Author: Bernard Nuoleyeng Baatuuwie Year: 2017 Doctoral or master thesis: Doctoral thesis University: KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Supervisor: Dr. Quang B. Le; Dr. Wilson A. Agyare; & Prof. Eric K. Forkuo Website: Excerpt text: AbstractThe White Volta Basin (WVB) is located within the Savanna Ecological Zone shared by Ghana, Burkina Faso and Continue Reading

Author:  Heou Maleki Badjana Additional authors:  Manfred Fink; Jorg Helmschrot; Bernd Diekkruger; Sven Kralisch; Abel Akambi Afouda; Kpertouma Wala Journal:  Hydrological Sciences Journal Year:  2017 Volume:  62 Issue:  7 Page(s):  1094-1113 Website: Excerpt text: Abstract This paper discusses the analysis and modelling of the hydrological system of the basin of the Kara River, a transboundary Continue Reading

Coarse Scale Remote Sensing and GIS Evaluation of Rainfall and Anthropogenic Land Use Changes on Soil Erosion in Nasarawa State, Nigeria, West Africa Author:  Kossi Dodzi Bissadu, Additional authors:  Yawovi Sena Koglo, Dode Bendu Johnson, Komlavi Akpoti Journal:  Journal of Geosciences and Geomatics Year:  2017 Volume:  5 Issue:  6 Page(s):  259-266 Website: Excerpt text: Abstract Continue Reading

The need to understand climate change as well as climate variability and their impacts on water resources cannot be overemphasized in West Africa. The region has arid, semi-arid and tropical climates and the impacts of climate change and climate variability on water resources vary in time, space, and intensity. Providing adequate water for people, for Continue Reading

With climate change being one of the most severe challenges to Africa in the 21st century, West Africa is facing an urgent need to develop effective adaptation and mitigation measures. WASCAL (West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use) is a large-scale research-focused Climate Service Centre designed to help tackle this Continue Reading

Vice President Ousainou Darboe has affirmed that in line with the national development policies, President Adama Barrow administration is willing to support all efforts geared towards reducing the impact of climate change.

He said that there is no longer any doubt that human activities cause serious global warning yet human being are a threat to the environment, so is climate change a direct threat to human and a source of many other threats and disasters. These remarks were made during a two-day seminar on ‘Climate Change and Renewable Energy’ and ‘Climate Change and Land Use’ which was jointly organised by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and technology (MoHERST) in collaboration with the University of The Gambia (UTG). The programme was funded by the German Ministry of Higher Education and Research Science (BMBF) held at a hotel in Bakau. “Climate change is acknowledged as a growing threat to the environment, livelihood, food security and economic growth; thus food insecurity for instance comes with economic risk as scarcity of staple crops cause crises in prises,” he stressed.

In the Gambia specifically, the vice president stated that food insecurity cause a serious threat as a result of acute erratic rainfall patterns, draughts and floods all of which can be associated with climate change. He said “Some of which force our rural farming population especially the youths to abandon the agricultural lands and move to urban areas thereby increasing the population and unemployment”.
He further pointed out that climate change also contributes to irregular migration to Europe as the youths explore opportunities elsewhere.

The Vice President reminded that the seminar serves as an important step towards implementing The Gambia’s commitments on the 21st conference of parties of UN conference on climate change held in Paris in 2015” he stated. For his part, Badara Joof, the minister of MoHERST said that they should go beyond the seminar and generate issues of climate change and the environmental impact that it has. “I want to domesticate this within the context of the UTG where we would domesticate the knowledge that we would gain from Germany and WASCAL, index it into the Faculty of Research on Climate Change and Environmental Management” he said.

He added that it will enable them to maintain the knowledge since they know that they are having challenges of environmental issues. “It is part of the policy changes and the orientations of the UTG and MoHERST policy in general that research is as important and crucial to things because if we are teaching for the future,” he elaborated.

Senior Scientist in climate modeling and climate change of WASCAL, Dr. Mouhamadou Bamba Sylla has represented WASCAL at the just ended 7th Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDVII), which took place in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi.

As a member of the panel discussion on “Climate Information Services in support to the NDCs”, Dr. Sylla advocated for a stronger continental political leadership for the generation of knowledge about the climate change impacts of 1.5oC and 2oC global warming on development sectors of Africa; the strengthening of the National Meteorological Services for a free and open access data culture as well as the development of robust climate information at different timescales for supporting the NDCs implementation.

CCDVII was under the theme “Supporting the Implementation of the Paris Agreement in Africa: From Policies to Action”. The three-day conference brought together stakeholders from governmental, scientific and academic divides such as the universities, regional climate centres and research centers; civil societies, development partners and private sectors, to examine Africa’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and to define actionable climate interventions.

The Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa was organized by the United Nations Economic Commission (UNECA) for Africa in partnership with the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA).

Watch excerpt interviews of CCDVII and media interview of Dr. Sylla

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8ZxxQC-4HA

The Executive Director of WASCAL, Dr. Moumini Savadago has co-signed the declaration of Ouagadougou to build the foundation of the scientific pillar of the Alliance Sahel.

The groundbreaking event was held together with 11 other scientific organizations active in the Sahel region. The declaration contained eight Research Priority Areas proposed as follows:

The declaration seeks to support territorial development through foresight analyzes, strengthening local participatory approaches, developing action frameworks in favor of inclusive innovation while building ecological intensification of all sectors through agro-ecological management of crop systems, agriculture-livestock integration, reduction of post-harvest losses, development of food processing and markets.

The declaration will also help develop irrigated crops and the management of natural resources and irrigation schemes; co-manage pastoralism and animal health in terms of animal production, phytopathology and animal health protection as part of a ‘One Health approach.’

The signatories further agreed to ensure climate change adaptation through the development of new and resilient plant varieties and cropping systems, a review of agricultural practices and improved carbon sequestration for soil fertility; build environment and natural resources management to promote biomass and renewable energies and biodiversity; launch a sustainable and healthy food systems to ensure food and nutrition security of populations; build capacities of actors, consolidate research institutions, support innovation and agricultural and rural development training.

The organizations that signed the declarations in the presence of ECOWAS representative are the Center for International Cooperation in Agricultural Research for Development (CIRAD), National Center for Agronomic Research and Agricultural Development (CNRADA)and Mauritania; National Council for Agronomic Research and Agricultural Development (CNRA).

The rest are Institute of Environment and Agricultural Research (INERA) and National Center for Scientific and Technological Research (CNRST) from Burkina Faso; West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF); and National Institute for Agricultural Research of Niger (INRAN) and Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS) from Niger; Senegalese Institute of Agricultural Research (ISRA), Chad Institute for Agricultural Research for Development (ITRA) and Institute of Rural Economy (IER), Mali.

The Board and management of WASCAL regrets to announce the passing away of its former board chair, Professor Modibo Haidara. The sad incident occurred on Sunday 26th August, 2018 , in Frankfurt, Germany.

Until his demise, Prof Haidara was a member of the governing board after serving as the first board chair of WASCAL. He was the chairman of the WASCAL Fundraising Steering Committee of the Board.

He selflessly served on the board from the inception of WASCAL with valuable contributions. As a pioneer chairman, he played very active and critical roles in the formative years of the institution.

WASCAL has lost an irreplaceable member and he will be sorely missed. The hearts of the entire WASCAL fraternity are with his family in these difficult times. May his gentle soul rest in peace.

The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in partnership with the West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL) is funding a feasibility study on renewable energies development, for a Pilot Project implementation in Ghana.

Dr Christoph Rövekamp, the Head of Division 722 Basic Energy Research at the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), announced this at the opening section of a regional stakeholders’ consultation workshop held in Accra-Ghana on Thursday, July 26th, 2018. He said funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), would support a joint scientific team of experts from research institutions in Ghana and Germany to seek inputs from, and to collaborate with industry and civil society in the energy sector, including the Energy Commission, Electricity Company of Ghana, GRIDCo, the Kumasi Institute of Technology Energy and Environment (KITE), the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the Centre for Climate Change and Gender Studies of the University of Energy and Natural Resources at Sunyani, the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering at KNUST, the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research, University of Ghana Legon, and a research institution based in Germany. Dr Rovekamp explained that the broad objective of the feasibility study was to conduct a detailed technical and financial assessment of renewable energies, focusing on technologies and their applications in all sectors of the country, and to produce a comprehensive report. He said it was envisaged that a period of six months (July to December 2018), was required to undertake all the three phases of the assessment, including the two workshops and production of the feasibility study report.

Mr Fredrick Appiah, the Chief Programmes Officer at the Energy Commission, said the country was currently considering other cheaper energy sources as hydro power had become unsustainable due to the impact of climate change on the environment. Hence the various interventions including the Renewable Energy Act 832, has paved the way for private sector participation, while the Fund set for this purpose was yet to be operationalized.

Dr Savadogo, the Executive Director of WASCAL, expressed appreciation to the donors for getting the project on course.

Mr. Hans-Helge Sander, the Deputy Head of Missions of the Federal Republic of Germany to Ghana, underscored the importance of renewable energy mix into the country’s electricity grid to ensure sustainable power supply for national development. He however said there was no need to reinvent the wheel which could result in duplications, but urged the experts to build on existing programmes, sourcing for available data and information from institutions that were already working on similar projects, in order to identify the gaps that needed to be addressed. He urged the researchers to also explore new areas such as technology transfer, as well as the limitations of Ghana’s Local Content Law on renewable energy, and its effect on industry. Mr Sander expressed his appreciation to the Energy Commission for Championing the Project, and the CSIR and other stakeholder institutions for their partnership.

The Ministry of Environment Science Technology and Innovation (MESTI) would however, provide the overall coordination and management of the project activities, ensuring that all deliverables were provided timely and according to design.