WASCAL

West African Science Service

Center on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use

Climate change (CC) constitutes the most striking environmental risk on which the attention of the whole world is focused because of its global dimension and its negative effects on socio-ecological systems. The effects of climate change will increase in the coming years, with the greatest impacts on the most vulnerable populations and ecosystems in the world.

The training of highly qualified people, together with adequate infrastructure and equipment,is required to strengthen scientific knowledge on agriculture and climate interactions. In fact, highly qualified human resources constitutes one of the major adaptation strategies to CC. WASCAL is an initiative of the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)established to help West African countries tackle the challenges of CC adaptation through capacity building and scientific research. The activities of the WASCAL Graduate Research Program (GRP) are set up and managed based on a partnership between 10 West African and German universities and research institutes. Climate Change and Agriculture (CC&A) is one the six PhD graduate programs initiated within this framework. IPR/IFRA of Katibougou, in partnership with the University of Bamako, will offer the PhD graduate program in CC&A.

More then 10 cooperating partner universities will also collaborate in the program : Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (Ghana) ; University of Lomé (Togo) ; University of Bonn – Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation (Germany) ; Michael Okpara University of Agriculture (Nigeria) ; University of Abomey-Calavi (Benin) ; University of Cocody (Cote d’Ivoire) ; University of Cheikh Anta Diop (Senegal) ; Polytechnic University of Bobo-Dioulasso (Burkina Faso) ; University of Abdou Moumouni (Niger) ; Federal University of Technology, Akure (Nigeria).

Objectives of the CC&A Program

The PhD program in CC&A aims :

  To train highly qualified human resources in West African countries to anticipate the effects of climate change ;

  To define and implement strategies towards mitigation of and adaptation to the negative effects of CC in agriculture ;

  To strengthen the synergistic relationship between the West African universities ; and

  To strengthen the partnership between German and West African universities.

Objectives of the call :

The CC&A Program intends to select candidates for a Ph.D. program to be conducted at IPR/IFRA.