Judging Soils as a Climate Change Solution: Where is the evidence? My fieldwork experience under CIRCLE

Dr Shade Akinsete,  University of Ibadan,

Cohort 2 CIRCLE Visiting Fellow

Climate change! Climate change!! Climate change!!! Is soil carbon storage a solution? Soils play a key role in climate change, as they could act as sources of or sinks for carbon depending on land-use management. However, sufficient evidence must be provided for the African continent. On this note, I began my field trip in southwest Nigeria in search for some evidence. For different disciplines fieldwork connotes different things. Mine was a real field in beautifully arranged teak plantations, natural forests, and arable farm lands in Onigambari and Omo forest reserves in Oyo and Ogun States, respectively. Beautiful serene environments with clean flowing streams, jumping squirrels, skillfully carved nests, flocking birds, bustling insects and active worms. Thankfully, no snakes were on sight. All these scenes were soon masked in what was about to turn into a very busy soil sampling process. Actually, I was not out there to enjoy the view only but to collect nearly seven hundred soil samples for various laboratory analyses. Why and how did I bring this upon myself? To improve and develop my career capacity provided by rare opportunities such as the Climate Impact Research Capacity and Leadership Enhancement (CIRCLE) programme that not only targets early career researchers but also ensures a good representation of women from different aspects of learning. Also, of the good nature of my home institution, which continually seeks the growth of her faculty members.

Soil profile in arable land use (Cassava farm) Onigambari Forest Reserve, Oyo State, Nigeria

Fig.1. Some Soil profiles sampled for this study: a) Alfisol under natural forest - Onigambari Forest Reserve; b) Inceptisol under teak plantation - Onigambari Forest Reserve; c) Alfisol under arable land (cassava farm) - Omo Forest Reserve; d) Inceptisol under arable land (cassava farm) - Omo Forest Reserve

Storage of carbon (C) in soils, frequently termed ‘soil carbon sequestration’, is a mitigation strategy for reducing atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, especially carbon dioxide (CO₂), known to contribute to global warming. So how soils are treated is extremely critical for climate change studies. Under the CIRCLE award, I will be measuring how much carbon is stored in soils under different land-use management strategies in southwest Nigeria, due to insufficient information for the global soil C database and for guiding stakeholders on appropriate future land use planning and climate change mitigation strategies.

L – R: Mr. O. Owolabi (Forest Guide); Shade Akinsete; Dr. S. Jimoh (Forest Ecologist); Dr. J. Orimoloye (Pedologist) Mr. S. Ogundele (Forest Guide) in the Teak Plantation, Onigambari Forest Reserve, Oyo State, Nigeria



I could not have traversed the forest reserves on my own without the forest guides who provided direction and guidance in these terrains. Sampling soils without some past history of land-use engenders difficulty in data interpretation. Therefore, Dr. Saka Jimoh, a forest ecologist of the Department of Forest Resources and Management, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, provided some useful history as well as identifying some of the plant species. Apart from assisting in sampling, he facilitated the network with the ministry of forestry for permission to access these reserves. Without a pedologist, identification of soil types as well as soil characterisation can be frustrating, with various colours under our foot. So on this trip, I could not have left behind Dr. Julius Orimoloye, Department of Agronomy, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Together with him and some field assistants (graduate students of our University), the soils were identified, characterised and sampled. With the unflinching support and resilience of my team the soil sampling was completed whether it was dusk or in the actual event of heavy rainfall. In the event of future fieldwork, I will enlist this same team, whose support was total to achieve the best despite the serious fuel crisis the country was experiencing at the time of the fieldwork. Although, this fieldwork was more rugged than previous ones I had engaged in, I have no regrets because it was mission accomplished. Now, onto lab work at “Mazingira Centre; ILRI’s state-of-art environmental lab” seeking to provide the evidence……

Mission accomplished- Some members of the team

Adventure into climate finance flows and corruption study: A mid-term reflection on the CIRCLE fellowship

By Olushola Fadairo, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Cohort 2 Visiting Fellow

Dr Fadairo spent his fellowship year at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Halfway through his Fellowship, he reflects on his experiences.

My nomination by my home institution to apply for the CIRCLE fellowship programme in July 2015 was greeted with mixed feelings. On the one hand, a feeling of excitement as it was going to be an additional opportunity for capacity development and further intellectual excursion beyond the shores of Nigeria barely two years after completion of a PhD programme. On the other hand, a feeling of awe arising from the challenge of having to develop a novel research proposal on climate change as the only focus and within a very short time in the face of a very busy schedule in my home institution. Fortunately, the dice was already cast and there was no going back, so I took up the challenge. In my retrospective reflection in search of a problem or gap around which I could build a research proposal, I quickly remembered some newspaper reports I had read in recent times which alleged corruption by some government officials in the management of climate funds. So, I thought it was important to investigate the extent to which effectiveness of climate change intervention projects is being affected by corruption. This led to my first working title on “Broaching Research on Corruption in Ecological Fund Management for Climate Change Mitigation” which I submitted to CIRCLE and was privileged to be offered the fellowship opportunity.

Rethinking the proposal

Shortly before the commencement of the fellowship in January 2016, I decided to undertake a brief reconnaissance on the subject of my CIRCLE research proposal. After much consideration, I realised the need to revise the proposal to be more specific and realistic. When I attended the CIRCLE induction workshop held in Kenya in February, 2016 I met John Morton who shared the same opinion. Following further review of relevant literature and consultation with my Supervisor (Richard Calland), Specialist advisor (Yacob Mulugetta) and home institution mentor (Janice Olawoye), I revised my research proposal and amended the title as “Exploring Research on Corruption in Climate Funds Management: The Case of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) Project in Nigeria”. The thrust of the study is premised on the experience in Africa with respect to climate finance flow which has so far not boded too well as the gap between funds approved and those disbursed in the region remains substantial, presumably because of challenges in meeting the required fiduciary and governance standards. So, a major research concern is that the fiduciary standards that have been set and will continue to be set will either be too high and unreasonably so, or else they cannot be met because countries are unable to show how they will combat corruption, which will have a detrimental effect on the flow of climate finance at a crucial time. In this vein, key questions that come to mind include: is the concern about corruption in climate change and, therefore, fiduciary standards, justified? The study therefore aims at providing answers to six objectives derived from this question using Cross River State (CRS), Nigeria where there is REDD+ presence as a test case.

What does forthcoming finding suggest?

While the field survey on households within forest dependent communities in the study area was still on-going as of the time of writing this article, the flip side data garnered from a key informant from the state forestry commission (Table 1) shows that only five out of eight governance measures that could help improve transparency in REDD+ processes were available locally; two of which were rated as just fairly functional while the functionality of the other two could not be ascertained. Does this trend say anything about the governance capacity of the implementing agency for REDD+ in the study area? It may be too hasty to draw conclusions on this now until all data are fully collected.

Table 1: Highlights of information from IDI with key informant from CRS forestry commission

Major engagements with research stakeholders so far

My first engagement with stakeholders apart from the CIRCLE induction workshop held in Kenya, was on March 2, 2016 when I did a self-introduction seminar at the African Climate and Development Initiative (ACDI), University of Cape Town (my host institution). My presentation focused on my profile, past research experience and current CIRCLE research work. This was followed by my participation at the United Nations University Education for Sustainable Development in Africa (ESDA) – Next Generation Researchers (NGR) – National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRF) workshop on “Developing an Exploratory Research Programme on the Role of Youth Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Development in Africa” from March 4-7, 2016, where I also did a presentation entitled “Blockades between entrepreneurship and development in Africa: My Perspectives”. Furthermore, on April 14, 2016, I presented my CIRCLE research work at the CIRCLE coordinators/Supervisors/UCT-Research Office/CVFs meeting held at the University of Cape Town Research Office. A more recent one was my participation at the International Conference on Climate Change held at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Nigeria from 18-20 May, 2016 where I delivered a review paper co-authored with my supervisor on the title “Corruption and the imbalance in climate finance flows in Sub Saharan Africa: Lessons for Social Researchers”. The review paper is now being revised for submission for publication in a suitable open access journal.

Gains versus Pains: How did I fare?

It is just about six months into my CIRCLE fellowship year and I am happy to note that the experience so far has been awesome, though not without some moments of disappointment. An instance I would describe as a low point for me in my experience so far was when I narrowly missed an opportunity to attend the 2016 Potsdam (Germany) Summer School on Dealing with Climate Change Impacts. It was a two week programme with partial sponsorship. It was with great regret that I read the mail sent to me from Potsdam by Angela Borowski who informed me of the jury committee’s recommendation to put my offer on the waiting list should anyone withdraw. Alas! it never happened. However, it is pertinent to state that while I have had more high points than low points, both conditions have really been essential learning processes for me.

Acknowledgements

I appreciate my fellow CVFs, Faridah and Portia for their companionship. Special thanks to my supervisor (Richard Calland), specialist advisor (Yacob Mulugetta) and mentor (Janice Olawoye) for their guidance. I gratefully acknowledge the African Climate and Development Initiative (ACDI), African Academy of Sciences (AAS), UK Department for International Development and Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) for this memorable opportunity.

Impacts of Climate Change on Aquaculture Sector of Ghana: A Field Experience

By: Berchie Asiedu, University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR), Ghana
Cohort 2 CIRCLE Visiting Fellow

Climate change is one of the most serious threats to sustainable aquaculture development in Ghana. The impacts of climate change in the aquaculture (small-scale) sector of Ghana are real. Droughts are being prolonged, rainfall patterns changing, floods increasing and strong winds are becoming a common phenomenon. Fish ponds are breaking in, aquatic plants are taking over ponds, fish mortalities are increasing, water quantity and quality are getting poorer, fish farmers are getting lower revenue and poverty is increasing.

In February 2016, I arrived at the University of Ibadan (UI) to officially commence my one-year Climate Impact Research Capacity and Leadership Enhancement (CIRCLE) Visiting Fellowship programme. Prior to my arrival, I had several email exchanges with my Host Supervisor on my research proposal, work plan and other logistics. I also had a meeting with my Home Mentor and CIRCLE Coordinator before departing to UI.

Being at my Host Institution has been interesting. UI is Nigeria’s premier university with a lot of faculties, students and commercial activities. I was introduced to officers in the Research Management Unit (RMO), which is the unit responsible for coordinating the CIRCLE Programme. I met my Host Supervisor who warmly welcomed me and introduced me to other members in the department (Dept. of Aquaculture and Fisheries Management). I also interacted with students in the department and took interest in their research activities. I visited the department’s fish farm to familiarize myself with their work. I took keen interest to understudy the academic and administrative structures of my Host institution, especially, the Dept. of Aquaculture and Fisheries Management (UI), which is unique and I hope to adopt in my Home institution (UENR).

In March 2016, I had the opportunity to attend a workshop on Research and Grants Writing for Doctoral Students which was organized by the RMO and Postgraduate School. The workshop had sharpened my skills in research grant management, budget and budgeting in research grants, reference management, effective communication in research grant proposal writing, and ethical consideration in research.

I also had the opportunity to meet other CIRCLE Fellows and Ghanaian students at UI to exchange ideas and build working relationships.

After a meeting with some Ghanaian students in UI

As part of my CIRCLE research, I have spent three months studying the impacts of climate change on aquaculture through field data collection in two important aquaculture regions in Ghana (Ashanti and Brong Ahafo), sometimes travelling for about three days across districts, municipals, metropolitans, in rain, sunshine, traffic, day and night and in the remote parts of Ghana.

Working with stakeholders (i.e. fish farmers, fisheries officers, meteorological officers, opinion leaders, local climate experts, national best fish farmers, students, government institutions and religious bodies), the impacts of climate change are being analysed.

A visit to a fish farm in Sunyani, Ghana. The pond is dried-up completely due to prolonged drought and high temperatures. The water source is dried and the farmer forced to stop operations

Taking pond water turbidity with secchi disc at a fish farm in Kumasi, Ghana. The quality of water is key for fish growth but is getting poorer due to drought

It is worth noting that stakeholders (both individuals and institutions) are using various strategies to combat climate change (examples; constructing concrete walls to combat incidence of flood during extreme rainfall, raising pond dykes to check flooding, fencing ponds with nets to retain fish during floods, using sand bags to prevent pond erosion due to high rainfall, planting of trees to serve as wind breaks and to provide shade to reduce evaporation, abandoning ponds to contain water during heavy rains and construction of filtration systems to ensure safe water usage for production, pumping water to top up ponds during drought periods).

A farmer at Asufua has constructed a concrete wall to combat incidences of flooding during extreme rainfall. Farm operational costs have increased

A fish farmer at Odumasi has fenced ponds with nets to retain fish during floods. Ponds here are flooded during torrential rains

The opportunities and experience from the CIRCLE programme have been very helpful. I am hoping to use my knowledge and skills to have impact in the aquaculture sector, academic circles, public sector and the international communities.

This study has been possible by kind assistance of the CIRCLE programme, DfID, the ACU and AAS.

Berchie Asiedu.

CIRCLE Programme: A pleasant exposure so far…

Ms Portia Adade Williams, Science and Technology Policy Research Institute (CSIR- STEPRI), Ghana
Cohort 2 CIRCLE Visiting Fellow

Ms Williams spent her fellowship year at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Here,she reflects on her time on the CIRCLE Programme.

In January 2016, I arrived at my host institution to officially commence the one-year Climate Impact Research Capacity and Leadership Enhancement (CIRCLE) Visiting Fellowship programme to enhance my research skills and contribute to the aim of the programme. Not knowing exactly what to expect, I did my research on the programme by communicating with some Cohort 1 Fellows to learn from their experiences. This together with the guidance of my host supervisor, Dr. Olivier Crespo and unflinching support from my home mentor Dr. George O. Essegbey, enabled me start working before officially commencing the programme.  

I am half way through the fellowship and I have participated in both local and international programmes.  Besides the educative bi- weekly departmental seminars I participate in, the exposure has been amazing. I participated in the 2nd Students’ Conference on Climate Change and Development at Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden, South Africa, on 18th March, 2016. This was organized by the CIRCLE host at UCT, the African Climate and Development Initiative (ACDI) where insightful presentations related to the theme were made. Another opportunity for me was when ACDI facilitated a meeting between Circle Visiting Fellows (CVFs) and the Research Office at UCT on 21st April, 2016 to introduce the CVFs to the office. This was a meeting between CVFs, our supervisors, host ACDI and the research office constituting Dr. Mignonne Breier and her team. The meeting enabled us seek any assistance required in conducting research in UCT. It later facilitated my participation in a three day writing retreat with the Emerging Researcher Programme (ERP) coordinated by Drs. Lyn Holness and Gudrun Oberprieler of the research office at Mont Fleur conference venue, Stellenbosch, South Africa from 21st to 23rd May, 2016. The retreat was useful and impactful as educative sessions with experiences from other international students were shared, not to mention the learning platform to develop proficient use of time in writing.

Meeting with CVFs, supervisors, CIRCLE host ACDI and the research office team at UCT

Writing retreat at Mont Fleur Conference Venue, Stellenbosch, South Africa.

The latest exposure as part of the CIRCLE Fellowship is my participation in the scholar’s prestigious program at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island in the United States of America (USA). This was the “Brown International Advanced Research Institute (BIARI)”, hosted by the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University. About 146 participants from 55 countries convened from 4th – 18th June 2016, to participate in a two week annual residential program sponsored by Santander Universities. Out of the four institutes hosted, I had the privilege of participating in the climate change institute under the theme “Climate Change and Its Impacts: Connecting Variability and Knowledge in a Global System”. Convened by Brown University professors, each section featured lectures and seminars led by distinguished local and international guest faculty.

The Climate Change Institute at BIARI 2016, Brown University, USA

It was a unique experience meeting individuals across academic, professional and geographic boundaries. At the end of the programme, various research groups were formed. I am now part of a global group of 11 researchers from 8 different countries representing four continents with the common goal of developing further a research proposal to conduct a comparative study across countries and we hope to continually collaborate and research into emerging issues related to climate change within our expertise.

Other participants at BIARI 2016, Brown University, USA

On my CIRCLE research, I am working on “Climate variability impact on pineapple production in Ghana”. Pineapple heavily depends on climate for performance and is an important crop within the horticultural sub-sector of Ghanaian economy. With limited knowledge relating to climate and pineapple productivity, this research focuses on assessing the effect of variability on pineapple production under climatic and economic perspectives. It also explores the coping strategies employed by pineapple farmers in Ghana. It is a holistic study which will play a critical role in assisting pineapple farmers to adapt to climate variability and cope with short term impacts.

At the end of June 2016, I will be participating in a one week winter school course on “Using climate information for adaptation and policy development” organized by the Climate Systems Analysis Group(CSAG) of the Environmental and Geographical Sciences Department of UCT. I also hope to participate in a conference in the next two months to present part of the findings from my study. I aspire to develop my career and build my intellectual capabilities for professional growth and my participation in the CIRCLE programme so far has set me on the right path. Being an early career academic, I hope to become an internationally recognised scientist in the field of climate change and I value this unique experience CIRCLE programme through DFID, ACU and AAS has given me. I am also grateful to CSIR-STEPRI and UCT for all the support and assistance.

Reflections on the Adaptation Futures Conference

Dr Philip Antwi-Agyei, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana

Cohort 1 CIRCLE Visiting Fellow

With realisation that mitigation alone might not be sufficient in tackling climate change; adaptation has dominated recent international political and academic discourse on climate change. Following the momentum of the historic Conference of Parties in Paris in December, 2015, over 1600 participants from more than 100 countries, gathered in the beautiful city of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, to share new scientific findings, products and services aimed at promoting the business case for climate change adaptation. Participants included academic researchers, innovators, practitioners and decision-makers both in the private and public sectors. Hosted by PROVIA (Global Programme of Research on Climate Change Vulnerability, Impacts and Adaptation) and funded by the European Union and the Government of the Netherlands, the theme of this conference was “adaptation futures 2016: practicesand solutions”.

Philip explaining CIRCLE’s business poster to a participant

The conference had 155 sessions, 7 high-level round tables and, of course, the highlight of it, the Adaptation Expo. There were seven key themes including food and rural livelihoods, cities and infrastructure, fresh water availability and access, ecosystems and ecosystem based adaptations, disaster risk reduction, the artic, and public health. Additionally, there were three 3 cross-cutting issues touching on risk assessment, adaptation planning and evaluation, institutions and governance, and investment and business. One of the key highlights of this conference was the address by Her Majesty Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, who is the United Nations Secretary General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development. In her address, HRH Queen Maxima emphasized the need for the international community to provide all inclusive financial access to the most vulnerable in our communities. As the keynote speaker, Queen Maxima indicated that globally there are over 230 million people who are affected by climate change induced disasters. She opined that access to financial services by these people was critical for their survival.

Several cutting edge studies conducted across the globe were presented. I participated actively and made a presentation titled: “mapping the multiple stressors contributing to vulnerability across scales in the Savannah zone of Ghana”. In this presentation, I explored how the various climatic and non-climatic stressors vary and interact across three different spatial scales in dry land farming systems, typified by case studies from northern Ghana. This presentation outlined that smallholder households are confronted with multiple stressors, many of which are non-climatic in nature. To this end, the presentation highlighted the urgent and practical need to tackle both climatic and non-climatic stressors in a holistic approach in climate change adaptation policies. In addition to my academic presentation, I presented CIRCLE’s business poster at the Adaptation Expo. It is important to stress that CIRCLE’s business poster received considerable audience and participants were generally impressed by the overall objective of the programme, which is aimed at developing the capacity of early career researchers in climate change impacts on development in sub-Saharan Africa.

Philip (middle) explaining a point on academic poster to participants

For me, two key things made this conference a resounding success. First, the tool shed session, where practitioners including NGOs such as CARE International, Oxfam (UK) and other organisations such as the European Environment Agency, The World Bank, Stockholm Environment Institute etc., demonstrated practical tools for addressing various aspects of climate change vulnerability and adaptation. Indeed, many of the tools were quite innovative and attracted large audiences. Another fascinating feature of the Adaptation Futures Conference was the active participation by the business community (including insurers, accountants, bankers etc.), non-governmental organisations as well as policy makers. The participation of these stakeholders was a clear demonstration that the issue of climate change is not a problem only for academic researchers, but rather an all-encompassing issue that needs a holistic approach involving all stakeholders.  For instance, several sessions were devoted to the role of insurance and business models in reducing the impacts of climate change related risk on households, especially on poorer households. It is believed that businesses could help in developing appropriate business models in tackling climate change.

Philip (extreme left) with H.R.H. Princess Abze Djigma, Burkina Faso (in the middle) and other participants from Ghana



Additionally, this conference outlined some of the key challenges in adapting to climate change, the next steps and who should take the lead. In terms of challenges, a number of challenges were highlighted including the lack of communication on climate change, inadequate engagement amongst researchers and practitioners, as well as lack of appreciation of local knowledge, etc. Personally, one of the refreshing moments was meeting some of the key global leaders in adaptation literature that I have cited several times in my writing. Importantly, the Adaptation Futures Conference provided a good platform for forging new networks and renewing old friendships. Crucially, new thinking and ideas on adaptation to climate change emerged from this conference.

The next Adaptation Futures Conference takes place in Cape Town, South Africa in 2018 and it will be great to have a good representation of climate change adaptation researchers and practitioners from the Africa continent attending this conference. In doing this, the continent shall be demonstrating its commitments in contributing to finding lasting solutions to climate change, which is already posing a considerable threat to Africa’s poverty reduction, economic growth and social development efforts.

Finally, I wish to take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude to CIRCLE and the organisers of the Adaptation Futures Conference for providing the necessary support to enable me attend this important conference.

Dr Philip Antwi-Agyei is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Environmental Science at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana and recently completed a CIRCLE Visiting Fellowship at the University of Ghana.

Catching up with the Geospatial Revolution

Br Dr Catherine V Nnamani, Ebonyi State University, Nigeria, and Sylvia Ankamah, University of Energy and Natural Resources, Ghana
Cohort 2 CIRCLE Visiting Fellows 

Dr Catherine V Nnamani and Sylvia Ankamah at the GIS and RS Training Course

The Induction Workshop in Kenya for CIRCLE Cohort 2 Fellows made us understand the importance of integrating and taking advantage of training programs at our Host Institutions. The experience gained from the reports presented by Cohort 1 Fellows spurred us on to attend a two week training course on Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS). The training was an eye opener on what a researcher can do, enjoy and achieve with GIS. It was amazing, enriching and has built our capacity.

The training was organized by Space Applications and the Environmental Science Laboratory at the African Centre of Excellence in Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria. It is a World Bank Program/Flagship for collaborative research and development, and an innovation platform aimed at addressing Africa’s challenges relating to agriculture, environment, health, security, welfare, housing, disaster, transportation and industry using Satellite Spatial Data.

Dr Catherine V Nnamani and Sylvia Ankamah, CIRCLE Fellows digitalizing the RASTER and Vector features of Osogbo Map

Knowing where and why things are located on the surface of the earth, their distributions and the patterns they create, as well as their dynamics are vital for sustainability and conservation. GIS is pertinent to almost all human activity regarding space. In today’s globalized world, where climate variability and change is increasing, and where people seek to make everything easier, we need GIS to simplify spatial and temporal analysis. About 90% of our daily decisions hinge on the question ‘where’. GIS brings the world to our palms, enabling us to make informed decisions about spatial issues. It makes evident patterns in life, distributions and activities, thus helping in the location of phenomena and giving insight into the dynamics of such phenomena. It aids in understanding the relationship between the physical and human environment, making easier the expressions of such relationships in maps and visual forms using satellite spatial data. GIS could be applied in many different aspects of Human and Environmental issues (Fig. 1).

Fig 1: Application of GIS in different aspects of human and environmental issues.

The major aim of the training was to make environmental research easier, faster and timely by engaging individuals and companies whose activities have impacted, or have the potential to impact, the environment. The training was specifically focused on the basic concept of Geographic Information System, GIS Software’s, Primitive Spatial Analysis, Spatial Data Models and Map Design. Through the training our skills and capacity were enhanced in the following areas: 

• How to manage and process environmental data from varied sources using raster/vector features, scripting, geoprocessing tools, cartography and projections.
• We can now handle spatial analysis answering queries of accessibility, proximity and conservation using attribute features in AcrGIS
• We can produce distributional maps of our study areas for our CIRCLE research.
• Most importantly we want to share the good news that we were able to launch our first DRONE that captured spatial data on OAU, our Host Institution.

Our Joy knows no bound for participating in this training

COURTESY OF THE CIRCLE FELLOWSHIP.

Dr Catherine V Nnamani and Sylvia Ankamah are CIRCLE Visiting Fellows, currently hosted at Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria.

Engaging Community Stakeholders For Climate Change Research In The Niger Delta Region Of Nigeria: My Experience So Far

Dr. Omosivie Maduka, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

Cohort 2 CIRCLE Visiting Fellow

Group photograph Paramount Ruler Mbodo-Aluu with CDC chairman and research team

The Niger Delta region of Nigeria as defined by the Nigerian government, occupies about 70,000 km² and makes up 7.5% of Nigeria's land mass. It comprises one of the nine oil-producing states in the country namely: Bayelsa, Rivers, Delta, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo, Abia, Imo and Ondo. These states are home to about 31 million people spanning over 40 ethnic groups and 185 Local Government Areas (LGAs) who speak about 250 different dialects. Oil exploration in these states is the major source of foreign exchange for the country. Many communities in the Niger Delta have a negative reputation of being hostile to outsiders and are often tagged as volatile or unsafe.  This is often a source of apprehension for researchers working in the Niger Delta. I however found that proper engagement of community stakeholders using the recognized lines of authority is key to managing any issues in this regard.

During the induction training for the second cohort of Circle Visiting Fellows, the importance of early identification and engagement of various stakeholders, including study participants/respondents as a part of the process of planning for research uptake, was emphasized. I chose to put this knowledge to good use during my preliminary visits to potential study sites in Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta states in Nigeria, where I intend to evaluate the effects of gas flaring and climate change on health in six communities.



Visit to the Sapele LGA office of the HoD health and officials of the Delta State Primary Health care Board

I gained entry into each community through the Primary Health Care (PHC) structure. Accompanied by two research assistants, we paid visits to the officer in charge of health in each LGA headquarters (Medical officer of Health or Head of Department, Health). Through this office we were given access to the officers in charge of the PHCs of the selected communities. PHCs often have close working relationships with the leadership of the communities they serve. We were able to take advantage of this relationship in most of the communities as the PHC staff were happy to take us into the community and introduce us to the paramount ruler, Chairman of the community development committee (CDC) or community spokesman.

Picture with CDC  chairman of Ibada-Elume in Delta State

The reception from these leaders was very warm, we were offered the customary welcome drinks and ‘kola’ (traditional symbol of acceptance).  Our research objectives and methodology was well received and the required social license obtained in all communities.  The typical comment from the community leadership was that “it would be good to know how healthy our people are”. It was also interesting to note that many of the communities requested written feedback on the findings and recommendations from the research. This desire will prove beneficial to the plans to disseminate research findings among members of these communities.

Ibada Elume CDC chairman getting involved in data collection

Contrary to some concerns, none of these communities made any financial demands on us and no one was hostile to us. Rather, in most of these communities, we were given a guided tour of the community and allowed unhindered access to locations for water and air quality assessments. So far, we have conducted community entry activities, collected water samples to assess quality of drinking water and conducted air quality assessments in six communities namely: Mbodo- Aluu and Omuhiombia in Ikwerre LGA of Rivers State, Ibada-Elume and Oton in Sapele LGA of Delta State, Sampou in Kolokuma/Opokuma LGA and Nedugo in Yenagoa LGA in Bayelsa State. Each community has so far been visited twice with favourable responses. These experiences have served to reinforce my appreciation of community entry activities as key to profitable research activities and research uptake in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. 

Gender in climate change research

Participants at the CIRCLE proposal writing workshop for female applicants to cohort 3

Women are disproportionately affected by climate change. They have a higher dependence on natural resources which are increasingly in short supply; natural disasters, which are becoming more commonplace, kill more women than men; and women often lack the social capital in society to adapt to changing circumstances or to make their voices heard. Involving women and other marginalised groups in tackling climate change and in shaping approaches to cope with and adapt to its impacts can greatly enhance their effectiveness.

During the Paris climate talks in December, gender was one of the key topics under discussion. However, some have suggested that the debate did not move far enough beyond the impacts of climate change on women to consider how women themselves can be active agents within the climate change debate. There is some discussion about women in agriculture and how they should be engaged in developing solutions on the ground, but what about women’s engagement within higher level policy discussions?

Though Africa will be one of the continents hardest hit by climate change, there are still not enough researchers within the continent examining the impact of climate change and exploring approaches to mitigate and adapt to its effects. Women in sub-Saharan Africa are especially underrepresented, making up just 30% of researchers.

Recognising the lack of African researchers in the field of Climate change, the Climate Impact Research Capacity and Leadership Enhancement in Sub-Saharan Africa (CIRCLE) was developed to support 100 one year fellowships over the course of three years for early career researchers to conduct a research project at leading African institutions in the field of climate change. The programme is now going into its second year with the start of the second cohort of CIRCLE visiting fellows.

CIRCLE also aims to award 50% of its fellowships to female researchers, in an effort to address the underrepresentation of women in this field. To date, 48% of CIRCLE fellows have been female researchers. Over the course of last year a number of female researchers from the first cohort of fellows have contributed their experiences to the CIRCLE blog and it is evident that a lot has been achieved by both male and female fellows.

At the final workshop for the first cohort of CIRCLE Visiting Fellows (CVFs), a presentation was made by Mercy Derkyi on her plans to establish a Centre for Climate Change and Gender Studies at the University of Energy and Natural Resources, Ghana, inspired by the work undertaken during her fellowship. This exemplified one of the key aims of the CIRCLE fellowships, to foster the leadership skills of CVFs so that they can have a wider reaching positive impact. It is hoped that the female CVFs will act as role models to encourage, inspire and assist more women to undertake climate change research.

The CIRCLE programme is also an important opportunity for female researchers to strengthen their profile and contribute to the academic dialogue on climate change. Another CVF, Catherine Mungai, recently won an award for her research paper, emerging from her CIRCLE research, presented at the Symposium on Climate Change Adaptation in Africa 2016, CGIAR.

There have been some challenges, however, in ensuring equal representation of male and female fellows as part of the fellowship. During the application process some institutions struggled to find female candidates for the fellowships. Furthermore, the applications that were received were often not as developed in their scientific design and climate change relevance as those of their male counterparts.

To confront some of the challenges around attracting sufficient numbers of high quality applications from women the CIRCLE management team put in place a number of measures:

• Greater flexibility was allowed for fellows whose family circumstances would affect their ability to travel to other countries to take up their fellowship;
• The specification of a maximum 5 year gap between PhD completion and fellowship was extended for those who had a career break for family reasons
• Home institutions were made aware of the 50% target and any institutions nominating more that one candidate had to nominate at least one woman.
• In February 2016 a workshop was run for potential female applicants for the third and final cohort of CIRCLE fellows to help strengthen their proposal writing skills, with particular reference to their CIRCLE proposal submissions.

With reference to the last initiative, each home institution was invited to nominate up to two female researchers to attend the workshop, run by Dr Maggie Opondo and Dr Sari Kovats, both leading female researchers in the field of climate change. Not only did the workshop cover proposal writing skills, but also a more in-depth look at gender in climate change and the workshop leaders spent some time with participants reviewing their draft proposals for the programme. One workshop participant commented:

“The workshop has helped to broaden my understanding on proposal writing especially with respect to climate change. I was able to review my CIRCLE proposal and I feel more confident now that I can approach proposal writing with ease. I also acquired new and relevant skills which will be beneficial for my academic discipline.”

Another workshop participant observed:

“The important aspects explained on how to make your proposal feasible as well as using the gender lens in climate change studies were wonderful. I have benefited not only as a CIRCLE programme fellow but as a researcher.”

The drive to increase female representation for the application process seems to have been effective, with 60% female nominations for this cohort compared to 39% for both cohorts 1 and 2. Participants at the workshop in February also indicated that their confidence in writing their proposal has been increased and the workshop leaders identified a number of exciting proposal topics, which we are looking forward to receiving for the final round of CIRCLE applications.

Caroline Moss is a programme Officer at the Association of Commonwealth Universities

Connecting the dots in my CIRCLE research.

By Esther Ekua Amoako, University For Development Studies 
Cohort 1 CIRCLE Visiting Fellow 

Dr Amoako spent her fellowship year at  University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Here, she reflects on her time on the CIRCLE Programme.

On 28^th of January, 2015 I left Tamale in the Northern region of Ghana, where I work and live with my family to the Centre for Climate Change Studies (CCCS), University of Dar es salaam, Tanzania. This was my first time travelling to the East. Early in the morning I was greeted in Kiswahili, a language I skipped years ago when I had admission to read Political Science and Kiswahili at the University of Ghana.

This was the beginning of the 11 months journey into my research career away from home. It has been one of the best, working in Ghana and Tanzania.  Coming back to Ghana for data collection in March, I worked with research assistants from the University for Development Studies (My home institution), Savanna Agricultural Institute (SARI), and the Mole National Park, Ghana. I had the opportunity to work with a number of people from the office of the CCCS, the Geography department, Botany department and even crossing over to the Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) and the Kitulangalo forest in Morogoro, Tanzania. Most of these personalities were experts and professors in their own field, some directly related to my field of research others not directly. I had to work with some research assistants in the field data collection, with plant ecologist and technicians to help identify tree species in the Guinea Savanna and the Miombo woodlands of Ghana and Tanzania respectively. I needed to work with laboratory technicians from the SARI, Ghana and Forestry and Nature Conservation, SUA, Tanzania for soil sampling and preparation of the soils for laboratory analysis, seed bank germination. In the Kitulangalo forest I worked with a forest technician who assisted with the identification of tree species in Kiswahili before it was translated into the scientific names. I am glad that the process of soil preparation and analysis was used as practical training for three female students from the Tanzania Technical Institute.

During the period under review, I had the opportunity to make presentations of my research in a workshop organized by CCCS with the other CIRCLE fellows and PhD students and two international conferences organized by the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) and the Association of Fire Ecology (AFE), in Manchester, UK and San Antonio Texas, US respectively. I was privileged to receive partial travel support from the UNU-LRT, Iceland for the SER conference and also the second recipient of the Mike Da Luz Student Travel Award for a research that has Potential of Contributing to the Wildland Fire Community. The award was given by the AFE on the basis that there is much use of fire in the savannas of Africa which has enormous impact on ecosystems and climate change but with very little research on fire. This is a great motivation and encouragement to me to continue conducting research in fire and ecosystems management. I received the Award through the efforts of my mentor at my home institution.

I am in the process of submitting two manuscripts for my study. The research is also being upgraded for my PhD studies at Rhodes University, South Africa for which I just been selected for a fellowship support from the Organization for Women Scientist in Developing and Least Developed Countries (OSWD).

Through it all, I have learnt that networks are very important. At every stage of a scientific research one needs the support of individuals, groups, communities and institutions. This can only be achieved through building good relationships and effective communication. There are processes you can never skip but you definitely have to work with people and institutions to achieve them.  In these networks, you learn from the knowledge and experiences of experts and you have to also share and impart knowledge because you are the expert of your research. You can hardly do it alone. There is always a need for networking and collaboration.

The year has been a very long one with a lot of activities and travelling.  I am now back home here in Tamale, Ghana. I am very grateful to CIRCLE for the funding and research exposure which has enhanced my visibility as a researcher and my research. This has fulfilled the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the fellowship and my career development.

By

Esther Ekua Amoako

Esther's home institution is the University For Development Studies and her host institution for the CIRCLE visiting fellowship has been the University of Dar es Salaam.

Exploring the next steps for collaboration in research on the climate resilient Bambara groundnut in the Northern Region of Ghana

The African research partners on the study on socio-economics of Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc) met on 7 December, 2015 to review the project, set research priorities for future research collaborations and joint publication of research outputs.

Bambara groundnut originates from West Africa and is considered a climate change resilient crop due to its tolerance to drought. Research on its use is therefore complementary to the aims of the CIRCLE project. The pilot study, funded by the Crops for the Future (CFF), Malaysia, focused on the production, marketing and processing of Bambara groundnut. One MPhil graduate was trained during the study under the co-supervision of the research team and more graduate students have since expressed an interest in undertaking research on the genetics, physiology and pathology of the crop.

Left to Right: Professor George Nyarko, Dr Olawale Olayide and Dr Samuel Donkoh

The team comprises Professor George Nyarko, Dr Samuel Donkoh and Dr Olawale Olayide, a Post-doctoral Research Fellow in cohort I of the Climate Impacts Research Capacity and Leadership Enhancement (CIRCLE) programme. It was the first time the research team met face-to-face since the project started in 2014. During the meeting, the importance of communicating the findings of the study through journal publications, conferences, workshops and side events, was emphasized. Already, the team has prepared four joint papers from the study, with one accepted for publication in 2015 and the other papers currently under review in international peer-review journals.