International Interdisciplinary Joint Research
for ‘Global South’
Lives Matter in Africa
Toward a Collaborationfor ‘Global South’
Overview
This international Joint Research, ‘Lives Matter in Africa: Toward a Collaboration for ‘Global South’’ has been/ will be conducted for 3.5 years, from October 2024 to March 2028, by several researchers of Senegal and Japan with interdisciplinary research areas, supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research of Japan (Promotion of Joint International Research). We academically seek to contribute, might it be only slightly though, to our sustainable lives, confronting the problems of our planetary time, weighing especially on the ‘Global South’. Our joint research includes a collaboration with rural people of small villages in Medina Sabakh, with our attempt at the social implementation of additional decentralized electricity for a better livelihood, ex., sustainable agriculture. We hope that this joint research can be a platform for our gatherings and bridge the distances lying between us in many ways.
Main Members
Japanese part
Senegalese Part
- Name
- Chikako Nakayama
- Specialty
- Professor, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
- Research Area
- History of Thoughts, Global Studies
- Message
- This joint research stemmed from an incidental idea of my former graduate student of JDPSR in TUFS from Senegal, combined with my attempt with UEC professors to explore academic cooperation among natural, social sciences, and humanities. Then, to make the social implementation come true successfully, we have asked the researchers of FASTEF, UCAD, and have now been getting new, important connections with rural populations. I am very grateful and happy with this strong team, learning a lot from this golden opportunity!
- Name
- Chihiro Kumashiro
- Specialty
- Lecturer, University Research Administrator
- Research Area
- Area Studies, Anthropology （Burkina Faso, South Africa, Senegal）
- Message
- I am involved in this joint research as an anthropologist. I would like to learn from the people in the village and would be delighted if we could create new value together through this joint research.
- Name
- Shinji Yokogawa
- Specialty
- Professor, University of Electro Communications
- Research Area
- Energy storage and control, quality control, reliability engineering, equipment life prediction, reliability physics
- Message
- New energy infrastructure will be created through autonomous distributed power sources and information and communication technology.
- Name
- Fafa Sene
- Specialty
- Special Post-Doctoral Researcher, Technical Advisor at the Ministry of Urban Planning, Local Communities and Territorial Planning in Senegal
- Research Area
- Global Studies, Economic Anthropology
- Message
-
I am special of informal economy, precisely in the street vending sub-sector.
I hold a PhD in Sustainability Research from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.
A Master’s degree in Public Administration from Yonsei University (South Korea)
A Master’s degree in Literature and Civilization of English Speaking Country from Cheikh Anta Diop University in Senegal
An Advanced Teacher-training Certificate from the teacher training Faculty in Senegal.
- Name
- Rin Odawara
- Specialty
- Professor, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
- Research Area
- History of gender, gender division of labor, reproductive labor
- Message
- I’m interested in studying the women in the area’s various labor forms and household maintenance practices, and how they are embedded in the local economy in a comparative perspective with other countries.
- Name
- Yo Ishigaki
- Specialty
- Professor, University of Electro Communications
- Research Area
- Environmental health engineering
- Message
- My current research focuses on indoor air quality monitoring, infection risk assessment using CO₂ tracer gas methods, and personal exposure evaluation with low-cost sensors, in both domestic and international field settings. I look forward to contributing to the LMA project through interdisciplinary collaboration, combining environmental measurement, public health, and social implementation.
- Name
- Tomonori Hashiyama
- Specialty
- Professor, University of Electro Communications
- Research Area
- Information Systems, developing human-centered computer systems, Soft-Computing with Fuzzy logic, applications of cutting-edge technology into real-world problems, IoT(Internet of Things)
- Message
- I am an Information Systems Engineer and am interested in implementing state-of-the-art technologies for real-world problems. For the sustainable use, we need to adapt the systems to the environment very carefully. IoT(Internet of Things) are prospective technologies for this project. Suitable design modifications should be considered through practical usage. I am looking forward to contributing this project for the sustainable development from the engineering point of view.
- Name
- Mamadou Drame
- Specialty
- Full Professor, Faculty of Sciences and Technologies of Education and Training (FASTEF), Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar (UCAD)
- Research Area
- language sciences
- Message
-
Mamadou Dramé is Holder of two doctorates, he has published several articles and works on urban cultures linked to language (poetry, rap, slam, hip-hop). Coordinator of the Research Group on Contemporary Cultural Expressions (GRE2C) and former Director of the Didactics of Languages and Human Sciences Laboratory at UCAD. His last publications are Adja Kiné Lam, Pédagogie du bien et didactique du beau (2025), Parlez-vous hip hop : Langage de la rue et Transgression langagière dans le hip hop au Sénégal (2019) et Thione Seck, Patrimoine culturel sénégalais : Education, culture et musique (2021). M. DRAME is Vice-Dean of FASTEF and Editor of the journal Liens, Revue internationale francophone.
My research will focus on the Ngoyane song and its links with education for sustainable development. It will analyze how Ngoyane, a traditional musical genre sung by the women of Medina Sabakh and the identity of the locality, contributes to addressing fundamental issues related to the development of the locality.
- Name
- Djibrirou Daouda Ba
- Specialty
- Lecturer-Researcher and Trainer, Faculty of Sciences and Technologies of Education and Training (FASTEF), Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar (UCAD)
- Research Area
- Geography : Ecosystems and environment, Climate change and impacts/ Education for Sustainable Developement
- Message
- I commend the originality of the Lives Matter in Africa (LMA) project, which brings together researchers from different geographical areas, cultures, and scientific disciplines. The charm of the project is also to establish the necessary link between academic research and action research. The focus on empowering women while preserving the environment and promoting food security through sustainable agricultural activity is also fantastic. I hope that the collaboration between researchers (from Senegal and Japan), the local government, and farmers will have a real positive impact on local development while fostering the development of international cooperation based on education and training diplomacy between Senegal and Japan, beyond Cheikh Anta DIOP University (UCAD) and the Tokyo University for Foreign Studies (TUFS).
- Name
- Aibatou Diop
- Specialty
- Lecturer- Researcher and Trainer, Faculty of Sciences and Technologies of Education and Training (FASTEF), Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar (UCAD)
- Research Area
- Ecology, Ecosystem Management
- Message
-
She is a Senior Lecturer (CAMES) with a PhD in Ecology and Ecosystem Management. Her published articles are related to biological soil fertility. She is responsible for the Environmental Education module in the Department of Life and Earth Sciences.
For our joint research, mine will focus on the contribution of integrated fish farming to the sustainable development of Boumbané/Médina Sabakh through:
• improving family nutrition;
• improving soil fertility in the face of climate change;
• and the quality of education.
- Name
- Mouhamadou Lamine Diallo
- Specialty
- Lecturer-Researcher and Trainer, Faculty of Sciences and Technologies of Education and Training (FASTEF), Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar (UCAD)
- Research Area
- human geography
- Message
- Dr. Mouhamadou Lamine Diallo has several publications, including a book entitled "Senegal's Mines, the Territories of Gold and Phosphate," published by Haramattan. Dr. Diallo is responsible for a Master's degree in History and Geography. He is interested in the dynamics of rural areas in Africa from an economic, demographic, social, and environmental perspective. His contribution to the LMA project consists of analyzing the factors behind crises in rural African areas, particularly in Senegal (Médina Sabakh), showing local adaptation strategies of populations and the opportunities for developing modernization projects.
- Name
- Mamadou Yero Balde
- Specialty
- Lecturer-Researcher and Trainer, Faculty of Sciences and Technologies of Education and Training (FASTEF), Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar (UCAD)
- Research Area
- Contemporary History
- Message
- Dr. Mamadou Yero Balde contributes to the aspect of history in LMA.
- Name
- Medina Sabakh（Mr.Youssoupha Mbaye）
- Specialty
- -
- Research Area
- media, education, communication
- Message
- LMA keeps a continuous and strong relationship with the people of Medina Sabakh; The main coordinator is Mr. Youssoupha Mbaye, and we can get recent voices of the region with the link below.
Activities
2025
-
2025.08
Sending tablet devices to women in Medina Sabakh in July/August 2025
-
2025.06
202506: A visit of 3 Japanese members with a Senegalese member to Medina Sabakh for meetings at 3 villages (on the 14th and 15th)
-
2025.06
A panel session at the Africa-Asia Confest 3 (on the 13th, June, 2025, @UCAD, Dakar)
