KNUST gets climate change, land use centre for research and training

The College of Engineering of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has inaugurated a modern research and teaching centre, the West African Service Centre on Climate Change and Adopted Land Use (WASCAL), to conduct effective research on climate change in 10 West African countries.

The 300,000 euro project was jointly funded by the German government and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) to promote research on climate change and teaching.

Inaugurating the centre, the Vice Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Prof. W. O. Ellis, said the research and training programme would focus on capacity building at the PhD level to help develop the knowledge necessary for sustainable land use management in the face of climate change, a very important component to understand the real factors contributing to the effects and developing appropriate measures to mitigate those challenges.

He said the programme would train participants to develop skills in data acquisition, analysis and interpretation of spatial data, focus on the use of remote sensing, geographic information system (GIS) and empirical and mathematical modelling tools as related to climate change and land use.

He said the programme would attract 10 fully funded scholarships for applicants from 10 African countries including Ghana, Nigeria, The Gambia, Cote d’ Ivoire, Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, and Senegal.             

Pro-Vice Chancellor of the KNUST and founding director of the centre, Prof. S. N. Odai, said the inauguration of the centre was timely because of the changes in climate conditions compounded by poor land management practices under unsustainable conditions.

He said considering the unsustainable management of land in the sub-region, accompanied by the recent climate change, the sub-region risked not achieving the Millennium Development Goals, and, therefore, called for adequately trained human resources in land use and related geo-sciences for sustainable development and use of land for the present and future generation.