Three early-career African scientists working at the frontiers of planetary-boundary research have been named the winners of the inaugural African Planet Prize, announced on 27 November at the annual Science Forum South Africa (SFSA) in Pretoria, South Africa. 

The prize – created this year by the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) in partnership with the Frontiers Research Foundation of Switzerland – recognises outstanding peer-reviewed scientific work that contributes to safeguarding the Earth’s nine planetary boundaries. 

These scientifically defined limits – covering climate change, biodiversity, freshwater use, land-system change, ocean acidification, atmospheric aerosols, biogeochemical flows, stratospheric ozone depletion and chemical pollution – describe the environmental conditions required to maintain a stable and resilient planet. 

Each winner received US$5,000 and automatic entry into the international Frontiers Planet Prize, linked to the open-access publisher Frontiers. The global competition awards three annual US$1 million prizes for outstanding sustainability science across the globe. 

AAS President Professor Lise Korsten said the African Planet Prize would help grow African participation in sustainability science: “This is a small beginning, but it is going to grow. Our ambition is to see African scientists on the global podium – and to build the support systems that make that possible.” 

Winners from Namibia, Ethiopia and Tanzania 

The 2025 African Planet Prize went to: 

• Dr Jessica Nosizwe Thorn, University of Namibia and Imperial College London; 

• Dr Addisu Fekadu Andeta, Arba Minch University, Ethiopia; and 

• Dr Debora Charles Kajeguka, KCMC University, Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. 

AAS Monitoring and Evaluation Officer Dr Rowland Opisa, who manages the African Planet Prize, said the call attracted 86 eligible applications across all planetary-boundary fields. 

A total of 17 were shortlisted after expert assessment by AAS Fellows, with additional input from Associates outside Africa – including two from China and others in Ireland and Canada. 

Opisa emphasised that the prize is meant both to recognise excellence and to encourage wider participation by early-career African researchers: “There is enormous potential among young African scientists. We want to inspire many more to take part.” 

Jessica Nosizwe Thorn – climate, land and ocean resilience 

Dr Thorn, an environmental social scientist working on coupled social-ecological systems, submitted multiple papers across land, ocean and climate themes. These included a Nature climate change study on perceptions of climate change in African mountain regions and how local autonomous adaptation can be scaled into more transformative pathways. 

Her other submissions examined ocean acidification and blue-economy ecosystems in the south-west Indian Ocean, ecosystem-based adaptation in national climate policies across the Southern African Development Community (url=https://www.sadc.int]SADC[/url]), and land-use modelling of infrastructure encroachment on protected areas – including the impacts of large cross-continental rail investments. 

Thorn is a fellow of the African Research Initiative for Scientific Excellence (ARISE), a programme of the African and European unions, hosted by AAS. It supports emerging African researchers by funding independent research, strengthening international networks and building long-term scientific careers. 

She said the award represents a moment of reflection: “It reflects a point in my journey – and the many community partners who have supported this work, from informal settlement dwellers to farmers’ associations. It affirms the value of approaching problems from a complex-systems perspective.” 

She plans to reinvest the award in transdisciplinary science-to-policy work, possibly through an urban living-lab project on restoration. 

Addisu Fekadu Andeta – transforming Africa’s climate-resilient ‘super crop’ 

Dr Addisu Fekadu Andeta, an associate professor of food technology, was recognised for more than a decade of research on enset, sometimes called the ‘false banana’. Unlike the banana, its fruit is not eaten. 

Instead, the pseudostem and underground corm are processed and fermented to create highly nutritious food products. Enset is rich in calcium and iron, gluten-free, diabetic-friendly and forms a staple or co-staple food for more than 25 million Ethiopians. 

Its resilience is exceptional – the plant can survive one or even two years of drought – but processing has long relied on labour-intensive traditional methods that lead to high post-harvest losses. Addisu Fekadu Andeta’s team has developed: 

• A starter culture reducing fermentation time from two months to seven days; 

• A new fermentation vessel replacing traditional soil pits; 

• Locally designed tools and machinery, especially supporting women processors; 

• Techniques for converting by-products into usable materials; and 

• Kocho flour, a versatile, gluten-free, nutrient-rich product suitable for bread, cakes and other foods. 

His work is now being extended into Kenya and Uganda, where enset grows naturally in the wild. 

“Enset can become Africa’s next superfood,” he said. “Winning this prize gives us energy to push further and reach more communities.” 

He recently also won the 19th Japan International Award for Young Agricultural Researchers (2025), highlighting the growing international recognition of his work. He plans to invest the award in establishing pilot plants and creating job opportunities for youth and women. 

Debora Charles Kajeguka – climate-driven spread of mosquito-borne diseases 

Dr Kajeguka, a microbiologist, was recognised for research linking climate change to the spread of dengue, chikungunya and Rift Valley fever. Her work documents how rising temperatures and altered rainfall patterns are changing mosquito habitat distributions, pushing vectors into high-altitude areas that were historically too cold for transmission. 

She also investigates cross-species viral transmission and community awareness of climate-related disease risks, and leads research on women’s health, decision-making, ethics and climate vulnerability. 

“This is the result of partnership with colleagues in the UK, Canada and Denmark,” she said. “It tells me to work even harder and expand what we’ve started.” 

Earlier this year, she also received the Tumani Corrah Prize for Excellence from the Africa Research Excellence Fund. 

Inspiration 

Speaking at the African Planet Prize ceremony in Pretoria, Belgian scholar Professor Jean-Claude Burgelman, director of the Frontiers Planet Prize, said the international prize had served as a catalyst for creating an African edition. 

He described the African Planet Prize as a spin-off designed to broaden participation and address the continent’s under-representation in the global competition. 

Although more than 750 institutions worldwide take part in the Frontiers Planet Prize, African universities remain proportionally few, despite the continent carrying heavy burdens in biodiversity loss, land-system change and climate impacts. Burgelman said the new African edition is intended to expand the pool of institutions and researchers who can participate in – and benefit from – the global award. 

At the same time, he stressed that African researchers who do enter the international competition have already demonstrated exceptional strength. 

In 2023, Professor Mark New, along with Dr Petra Holden and others of the University of Cape Town, won one of the three US$1 million Frontiers Planet Prizes for their work identifying which invasive species should be removed to reboot biodiversity and restore freshwater systems. 

They used the prize money to establish the People in Nature and Climate, or PiNC Lab, which has since catalysed more than US$6 million in new investment and informed major national nature-based solutions programmes. 

In 2024, Dr Mia Strand of Nelson Mandela University was named South Africa’s National Champion for her research using arts-based and community-led methods to bring local and indigenous knowledge into ocean stewardship. 

Turning point 

AAS Interim Executive Director Prof Catherine Ngila, who helped oversee the process, said the prize reflects both excellence and momentum. She noted that the level of interest shown across the continent “shows strong enthusiasm for the prize” and for expanding African participation in global sustainability science. 

Ngila added the African Planet Prize is part of a broader shift within the academy: “This is a turning point for us,” she said, pointing to the need to strengthen continental support systems for emerging researchers. 

Original article written by Desmond Thompson and published in University World News.