Windhoek: Germany and its SADC partners have plans to establish Regional Science Service Centres for Climate Change and Adapted Land Use in Africa.
The centres will complement the scientific capacities of the region and enable countries in the region to react to the consequences of climate change in an appropriate manner. This is seen as paving the way for sustainable land use, which will allow for adaptation to climate change, as well as minimise the consequences of climate change on the ecological and economic basis for human life.
The centres aim at complementing scientific capacities in the region with the long-term intention of establishing “Regional Science Service Centres” and research programmes to be established in various regions in Africa, interlinked both with each other and with Germany and other international research activities.
The Federal German Ministry of Education and Research last Wednesday organised a roundtable discussion with members of the respective ministries responsible for research, environment and land use in Angola, Namibia, South Africa and Zambia. Botswana did not attend the meeting.
Opening the discussions in Windhoek on Wednesday, Minister of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, John Mutorwa, said the need for such centres has become urgent because the agriculture and energy sectors are increasingly being affected by global economic crises, which might escalate because of natural disasters such as droughts and floods. In recent years, there have been talks of establishing centres of excellence for science and technology in Africa, but until now, according to Mutorwa, the interest has been academic, as they never imagined that the establishment of such a centre would be a possibility.
“African leaders increasingly recognise the fundamental role of science and technology in designing measures to meet the needs of the continent,” he said, adding that these could include efforts to increase agriculture production and food security, stemming environmental degradation, improving infrastructure and communications and promoting industrial production.
Mutorwa said countries such as Angola, Namibia, Botswana and South Africa that form regional clusters, need to develop strategies and remedial measures to cope with the imminent impact of climate change.
He said Namibia already has a proven track record as researcher in the fields of arid zone ecology, community based resource management and integrated land use management. The country also boasts a crop of scientists that are already sensitised to the significance of factoring in climatic influence.
But to overcome the climate change problem, the minister said, there should be increased support at national, regional and international levels to unlock the continent’s potential for generating and applying innovations to reduce the impact thereof. “The support of the international community is likely to be a factor in improving the status quo,” said Mutorwa.
The German government is supporting the development of the centres.
According to Deputy Director: Forestry Research in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, Dr Gillian Maggs-Kölling, discussions about whether this will be one hub that will service the whole region or satellite centres and where it will be located are still on going. She told New Era that Namibia stands a good chance because of its already well-established research institutions and the commitment it has shown to the project so far.
When that time comes, Maggs-Kölling said, as the project advances, depending on the options and scenarios, Namibia will see what she can put on the table.
The centre will improve the competencies of African scientists to propose knowledge-based solutions for current problems in their region, in particular regarding climate change and the associated demands of land use practices of role players. Each centre will have its headquarters in one of the countries of the selected regions and will be integrated into pre-existing infrastructure such as universities, national weather stations or national and international research organisations.
African scientists in partnership with Germany will assume leadership of the centres.
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