Results of the WRAP 2.0 climate research projects in West Africa: new insights into the regional impacts of climate change and tools for climate adaptation
How is climate change affecting West Africa? How can we tackle the impacts? Six African-German WASCAL research projects developed innovative methods and tools. They presented the results at the final conference.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Africa is severely threatened by climate change. For example, the latest IPCC Assessment Report shows that multi-year droughts in West Africa have become more frequent. The research programme WRAP 2.0 (WASCAL RESEARCH ACTION PLAN 2.0), funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), addressed this issue three years ago: From 2021 to 2024, six projects investigated the different impacts of climate change on West Africa. At a final, hybrid conference held from 15 to 16 October 2024 at the headquarters of the Climate Competence Centre WASCAL in Accra, Ghana, the African and German scientists presented to the approximately 70 participants their project results on the latest developments – such as in climate change, migration and land use.
At the conference, Prof. Emmanuel Ramdé, Executive Director of WASCAL, emphasised: "Expanding climate knowledge, measuring, analyzing, and reporting climate change data, thus creating a foundation for making informed future-oriented decisions – these have been the goals of WASCAL 2021-2024 Research Action Plan which was developed through extensive national and regional consultation. Over the course of the three-year research work, projects which have been implemented under this plan have not only gained new scientific insights, for example, on sustainable land use and food security in times of climate change, but have also strengthened collaboration between institutions in West Africa and the German research community. For the future, as a climate competence center, we will continue to strengthen the cooperation leveraging on our respective strengths to tackle the complex issue of climate change and mitigating its impacts in the region."
Climate data as a basis for minimising the risk of damage caused by the impacts of climate change
All six projects focused on different aspects in their research work. For example, the effects of extreme weather events, such as drought and flooding in West Africa, were investigated, as well as the effects of intensified land use on greenhouse gas emissions.
For example, the LANDSURF project developed an Earth system model that can now be used for high-resolution and long-term climate change projections specifically for the regions of West Africa. The innovative aspect of this regional climate model approach from LANDSURF is that it takes into account dynamic interactions between the atmosphere and land surface processes, including man-made land cover change and land degradation, as well as between the atmosphere and the ocean. The results are incorporated into a newly developed tool: the freely accessible "Decision Support System" provides climate data and projections for West Africa. Users of the system – such as political decision-makers or farmers – will be able to identify expected risks, for example due to heat and drought, at an early stage and adopt appropriate adaptation measures.
The FURIFLOOD project focused on the topic of flood risk: the team investigated the hydro-meteorological relationships between current and future possible extreme precipitation and the extent of flooding in two regions of West Africa. The project used this information to calculate the risk of flooding. Similarly, a "Decision Support System", which focuses on flood-related hazards and risks, allows decision-makers and those affected to consider locally adapted measures for flood risk reduction.
Research funding to improve livelihoods in West Africa
The BMBF has invested a total of around twelve million euros in the six research projects. As a long-standing partner, the BMBF has been supporting the establishment and further development of long-term scientific structures in West Africa for more than ten years – such as the Climate Competence Centre WASCAL. The work of the competence centre is intended to provide the necessary basis for valid decisions, for example in the area of sustainable land use, water supply and food security, and thus strengthen the climate resilience of the regions.