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A Duke Global Health Institute Initiative

Regional Observatory

East Africa

Building on deep partnerships in Kenya, Tanzania, and Madagascar to investigate climate-driven shifts in disease, food security, and health systems.

Why East Africa

East Africa is among the most climate-vulnerable regions in the world. Shifting temperature and rainfall patterns are altering the distribution of vector-borne diseases like malaria, affecting agricultural productivity and food security, and placing growing stress on already-stretched health systems.

DGHI has maintained research partnerships in Kenya, Tanzania, and Madagascar for over a decade, providing the institutional depth, local expertise, and community trust necessary for meaningful climate-health research. The East Africa observatory builds directly on this foundation.

East African landscape
DGHI's long-standing partnerships in East Africa provide the foundation for climate-health research.

Research Context

Vector-Borne Disease & Climate

Investigating how changing temperature and precipitation patterns shift the geographic range, seasonality, and intensity of malaria, dengue, and other vector-borne diseases.

Food Security & Nutrition

Studying the health consequences of climate-driven agricultural disruption, including crop failure, livestock impacts, and nutritional outcomes.

Climate-Driven Fungal Threats

Through the Climate+ project, investigating how climate change is fueling emerging fungal disease threats, in partnership with Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre in Moshi, Tanzania.

Health Systems Resilience

Examining how climate shocks interact with health system capacity, access, and resource allocation in low-resource settings.

East African geography and terrain

Partnerships

The East Africa observatory is built on long-standing institutional partnerships, including collaborations with:

  • Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC), Moshi, Tanzania
  • Moi University and AMPATH, Eldoret, Kenya
  • Research partners in Madagascar

Data & Analytic Focus

Cross-site data harmonization is a central focus of the East Africa observatory. Aligning climate exposure data with health outcome data across multiple countries and health systems requires careful attention to data standards, units, temporal alignment, and metadata management.

Climate reanalysis productsHealth facility recordsDisease surveillanceAgricultural / food security dataSatellite vegetation indicesDemographic & Health Surveys

Working in East Africa?

We’re looking for collaborators — local researchers, institutions, government partners, and students interested in climate-health research.

Get in Touch

Other Observatories

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Contact CGHI

Working in this region or interested in collaborating on climate-health research here? We welcome connections from local researchers, institutions, government partners, and students.

Local Researcher or Institution

You study or work in one of our observatory regions and have relevant data, expertise, or partnership interest.

Climate or Health Researcher

You work on climate-health questions and want to connect on methods, data, or joint research.

Government or NGO Partner

You're in government, public health, or an NGO and want to explore how climate data can support your work.

Student or Trainee

You're a student looking for research opportunities, mentorship, or training in climate-health work.

Contact CGHI

Most inquiries should start here so they can be routed consistently.

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