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The Structural Transformation of African Agriculture and Rural Spaces Fellowship Programme

The Â鶹´«Ã½ of Sussex joined , as a partnering, host institution in 2022. Launched by Cornell Â鶹´«Ã½ in 2016, the programme pursues rigorous, policy-oriented research into structural transformation in Sub-Saharan Africa, encouraging proposals in areas such as: agri-food systems transformation, and poverty dynamics and resilience against shocks.

STAARS is a collaborative and intensive programme that supports the professional development of early-career African researchers working in this field. By closely working with a small group of Fellows each year, STAARS broader, long-term goal is to help reinforce an effective policy research culture that consequently helps to develop and sustain the research capacity in Africa. More details about  can be found on Cornell's website.

Upon its launch in 2016, STAARS received support from various organizations and enjoys continued support from the . As a partnering institution, the Â鶹´«Ã½ of Sussex Business School will further expand the STAARS community and broaden the expertise of its mentorship pool.  

"We are thrilled to be joining the STAARS program, building on Sussex's decades-long tradition of working with African students and scholars" - Dr Annemie Maertens

Each Fellow is matched with a mentor from either Cornell Â鶹´«Ã½ or the Â鶹´«Ã½ of Sussex, to jointly author a paper on a topic relating to structural transformation in sub-Saharan Africa - previous  have appeared in leading, peer-reviewed journals. Professional development training is provided and the Fellows are supported in building their international research networks.

Read more about STAARS' history, its aims and its outcomes in this recently published study:‘.'

• STAARS Workshop

  The programme included a three-week visit to Cornell Â鶹´«Ã½ and the Â鶹´«Ã½ of Sussex in which the Fellows presented their research work, participated in team-building activities, and met with faculty and students from the host universities. 

  
  On September 26 - 27, 2022, the STAARS workshop was held at the Â鶹´«Ã½'s Falmer campus, led by organiser . The workshop saw each fellow present on their research, as well as presentations by both Cornell and Sussex faculty, and a keynote speech by , Director of Research of the African Economic Research Consortium on 'Empirical research in Africa: challenges and opportunities for development economists.' 

  Of this year's six Fellows, the Sussex mentoring team supervises Muhammed Usman, John Maara and Gildas Kadoukpè Magbondé. Hear how Muhammed & Gildas found the experience at Sussex:

  "amazing and unforgettable [...] I enjoyed the opportunity to meet new people while sharing research ideas, exchanging contacts, and discussing future opportunities" - Muhammed Usman
  

  "Being at the Â鶹´«Ã½ of Sussex as a STAARS fellow gave me a unique opportunity to present my research in progress in front of well-established researchers" - Gildas Magbondé
  
  

  
  

• Introducing the STAARS Fellows

  Selection into the STAARS programme is highly competitive with up to six Fellows being selected amongst up to 150 applications each year. As a partnering host institution with Cornell, the Sussex mentoring team has supervised three of the six Fellows: Muhammed Usman, John Maara and Gildas Kadoukpè Magbondé. Learn more about their research below. 

  

  Â鶹´«Ã½ of Bonn

  

  Â鶹´«Ã½ of Ibadan

  

  Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee

  

  Â鶹´«Ã½ of York

  

  Â鶹´«Ã½ of Cape Town

  

  Â鶹´«Ã½ of Nairobi

• Introducing the STAARS Mentors & Peer Mentors

  Meet the Â鶹´«Ã½ of Sussex Business School academics that mentored and peer-mentored the STAARS Fellows below.

  

  Reader in Economics

  

  Professor of Development Economics

  

  Professor of Econometrics

  

  Lilia Garcia Manrique

  PhD Candidate in Economics

  

  Lecturer in Economics

  

  Lecturer in Economics

• Further Information

  To learn more about STAARS, visit the .

  Read the for information on applications.