Strengthening Higher Education for Climate-Responsive Agriculture, Energy-Efficient Technologies, and Digital Innovation in Sub-Saharan Africa.

forthcoming

Climate change is one of the major threats to biodiversity, livelihood systems and human well-being all over the world. In the regions of Sub-Saharan Africa, smallholder farmers, health, infrastructure, food and energy systems have all been impacted by climate change with the rate being even higher in poor communities that have limited capacity to adapt to these impacts. Higher education institutions (HEIs) in Africa need to act as a hub for capacity building and generate solutions in response to the challenges posed by climate change. The project aims to mainstream climate change in the existing postgraduate training programmes at the collaborating HEIs by strengthening academic and research mobility of students, staff, and trainees in the consortium member countries from a regional perspective (Africa) in a systematic way, supported by the exchange and transfer of existing knowledge systems applied on focusing on climate-responsive agriculture, energy-efficient technologies, and digitalisation in education. The expected results will promote sustainable and inclusive growth and development in the participating HEIs, their countries, and the selected African regions, contributing to the transition to green economy. This will result in improved food and energy security while catalysing the capacity of inter-university and university-industry collaborations, thus enhancing graduate employability in green jobs-related sectors. The project will provide opportunities for inclusive capacity building and development that fosters diverse interactions among language, disciplines, gender and culture, thus, breaking the barriers among individuals and institutions. This will be achieved through a highly networked mobility arrangement empowered by the digitalisation of mobility functions. Our hypothesis is that most African universities have inadequate technical and collaborative capacity in mainstreaming climate change into their postgraduate training programmes.