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Searching for the key to unlock Africa’s future
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- By Dr Jane Olwoch, lecturer in Geography and Meteorology at the University of Pretoria and Dr Juliet Hermes, Manager: SAEON Egagasini Node
In a session sponsored by START (SysTem for Analysis Research and Training) as the Capacity Building Arm of ESSP (Earth Systems Science Partnerships), 14 young African scientists were allowed to attend the 4th Congress of the International Geosphere Biosphere Programme (IGBP), where each of the young scientists was a full participant, as well as a presenter of either a paper or a poster at this special Working Group, Juliet included.
Organising the session and the logistics attending the participation of the 14 Young African Scientists (YAS) was time-consuming, but the Working Group was extremely well attended (the room was full beyond capacity) and definitely one of the highlights of the IGBP.
The session was successful in its aim to showcase some of the global environmental change research being conducted by YAS, eight of whom are START/NORAD PhD Fellows. The rest of the members have been recipients of other START initiatives to promote capacity building in Africa including START’s Advanced Institutes, African Small Grants Program, or Visiting Scientist Fellowships.
Session participants were selected by a committee comprising young African scientists (Jane Olwoch from Rwanda as Chair; and including Phillipa Huntsman-Mapila of Botswana and Juliet Hermes of South Africa) and advised by Peter Tyson of South Africa and Hassan Virji of START. Through a rigorous review process only 14 young African scientists were selected to present their research through short oral presentations and a poster session.
Global environmental change
Topics covered a range of global environmental change issues that focus on regional scale aspects of global environmental change and the multiple stresses created by the interactions of global environmental change with other processes of change. Emphasis was on understanding of the diverse nature and multiple causes of environmental risk and vulnerability and of adaptive and more fundamental response to reduce risks and vulnerability through place-based, integrative and multidisciplinary approaches that span natural and social sciences.
From Paleo-climates to simulations of future climate, the YAS portrayed the fragile African environment under global environmental change conditions. The lack of technology, weak economies and lack of capacity to tackle the challenges were on the minds of all the YAS. The fact that most of these environmental problems - that destroy the nature of African existence - were outside the control of the scientists was echoed by all, depicting a hopeless situation for Africa.
Juliet started the session by describing her study that investigated the influence of the Seychelles-Chagos Thermoline Ridge on the regional ocean climate and rainfall over South-Eastern Africa. The findings from this study have added more knowledge on this system that has not been well documented and yet has potential to influence the climate of South Africa and Africa at large.
The key to unlocking Africa’s future lies in understanding our past
The second presentation collected data from multi-proxy investigations of superficial sediments using thermo-luminescence dating and geo-chemical analysis. It provided evidence of quaternary Okavango environments and more humid and drier episodes in the late Pleistocene and Holocene periods. This knowledge is a necessary essential base in modelling future global change and its regional manifestations.
Two presentations on air pollution from different parts of Africa (Nigeria and South Africa) revealed that traffic emissions were responsible for increases of nitrogen oxide and ozone, while meteorological conditions influenced the dispersion of the pollutants in the areas in which the studies took place.
The intensity, distribution and frequency of floods on the African continent have increased over the years. The third study used a Precipitation Water Inundation Model to simulate future floods in Lagos under four future climate scenarios. The findings of the study reported an increase of between 20-25% in urban hydrological fluxes in the next 50-100 years. These results are an important consideration in developmental projects in the city.
The vulnerability of the African continent to global changes in the environment is increased by the existing local and national habitat destruction and fragmentation, as well as the direct dependence of most of its population on natural resources. This vulnerability is multiplied by the fact that many of its economies are too weak to afford adequate adaptation strategies.
A study on environmental change and vulnerability of rural livelihoods in Ethiopia showed the link between land cover change, soil degradation and poverty in Ethiopian rural communities. The study concluded that these communities are caught up in a downward spiral of poverty and environmental change.
A similar study in Tanzania focusing on climate change as the major form of environmental change showed that household assets influence the level of the household’s vulnerability to climate change and variability. The study also showed that local people’s perceptions of climate change and variability were based on assessments of several climate attributes and incidences of pests and diseases. The increase and shift in distribution of pests and diseases is not only directly linked to climate variability and change, but also indirectly via biodiversity loss and displacement that accompany all aspects of global environmental change. These include climate change, land use and cover change, land degradation and fragmentation.
A sub-Saharan study on the relationship between climate change, ticks and their vertebrate hosts reported on a shift in the distribution of ticks and tick-borne diseases as a result of a more suitably simulated future climate model, but also increases in tick-borne diseases as a result of a decrease in biodiversity with a net increase in ticks feeding on cattle - thus more tick-borne infections.
Lastly, the study that investigated the determinants of adaptation strategies of African farmers using a multinomial choice analysis pointed to government policies, investments, access to education, markets and credit as the main sectors to be targeted in order to increase farmers’ adaptation to climate change.
The 34 posters from the YAS session each investigated a different aspect of global environmental change, and one of the YAS posters took top honours as the best expert poster of the congress.
The congress presented an opportunity to network with a variety of people involved in different aspects of global environmental change. The IGBP gave each of the YAS presenters a book entitled “Global Change and the Earth System – A Planet under Pressure”.
Being involved in the planning and organisation of the Young African Scientist Session was very rewarding and allowed us to discover the extent and nature of global environmental change research being done all over the continent. It also gave us a better understanding of how other young African scientists are feeling about the research, opportunities and future of our continent.
We sincerely hope that this group of scientists will remain in contact and that all of us will be involved in future workshops of this kind.
