SDG 1 No Poverty
Explore Lincoln University efforts to combat poverty through its research and education programmes.
Scholarships tackles climate change and inequality
Inspired by His Majesty King Charles III, the King’s Commonwealth Fellowship Programme (KCFP) was initiated in 2024, in response to the urgent economic, social and environmental development challenges affecting Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Lincoln University is a partner university of the PhD strand, offering the opportunity for citizens or those with refugee status from SIDS to study in areas related to climate change and the environment.
Building expertise in developing nations
The number of Manaaki New Zealand Scholarship graduates from Lincoln University increased significantly in 2024, from three in 2023 to sixteen, demonstrating the relevance and impact of the postgraduate programmes the University offers students from developing countries. The scholarships are administered by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade as part of the New Zealand Aid Programme. Students were from developing nations, including Kenya, Timor-Leste, Guyana, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Laos, Zimbabwe, Myanmar, Vietnam and Vanuatu. The cohort has travelled to New Zealand to expand their expertise, before returning home to contribute to the economic and social development of their respective countries. They studied a range of postgraduate programmes including Master’s of Management in Agribusiness, Master’s of Horticultural Science and Master’s of Environmental Planning and Management. One of the 2024 cohort of graduating students, Meriam Toalak from Vanuatu, successfully completed her PhD thesis on Identification and characterisation of Phytophthora spp. in New Zealand apple orchards.
The Yunus Social Business Centre at Lincoln University
The Yunus Social Business Centre at Lincoln University builds awareness of social business, provides training and education, supports research on social business and promotes the development of social enterprises as means for alleviating poverty or solving other pervasive social problems. Established in 2017, the centre is a first at a New Zealand university. Yunus social business centres were started by Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, which helps alleviate poverty, through micro financing, and lending to the country’s poor without the need for collateral. Areas of research include Microfinance in Asia; Rural Finance; Rural Community Empowerment; Financial Inclusion; Hurdles and Enablers of Social Business. Research students at Honours, Master's, and PhD level who are involved with social business, sustainable entrepreneurship and rural development research are able to contribute to the work conducted by Yunus.