West Africa Science Service Center on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use

WASCAL is an initiative of the German government to establish a center of competence on climate change and adapted land use in West Africa (for the time being, the countries involved are: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d‘Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo). It will help generate the knowledge and develop the analytical capability in the region to solve current and future land management problems caused by changing climate and weather conditions in partnership with German institutions.

WASCAL has four main goals:

1. To significantly improve the climate change research infrastructure and capacity in West Africa.

2. To explore science-based scenarios and options for enhancing the resilience of human and environment systems in the face of climate change.

3. To assist policy and decision makers in design and implementation of land use patterns at watershed level that ensure the provision of the essential ecosystem services while supporting the livelihoods of local communities.

4. To help educate the next generation of scientists and policy makers that have intimate knowledge of the different climate related issues and can help the region in developing suitable coping strategies, and participate with evidence based strength in international climate change policy discussions.