Special Issue on Enhancing Resilience to Climate and Ecosystem Changes in Semi-Arid Africa

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 411-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuhiko Takeuchi ◽  
Edwin Akonno Gyasi
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Capacity Development ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Ecosystem Change ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Ecosystem Changes ◽  
Semi Arid

In 2011, a collaborative project focused on climate and ecosystem change adaptation and resilience studies in Africa (CECAR-Africa) with Ghana as the focal country, was initiated. The goal was to combine climate change and ecosystem change research, and to use that combination as a basis for building an integrated resilience enhancement strategy as a potential model for semi-arid regions across Sub-Saharan Africa. The Project is being financially supported by the Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development (SATREPS), a collaborative programme of the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). CECAR-Africa involves the following leading climate and ecosystems research organizations in Ghana and Japan: The University of Tokyo; Kyoto University; United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS); University of Ghana; Ghana Meteorological Agency; University for Development Studies; and United Nations University Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNUINRA). CECAR-Africa has been operating fully since 2012, with a focus on three thematic areas, namely: Forecast and assessment of climate change impact on agro-ecosystems (Agro-ecosystem resilience); Risk assessment of extreme weather hazards and development of adaptive resource management methods (Engineering resilience); and Implementing capacity development programs for local communities and professionals (social institutions-technical capacity development) using the assessment results derived from work on the first two themes. This special issue presents major outcomes of the Project so far. The articles featured used various techniques and methods such as field surveys, questionnaires, focal group discussions, land use and cover change analysis, and climate downscaled modelling to investigate the impacts of climate and ecosystem changes on river flows and agriculture, and to assess the local capacity for coping with floods, droughts and disasters, and for enhancing the resilience of farming communities. We are happy to be able to publish this special issue just in time for an international conference on CECAR-Africa in Tamale, Ghana, on 6-7 August, 2014. It is hoped that the shared research outcomes will facilitate discussions on the project research themes and interactions and exchange of ideas among academics, professionals, and government officials on the way forward for the CECARAfrica Project. We find it only appropriate to conclude by thanking the authors and reviewers of the articles, and by acknowledging, with gratitude, the local knowledge and other bits and pieces of information contributed by the many anonymous farmers and other people of northern Ghana.

scholarly journals Design for Sustainability: The Need for a New Agenda

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 3615
Author(s):  
Garrath T. Wilson ◽  
Tracy Bhamra
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Social Media ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Broad Spectrum ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Design For Sustainability ◽  
Single Use ◽  
Traditional Approaches ◽  
Global Agenda

Design for Sustainability is not the panacea we hoped it would be when it was first introduced in the latter part of the 20th century. Today, the health of both our environment and our societies is at a critical state, a breaking point, with piecemeal solutions offered as social-media-friendly rallying points, such as the European Parliament approved ban on single-use plastics, whilst fundamental, and arguably less ‘exciting’, issues such as loss of biodiversity, overpopulation, and climate change are shuffled to the back. It can be argued, however, that the awareness of the concept of sustainability and the need to reduce the negative human impact upon the environment and society has grown significantly and, consequently, has moved up the global agenda; this is evidenced by the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference. However, it is also clear that the role of Design for Sustainability within this agenda is not providing the solutions necessary to manifest the level of change required. Traditional approaches are not working. This Special Issue of Sustainability seeks to readdress this with eight papers that push the frontier of what Design for Sustainability could be—and possibly must be—across the broad spectrum of design disciplines.

scholarly journals Resilience in Diet-quality Strategies of Mixed Native and Non-native Herbivore Communities in Semi-arid and Sub-humid Savanna Ecosystem

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stoklasová Lucie ◽  
Pavla Hejcmanová
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Diet Quality ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
African Savanna ◽  
Ecosystem Shift ◽  
Ecological Functionality ◽  
Humid Savanna ◽  
Ecosystem Changes ◽  
Semi Arid

Abstract The global climate change processes are expected to impact African savanna ecosystems in their ecological functionality and availability of food resources for herbivores. To understand the feeding responses of large savanna herbivores placed to space-constrained and two environmentally distinct (semi-arid versus sub-humid savanna) conditions, we investigated the diet quality of five species living in a mixed community of species native and non-native for the West African savanna and compared them between the two sites as a proxy for a potential ecosystem shift due to climate change. Grazers and mixed feeders maintained diet quality in most nutrients at similar levels, while browser’s diet had lower nitrogen and fibres, specifically lignin, and more calcium in semi-arid savanna. Our findings suggest that adaptation to different ecosystems with no possibility to leave the area required changes in feeding behaviour across feeding types to maintain diet quality, especially mixed feeders escaped the competition with zebras for grasses in sub-humid savanna by switching to browse. Pure browser experienced reduced diet quality in drier environment and may potentially become susceptible to ecosystem changes. Conservation strategies should facilitate both, animals’ adequate behavioural responses together with nutritional resilience in changing savanna landscapes.

Issue-linkages to Climate Change Measured through NGO Participation in the UNFCCC

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 10-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miquel Muñoz Cabré
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Higher Education ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
United Nations ◽  
The Other ◽  
Cumulative Number ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
United Nations Framework Convention ◽  
Civil Society Participation

NGOs comprise over half the cumulative number of delegates attending the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP) for the 1995–2009 period. These NGOs represent a wide array of issues, including sustainable development, business, and higher education, to name just a few. Based on UNFCCC publicly available participation statistics, this article analyzes NGO participation from a quantitative issue-based perspective, and compares the results with the relevant conclusions drawn by the other contributors to this special issue. The findings of this analysis confirm informed expectations about issue-driven NGO participation. In particular, three main findings are that: (1) environment and conservation, academic, business, and energy NGOs dominate civil society participation in the UNFCCC; (2) UNFCCC constituencies do not adequately capture the range of issues addressed by observer NGOs; and (3) since 2007, NGO participation has sig-nificantly increased and diversified.

Rangeland ecology.

2020 ◽  
pp. 395-422
Author(s):  
Polly Ericksen ◽  
Pierre Hiernaux ◽  
Augustine Ayantunde ◽  
Philip K. Thornton ◽  
Jason Sircely ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Rangeland Management ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Rangeland Ecology ◽  
Development Interventions ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Donor Interest ◽  
Semi Arid

Abstract Rangelands research in arid and semi-arid sub-Saharan Africa has been reinvigorated by renewed government and donor interest in pastoral livelihoods. The challenges facing productive rangelands remain competition over resources, which has been exacerbated by armed conflict; overuse of some rangelands as fragmentation continues; and the failure of many technical and governance interventions. The unresolved development challenges of pastoralism in East and West Africa make it essential to renew long-term empirical research to understand rangeland dynamics and to develop appropriate public policies. The rangelands research agenda at the International Livestock Research Institue focuses on: (i) governance for better rangeland management; (ii) monitoring rangeland conditions to improve development interventions; (iii) understanding the interactions between climate change and the rangelands; and (iv) improving rangelands productivity for pastoral resilience.

Green Sukuk, Energy Poverty, and Climate Change: A Roadmap for Sub-Saharan Africa

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalal Aassouli ◽  
Mehmet Asutay ◽  
Mahmoud Mohieldin ◽  
Tochukwu Chiara Nwokike
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Energy Poverty ◽  
Sub Saharan
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