You have been appointed Scientific Director and
Head of the Competence Center of WASCAL as of May 1, 2016. The first
function of Scientific Director is new, so what will be your “tasks” to
fulfill?
Of course, it is quite challenging to be the new
scientific director of WASCAL, as science is the backbone of the
program. My first task will be to conduct an assessment of what has been
done so far in the whole research system. Based on this, we can write
up a new strategy and research plan up to 2017. The second major goal is
scaling up our fundraising efforts, as fundraising is critical for the
sustainability of WASCAL. My third point is that we have to ensure that
the capacity building program is strongly interrelated to research, so
that impact becomes more visible.
You have an extended
professional background in ecology and soil sciences. So what brought
you to WASCAL and which experiences you made do you consider crucial for
handling the WASCAL program?
I call myself an
agro-ecologist. Agro-ecology is key to building up resilient landscapes
in West Africa. I have been able to participate in several projects in
West Africa over the past seven years. My experiences as a soil
scientist will be key in achieving some of the goals WASCAL is
targeting. WASCAL is focusing on climate change, specifically on the
adaptation of climate change. I have, for example, been able to
establish a strong network of soil scientists in West Africa which I can
build on. One major issue in West Africa is sustainable land
management: how to produce enough food for the growing population and
how people can make money out of that. To achieve this in our region, we
have to conduct more sustainable land management and develop strategies
to mitigate the impact of climate change. Before I joined WASCAL I was
working with ICRAF, where we tackled the issue of climate change
mitigation. We were looking into how to build on the knowledge of local
people and how they can get money from xxx trees and selling non-timber
products. So I think my professional background can be useful.
What made WASCAL so attractive for you that you wanted to take over this challenging task of directing it?
WASCAL
provides a unique opportunity that brings together capacity building,
research, and service provision in order to tackle climate change. Of
course, there are several institutions in West Africa dealing with
climate change, but not in that way. That is the comparative advantage
of WASCAL. The prospective that activities will be handed over to
African actors is also appealing. It is really challenging that the
opportunity of managing these tasks has been given to an African to see
how he can best fulfill these goals and implement this program. So for
me it is a great opportunity.
What are your personal goals and your vision with regard to the WASCAL program?
First
of all, we should be able to fund ourselves to ensure the
sustainability of this program. So far, we have been mainly funded by
the BMBF (German Federal Ministry of Education and Research) but this
funding will not last forever. So we have to be able to raise funds
ourselves to survive. My second overall goal is to build up WASCAL as a
center of competence in climate change issues. Climate change is one of
the constraints with regard to agricultural production and building up
healthy socio-ecological landscapes. So in order to be able to mitigate
the impact of climate change we rely on research and on capacity
building. We also need to scale up practices that improve agricultural
production. I think WASCAL is on the right track of becoming a regional
center of excellence.
What are the weaknesses of WASCAL in your opinion and what are the main challenges to tackle?
The
link between capacity building and research is not strong enough yet.
We have to find ways to improve that. There is also a gap between the
Core Research Program and the Research component of WASCAL. We have to
bring the activities together so we have the same goals on the ground.
Our impact has to become more visible and more effective. But we also
have some achievements to be content with: We have enough African states
backing us up. A research and administrative infrastructure was set up
over the past five-six years. The vision is to have a center of
excellence focusing on research activities that can generate impact on
the ground, improve the livelihoods of small holder farmers, and be
adapted in a number of states. One big issue in Africa is that new
technologies are not taken up by farmers, policy-makers and
stakeholders. So one of the challenges of WASCAL is to achieve
sustainable land management and reducing poverty.
What are
the main challenges which West Africa will be facing in terms of climate
change and variability in the coming ten years?
Figures
provided by the United Nations project an increase in the world’s
population to up to nine billion people. What this means for West Africa
we do not know yet. We certainly will need an increase in food
production for our growing population. So WASCAL can close that gap by
providing information on climate issues in the coming years. However, I
do not see WASCAL as a service center for climate only, but for
environmental issues in general. Another big issue in West Africa is the
loss of biodiversity. Do we know enough about the rate, about the
biodiversity hotspots in the landscape of West Africa? We do have some
figures, but they are outdated. We need up-to-date information on
biodiversity, carbon sequestration, potential emission of CO2, etc.
WASCAL, in cooperation with its international partners, can do that. So I
think that WASCAL is key in implementing environmental policies in West
Africa.
I would like to take the opportunity to express my gratitude to the German Government and the BMBF for funding WASCAL.
The interview was conducted by Alma van der Veen