The Master Program’s Director, Professor Kouami Kokou, opened the festivities and thanked all officials, guests and participants for their participation at the graduation ceremony. The graduating batch 2013-2015 is the second batch from the WASCAL Program at the University of Lomé, since the program’s implementation in Togo in 2012. The new graduates were ten young people from different backgrounds from six West African countries including Benin, Gambia, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, and Togo.

On behalf of the graduates, Miss Yomo Mawoulolo, thanked both the Togolese and German government, the officials at the ceremony, the President of the University of Lomé, and all the staff of WASCAL Program for all the efforts and sacrifices made throughout their training.

The ten students successfully graduated with theses in the following topics:

AMOU, Martial 2015. Rural livelihoods and cropping pattern under climate change in the Zio district of Togo, West Africa. University of Lomé. Supervisor Dr. Georges Abbey

ARYEE, Alberta 2015. Indigenous knowledge and resilience building in climate variability and change: comparative analysis of Chereponi in Ghana and Oti prefecture in Togo. University of Lomé. Supervisor: Dr. Julia Kloos

DANSOKO, Binta 2015. Environmental change and migration: a cross-villages assessment of human mobility and vegetation dynamic in the Dano watershed, Burkina Faso. University of Lomé. Supervisor: Dr. Papa Sow.

DEMBELE, Seydou 2015. Climate variability and rice production in Mali: a case study of Office Riz Segou. University of Lomé. Supervisor: Dr. Bino Teme.

GOMEZ, Leroy 2015. Social vulnerability to coastal erosion: empirical assessment of Gunjur village in the Gambia. University of Lomé. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Janet Olatundun Adelegan.

GOUBALAN, Elvire 2015. Knowledge transfer between scientific community and policy makers for addressing climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction in Ghana. University of Lomé. Supervisor: Dr. Grace Villamor.

NTAJAL, Joshua 2015. Flood disaster risk mapping in the lower Mono River Basin in Togo: application of geographic information system and remote sensing. University of Lomé. Supervisor: Dr. Benjamin L. Lamptey

OKELEYE, Sunday 2015. Impact assessment of flood disaster on livelihoods of farmers in selected farming communities of Oke-Ogun region of Oyo State, Nigeria. University of Lomé. Supervisor: Dr. Felix Olorunfemi

YAO, Eric 2015. Effect of climate change on the cost of malaria treatment among households in farming communities in the Bole district, Northern Ghana. University of Lomé. Supervisor: Prof. Francis k. Obeng

YOMO, Mawoulolo 2015. Role of local institutions in shaping the response of farming household to climate change and variability: a case study of Bongo district in Ghana. University of Lomé. Supervisor: Dr. Grace Villamor

The ceremony was honored by many high-ranking guests, among them:

Mr. Octave Nicoué K. Broohm, Minister of Higher Education and Research of the Republic of Togo.
Mr. André Johnson, Minister of Environment and Forest resources.
Mr. Christoph Sander, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Professor Messanvi Gbéassor, President of the University of Lomé and member of the WASCAL Governing Board.
Professor Sanda, 1st Vice President of the University of Lomé.
Mr. Ananou Gabin, German Aerospace Center – Project Management Agency (DLR PT)
Madame the Director of Cabinet of the Minister of Higher Education and Research of Togo.
Mr. Tchakou, Accountant of the Ministry of Higher Education and Research of Togo.
Representatives (3) of the Embassies of Nigeria, Mali, and Senegal.
Representative (1) of The World Bank.
Director of the academic affairs of the Embassy of the United States of America.
Dr. Laurent Sédogo, Wascal Executive Director.
Pr. Janet O. Adelegan, WASCAL Capacity Building Director.
Dr. Grace Villamor, supervisor of WASCAL students and WASCAL researcher.

The students coming from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Niger and Nigeria had their Oral Examination on 16th, 17th and 24th April, 2015, at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana.

Djidjooh Mathieu Maurice AHOUANSOU: Hydrological Ecosystem Services under Climate Change and Land Use Changes in West Africa: Case study of semi-arid Water Shed, North Benin. Supervisors: Prof. Sampson K. Agodzo and Dr. Luc. O.C. Sintondji. Doctoral Thesis. Department of Agricultural Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana.

Lucette AKPA: Impact of Cashew Expansion on Land Use/ Land Cover Change and Carbon Stocks in the Forest-Savanna Transition Zone of North-East Cote d’Ivoire. Supervisors: Dr. Kyere Boateng, Dr. Dibi N’Da Hyppolite. Doctoral Thesis. Department of Agricultural Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana.

Laouali Mahamadou AMADOU: Simulating Agricultural Land-Use adaptation under the changing climate using Multi-Agent System in the Upper East Region of Ghana. Supervisors: Prof. Nicholas Kyei-Baffour, Dr. Emmanuel Morgan Attua. Doctoral Thesis. Department of Agricultural Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana.

Bernard BAATUUWIE: Multi-Dimensional Approach for Evaluating Land Degradation in the Savannah Belt of the White Volta Basin. Supervisors: Dr. Quang Bao Le, Dr. Wilson Agyei Agyare. Doctoral Thesis. Department of Agricultural Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana.

Biola Kazeem BADMOS: Multi-Agent Simulation Approach on the impact of Agricultural Land-Use Change Adaptation towards the effect of Changing Climate in Semi-Arid Ghana. Supervisors: Prof. Sampson K. Agodzo, Prof. Samuel Nii Odai. Doctoral Thesis. Department of Agricultural Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana.

Boundia THIOMBIANO: Exploring soil nutrient management and production performances to support building smallholder farms’ resilience to climate change: Case of South Western Burkina Faso. Supervisors: Dr. Quang Bao Le, Prof. Samuel Nii Odai, Dr. Denis Ouedraogo. Doctoral Thesis. Department of Agricultural Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana.

Demba TRAWALLY: Modelling heat stress and the impact of climate change on maize yield and biomass in Northern Region of Ghana. Supervisors: Dr. Wilson Agyei Agyare, Dr. Thomas Gaiser, Dr. Mathias Fosu. Department of Agricultural Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana.

Nat Prempeh OWUSU: Soil respiration across predominant land uses in the Vea catchment in the Sudan Savannah zone, North East of Ghana. Supervisors: Dr. Leonard K. Amekudzi, Dr. Kyere Boateng. Doctoral Thesis. Department of Agricultural Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana.

Souleymane Sidi TRAORE: Long-term vegetation Dynamics over the Bani River’s Basin as Impacted by Climate Change and Land Use. Supervisors: Prof. Eric Kwabena Forkuo, Dr. Tobias Landmann. Doctoral Thesis. Department of Agricultural Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana.

Contact:

Prof. Samuel Odai
Department of Agricultural Engineering
KNUST
Kumasi, Ghana
Email: snodai(at)yahoo.com

Akangoa R. Abora, Olusegun Adeyemi Adegbile, Idelbert Dagbegnon Behanzin, Mahamadou M. Dicko, Agossou Gadedjisso-Tossou, Malan Ketcha Kablan, Abravi Essenam Kissi, Issoufou Liman Harou, Diouf Ousmane Sane, and Abroulaye Sanfo successfully completed the program. The students who participated in the truly international program come from Togo, Niger, Nigéria, Mali, Bénin, Côte d’Ivoire, Sénégal, Burkina Faso, and Ghana.

The graduation ceremony was honored by the attendance of Mrs. Dzifa Ama Gameti who represented the Ministry of Higher Education and Research of Togo. The president of the University of Lomé and member of the WASCAL Governing Board Prof. Messanvi Gbeassor, Dr Laurent Sédogo, Executive Director of WASCAL and Prof. Kouami Kokou, Director of the Master Program Climate Change and Human Security expressed their gratitude to the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the national and international partners who support the program. „We are well equipped and well qualified to apply tools and methodologies for assessing the impacts of climate change on populations to ensure human security and the fight against the negative and harmful effects of climate change on their business activities and other.“ said Abravi Essenam Kissi.

The Master Program Climate Change and Education started in November 2012. The second batch of students started course work in 2013.

Contact

Prof. Kouami Kokou,
Director of the Master Program Climate Change and Human Security
kokoukouami(at)hotmail.com