由于气候变化, Africa is projected to experience hotter temperatures, more severe storms and increased droughts — and few of the countries on the continent are prepared to deal with the coming crisis.
大学公园-国际, Penn State-led consortium aims to improve drought risk analysis and management and increase societal resilience in Africa, 由为期三年的, $1.1 million grant from the Belmont Forum.
由于气候变化, Africa is projected to experience hotter temperatures, more severe storms and increased droughts — and few of the countries on the continent are prepared to deal with the coming crisis, according to consortium leader Michael Jacobson, Penn State professor of forest resources. This project aims to boost preparedness for drought to reduce food insecurity, 贫困, health problems and the displacement of people.
为了实现这些目标, 宾州州立大学, 圣保罗大学, 巴西, 和克兰菲尔德大学, U.K., will work closely with four African partner institutions: Rural Polytechnic Institute of Training and Applied 研究, Mali; Makerere University, Uganda; Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Morocco; and University of Kwazulu-Natal, 南非.
“The countries and institutions that we are working with are intended to be proxies for the other counties on the continent because, 很明显, we can’t work with all of them on this project,雅各布森说, who has been conducting research in Africa for nearly four decades. “希望, with these four biophysical and socioeconomic regions, we are getting a pretty fair representation of the drought scenario in Africa.”
The researchers will operationalize the management of disaster risk and societal resilience related to drought in Africa, 阿卜杜拉·科纳克解释道, distinguished professor of information sciences and technology at 宾州州立银行, 该财团的共同领导人. He noted that they intend to eliminate the ambiguity in the relationship between drought hazards, 脆弱性和弹性, developing a decision-support system for African leaders to accurately gauge drought disaster risk.
The research will focus on resiliency, assessing the capacity of communities to maintain or recover an acceptable level of functioning when they are exposed to drought.
The decision-support tool will allow leaders to achieve a reduction in negative effects and improve resilience in the face of drought conditions, 大官邸建议.
“Our work will result in Africans being better prepared to withstand prolonged dry conditions,他说. “More accurate predictions will enable leaders in Africa to better deal with the negative effects of drought by being more adaptive, by perhaps using different cropping systems or irrigation. Our research will focus on resiliency, assessing the capacity of communities to maintain or recover an acceptable level of functioning when they are exposed to drought.”
迪安娜贝林, assistant dean for International Programs in the College of Agricultural Sciences, believes it is important for Penn State to be engaged with Africa and to use the University’s expertise and resources to address drought challenges on the continent.
“The college is proud to help lead this consortium,” she said. “Our philosophy of scientific engagement is based on the creation of such knowledge network, and we see today’s science as a process of engagement through networks that scan for knowledge globally and tie it down locally.”
阿德莱德Nardocci, 圣保罗大学, 巴西, 和Nazmiye Ozkan, 克兰菲尔德大学, UK, are also co-leaders of the consortium.
美国国家科学基金会, UK 研究 and Innovation and the São Paulo 研究 Foundation provided funding for this consortium, through their partnership with the Belmont Forum.
