Many approaches to research on future food security follow analyses of the current situation and
extrapolate the status quo including all its constraints into a future scenario by adding-on constraints but
often leaving out potential opportunities for paradigm shifts along the way. The limited success of past
efforts indicates that a radically different approach is needed to ensure that African countries can feed
their populations in the 21st century and at the same time use agriculture’s unique potential to promote
pro-poor development. The proposed research will thus start by developing a vision for Africa in the year
2050, and identifying scenarios on how to realize this vision. The research project will focus on East
Africa, considering that this is one of the most food-insecure regions of the continent. The first phase will
be dedicated to systems analyses based on available knowledge and projections on the bio-physical
environment and on demographic and socioeconomic developments until 2050. In a 7- day workshop
FuoRe will develop a road map for research priorities in the region that will be used to develop a full
proposal for the second phase.
This is a multidisciplinary research proposal developed by 6 African researchers in collaboration with Brown University in the USA as a leading institution. It involve 6 different local institutions from 6 African countries including Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Nigeria, Kenia, and Benin. The major objectives of the project are the following: (1) Assess and characterize environmental and water resources status of two selected river basins in Eastern (Kagera Basin) and Western Africa (Ogun-Osun River Basin); (2) Quantify the future implications of changing climate and land use on river discharges and water resources availability; (3) Analyze the impact of climate change on agricultural production and people’s livelihood with a view to identifying and developing sustainable coping strategies; (4) Identify socioeconomic factors that influence household water use and crop production; and (5) Identify and develop a strategy to improve early warning system for policy and decision making.
The local domestic institutions are: (1) University of Khartoum, Sudan; (2) Hawassa University, Ethiopia; (3) Federal Institute of Technology, Nigeria; (4) Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Uganda; (5) University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin; and (6) Maseno University, Kenya.
This is another multidisciplinary project involving 3 African countries besides Germany. The project abstract follows:
The aims of this project are threefold: analysis of the economic, social and environmental effects of currently discussed climate compatible development (CCD) policies in three African countries and an assessment of the international discussion on CCD; capacity building among the African research institutes with respect to scientific model-based policy consultancy and launching an international network of research institutions. For that both the international and respective national CCD discussions and policies are reviewed in WP (work package) 1. Meanwhile, GWS develops a model environment based on open-source software (WP 2), which can then be used to build macro-econometric input-output (MEIO) models in WP 3, including modules relevant for CCD. During WP 4, CCD policies identified in WP 1 are translated into model parameters and corresponding policy simulations are analyzed with respect to economic, social and environmental effects of the proposed CCD policies. Additionally, the country specific results are compared and placed into the context of the international CCD discussion. The capacity built within the African research institutes does not only include the use and application of the MEIO models for policy consultancy, but also the ability to extend the models to be applicable to various country-related policy questions. During the project the Econometric Input-Output Modelling Network of Africa (EIOMNA) will be launched to ensure a sustainable long-term partnership between the project partners. During the dissemination activities this network will be promoted and other research institutions will be invited to join.
The involved institution are: (1) Gesellschaft für Wirtschaftliche Strukturforschung mbH (GWS), from Germany; (2) Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) from Ghana; (3) Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Khartoum, Sudan (UofK); and (4) Consortium pour la recherche économique et sociale (CRES) from Senegal.
