In order to find new solutions for sustainable land management in sub-Saharan Africa, German-African research projects are beginning their work. The kick-off event started on 26 April in the form of a mixed semi-public meeting.
About 100 scientists met personally in Bonn as well as virtually, connected from the participating countries, to exchange ideas. The focus is on the exchange of information about the planned projects and possible cooperation between their research projects. These will deal, among other things, with smart farming, extension apps and networks, in order to make agriculture in the region of sub-Saharan Africa more productive and more sustainable. In this way, they also aim to protect agriculture from the effects of climate change.
Agricultural development in the countries of sub-Saharan Africa faces major challenges. Many soils are degraded, yields are low and support from state institutions is weak. Extreme weather events such as droughts and heavy rains, partly due to climate change, also threaten harvests and soils.
To meet these challenges, sustainable land management is needed above all. Four regional research and development projects (COINS, DeClaRe, InfoRange and Minodu) as well as the accompanying project INTERFACES aim to make an important contribution to this. The knowledge gained together with regional partners from research, administration, politics and business will flow directly into education and training measures on site in order to improve living conditions in the long term.
The COINS, DeClaRe, InfoRange, Minodu and INTERFACES projects are funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as part of the platform strategy Research for Sustainability (FONA).
Further information on the projects can be found on our website and on the FONA-website.
