: lessons for the future

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the COVID-19 pandemic has differentially affected the productivity of researchers from different backgrounds and showcase the factors that are responsible for these inequalities. Data for this study were collected using an electronic questionnaire via Qualtrics, distributed to researchers across Africa. Three hundred and eleven Participants completed the questionnaire in August/September 2020. Our results show that although overall time spent working during COVID-19 has increased, this has not translated into enhanced levels of productivity. Researchers are spending about 22 hours per week extra working than before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Male researchers were able to spend more time on publications, patents, and consulting activities than their female counterparts. .

KEYWORDS:

• Africa
• Covid-19 pandemic
• gender
• research productivity
• workload

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Gender, Age, Marital Status, Educational level, Kind of organization, Research position, Contract type, Closure of organization dur to COVID-19, Working out of office due to COVID-19, Effect of COVID-19 on income, Effect of COVID-19 on workload, Effect of COVID-19 on mental health, Mental health support by employer for COVID-19.

2. Algeria, Benin, Cameroon, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Additional information

Funding

This research received did not benefit from any specific grant from any public, commercial, or not-for-profit funding agency.

Notes on contributors

Olalekan Adekola

Olalekan Adekola: is a senior lecturer in Geography at School of Humanities, York St John University, United Kingdom. His research background is in geography and environmental sciences. His current research interest includes the distributional aspects of environmental issues (i.e., how outcomes vary between and within groups and the implications of these for questions of vulnerability, equity, and sustainability. Olalekan is actively involved in using evidence from research to influence policy.

Hellen Namawejje

Helen Namawejje is lecturer in Department of Statistical Methods and Actuarial Science, School of Statistics and Planning, College of Business and Management Science of Makerere University. She holds a PhD in Mathematics from The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST), Arusha, Tanzania. Her current research interest is in Mathematics and its application in the actuarial, agricultural and health sectors with an aim of translating research evidence into policy.

Ngozi Oguguah

Ngozi Margaret Oguguah is a researcher with Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research Lagos Nigeria. Her research focus is on environmental pollution- monitoring, prevention, and its impact on human health. Ngozi is a steering committee member of the Science and Risk Communication group in the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. She is a Fellow of the African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) and Norman E. Borlaug African Women in Science.

Lilian Onyegbulam

Lilian Treasure is a lecturer in the Department of Agribusiness and Management, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State Nigeria. Her research and advocacy work focus on health, agriculture, food security, environment, international trade, gender and social inclusion for which she regularly engages Nigerian and African policy makers on pro-poor policies. Lilian consults for the Impact Evaluation Unit of the World Bank Group and collaborates with Mathematica Policy Research as a Quantitative Economist on several pilots.

Victor Nweze

Victor Nweze is a research assistant at the Ethnopharmacology, Food, and Drug Delivery Research Group (EFDDRG), Department of Biochemistry, University of Nigeria, Nusuka. His current research interests lie in developing novel systems for drug discovery and delivery.

Angela Abasilim

Angela Nneka Abasilim a lecturer in the Department of Business Administration, School of Logistics and Innovation Technology, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria. Her research areas include management of micro-scale enterprises, economic empowerment of women and rural development issues. She is a Management Consultant, and Fellow, Institute of Management Consultants, Nigeria.

Onyekachi Ikegwu

Onyekachi J. Ikegwu is an associate professor of Food Engineering at Ebonyi State University. His current research areas are: thermal properties of foods, physical properties of foods, product development, and food rheology. He has authored and co-authored over 40 research articles, and authored two books. Onyekachi is a member of the Nigerian Institute of Food and Technology (NIFST).

Anne Mulema

Annet Abenakyo Mulema is a Senior Program Officer at the International Development Research Center, overseeing a portfolio of 11 research projects under the Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women Initiative. She has over 10 years of research experience focusing on gender value chain analysis, women’s economic empowerment, gender capacity development, gender and climate change, and gender transformative approaches. She has contributed to numerous publications on gender issues including peer-reviewed journal articles. Annet is an Alumni of the AWARD Fellowship.