11 June 2012: A five-year research project on Enhancing Resilience to Climate and Ecosystem Changes in Semi-Arid Africa: An Integrated Approach (CECAR-Africa) held a kick-off meeting to formally commence its operational phase. CECAR-Africa focuses on the vulnerability of terrestrial ecosystems to climate change in developing countries, particularly in Africa.

CECAR-Africa is a five-year (2011-2016) project focused on: evaluating the impact of climate and ecosystem change on agrodiversity; assessing the risk of extreme weather hazards; developing adaptive resource management methods; and implementing capacity development programmes for locals. The meeting, which took place on 2 May 2012, at the UN University (UNU) Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (INRA) in Accra, Ghana, brought together delegates from the project’s Japanese institutions – the University of Tokyo, the UNU Institute for Sustainability and Peace (UNU-ISP) and Kyoto University – as well as African counterparts from the University of Ghana, the University for Development Studies (UDS, Ghana), the Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMeT) and UNU-INRA.

Sessions addressed, inter alia: research structure, planning and operational aspects of the institutional collaboration; short- and long-term research plans; and preliminary project site selection and field visits. The 15-member delegation also visited potential study sites and met community members in northern Ghana. [CECAR-Africa Website] [UNU Press Release]