History

I warmly welcome you to the West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Land-use (WASCAL CCLU) at the College of Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi.

WASCAL CCLU PhD programme in Climate Change and Land Use is funded by the German Government and it aims to provide state-of-the-art training for professionals in Climate Change and Land Use within the sub-region.

WASCAL is present in twelve countries (i.e. Ghana, Nigeria, The Gambia, Cote d’Ivoire, Republic of Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, Togo, Mali, Senegal, Cape Verde) in institutions running programmes with different specializations.

WASCAL CCLU, KNUST was established in 2012, to equip selected participants with the knowledge to influence polices and best management practices that would mitigate the negative impact of changing climate on land use in the West Africa sub-region.

The PhD programme in Climate Change and Land Use is supported by experienced faculty members from KNUST, WASCAL Competence Centre in Ouagadougou, Industrial partners and German partners.

The programme is strongly multidisciplinary and has a duration of 3 years. Graduates from the programme are highly skilled and very competitive in the job market. Currently, our alumni occupy very top positions at national and international fronts making significant impact in the sector. Our University provides a serene teaching and learning environment as well as student support services that creates an enabling environment for quality postgraduate training.

Partners and affiliations

WASCAL CCLU is partnering with key Universities and Industry towards academic excellence of the Graduate Research Programme in Climate Change and Land Use. Partners include:

• University of Wuerzburg (Germany)
• University of Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso)
• University of Abomey-Calavi (Benin)
• University of Cocody (Cote d’Ivoire)
• University of the Gambia (Gambia)
• University of Abdou Moumouni (Niger)
• Federal University of Technology
• Minna (Nigeria), University of Lome (Togo)
• University of Cheikh Anta Diop (Senegal)
• University of Bamako (Mali)
• 2ie (Burkina Faso)
• CSIR-Forest Research Institute (Ghana)
• WASCAL Competence Centre (Ouagadougou)

Programme Aim

The programme ultimately aims at strengthening the research, educational and policy capacity and competency of West-African countries to deal with issues of climate change through adapted land use on a scientific basis in partnership with German institutions.

Programme Objectives

1. To establish and sponsor a regional doctoral research programme (DRP) in Climate Change and land use science, with emphasis on the impacts of Climate Change and variability on West African land resources.
2. To establish the DRP at the “Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology,” selected as the Lead University for Climate Change and Land Use education, with a Regional Advisory Board drawn from six of all the contributing universities in the sub-region and Germany.
   To link up with other DRP’s Lead Universities which are also supported by the WASCAL Competence Centre in Ouagadougou.
3. To link up with Land Use activities under the Core Research Programme also supported by WASCAL.
4. To network the GRP Lead University with the academic and research communities in the region and Germany on climate change and land use issues.