Most existing research on tobacco use, harm reduction, and safer nicotine alternatives has been conducted in high-income countries, and its findings are not always directly applicable to low- and middle-income contexts.
For tobacco harm reduction research to have a meaningful impact in Africa, it must inform the decisions of policymakers and shape the perspectives of key influencers. We therefore work to build research capacity across the continent and to generate, adapt, and apply new evidence that supports the development and implementation of effective, context-appropriate harm-reduction measures.
Smoking prevalence continues to rise in many African countries. Addressing this challenge requires robust local evidence to raise awareness, guide targeted interventions, and support the continent’s progress toward a smoke-free future. Policies must be grounded in reliable data, context-specific research, and accurate statistics.
Our tobacco harm reduction research agenda defines regional priority areas and outlines pathways for coordination and knowledge sharing among academic institutions, researchers, and partner organizations.
Several critical gaps in current policy implementation highlight the need for a harmonized research approach. These include:
1. Limited local evidence to guide best practices for policy adoption and implementation.
2. Insufficient capacity to conduct comprehensive harm reduction research, particularly in non-health domains such as economics, policy analysis, and program evaluation.
3. Fragmented platforms for disseminating findings and sharing best practices across the region.
4. A need to direct research funding toward the highest-priority questions.
The African Tobacco Harm Reduction Research Agenda responds to these gaps by establishing a coordinated framework that identifies research priorities, maps existing capacities, and highlights collaboration opportunities.
It offers guidance for organizing research efforts at national and regional levels and proposes mechanisms to connect researchers, support knowledge exchange, and translate evidence into concrete action. Because harm reduction is a rapidly evolving field, ongoing research is essential to reflect emerging trends and shifting implementation environments.
Our research objectives focus on identifying and supporting innovative, high-impact studies to fill priority knowledge gaps across the continent. The evidence generated through this work will:
i) Provide decision-makers with current, context-specific data on the smoking burden to guide policy development and implementation.
ii) Promote reductions in tobacco use among key populations, including youth and women.
iii) Highlight and accelerate the adoption of alternative livelihood strategies that reduce dependence on tobacco cultivation.
iv) Reveal and address the social and behavioral drivers of smoking and nicotine dependence.
Through this coordinated and evidence-based approach, we aim to strengthen Africa’s capacity to advance effective tobacco harm reduction and protect public health.