Project embeds young African climate researchers
Channel: Science & Development Network
Date: 25/11/2015

DescriptionBack in the 1980s, African scientists contributed less than two per cent of the papers in global climate change publications. This dire situation remained the same for almost 30 years. Climate models and growing evidence suggest Africa is likely to feel some of the worst impacts of climate change. In the face of this, there’s an urgent need to increase local African research geared towards finding solutions and mitigation strategies in response to the continent’s changing weather patterns.

This film looks at a fellowship initiative to strengthen climate change research in Sub-Saharan Africa — through the experience of two Nigerian researchers working at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Ghana. Olawale Emmanuel Olayide’s work on agriculture sheds light on the impact of climate change on farming. Abiodun Momodu’s research on energy emissions grapples with the likely impact of West African development as it gathers pace. 
Both researchers are enrolled on the CIRCLE (Climate Impacts Research Capacity and Leadership Enhancement) project. The scheme places early-career African scientists in top climate change research centres across Africa to support individual and institutional development. The-then director of the Energy Centre at KNUST also outlines how the project has triggered and cemented collaborations across the continent.

The CIRCLE project is an initiative of the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development. It is managed by the Association of Commonwealth Universities and the African Academy of Sciences.


This piece is part of the Africa’s PhD Renaissance series funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.