The Eastern and Southern Africa Centres of Excellence (ACE II) Project focuses on developing regional centres of excellence in areas of science and technology to bridge skill gaps. It is recognised that scarcity of faculty and resources limit the ability of each individual country to develop research and teaching excellence across all science fields. 

In Malawi, the African Centre of Excellence in Neglected and Underutilised Biodiversity (ACENUB) at Mzuzu University (MZUNI) was established to provide a platform for high level research and postgraduate (including postdoctoral) training for Malawi and the region. 

ACENUB contributes to training, collaboration, academic and research outputs of Malawi and the region in agri-food and nutrition systems, agri-business and entrepreneurship, risk management and climate change proofing, and rural innovation and agricultural extension. 

The Centre directly contributes to Malawi2063 which challenges universities in Malawi, including MZUNI, to catalyse National Transformation from poverty reduction to ‘spearheading wealth creation for all”. The Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS) III identifies the skills gap as one of the main weaknesses of the economy.

The main objective of ACENUB is to strengthen linkages with local, regional and international institutions, agriculture knowledge institutions and agro-based industry in agri-food system skills development in Africa.