This is expected to be established in various regions in Africa, interlinked both with each other and with Germany and other international research activities.

Namibia’s Deputy Director: Forestry Research in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, Dr Gillian Maggs-Kolling said at a roundtable discussion organised by the Federal German Ministry of Education and Research last week that the finalisation of these centres are still ongoing.

Members of the respective ministries responsible for research, environment and land use in Namibia, Angola, South Africa and Zambia attended the event.

Whether this will be one hub that will service the whole region or satellite centres and where it will be located are not yet finalised.

Maggs-Kolling noted that Namibia stands a good chance because of her already well-established research institutions and the commitment the country has shown to the project so far.

The centre will improve the competencies of African scientists to propose knowledge-based solutions for current problems in their region, in particular regarding climate change and the associated demands of land use practices of role players.

Each centre will have its headquarters in one of the countries of the selected regions and will be integrated into pre-existing infrastructure such as universities, national weather stations or national and international research organisations.

African scientists in partnership with Germany will assume leadership of the centres.
The centres will complement the scientific capacities of the region and enable countries in the region to react to the consequences of climate change in an appropriate manner.

This is seen as paving the way for sustainable land use, which will allow for adaptation to climate change, as well as minimise the consequences of climate change on the ecological and economic basis for human life.

Opening the discussions, Namibia’s Minister of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, John Mutorwa, said the need for such centres has become urgent because the agriculture and energy sectors are increasingly being affected by global economic crises, which might escalate because of natural disasters such as droughts and floods.

”In recent years, there have been talks of establishing centres of excellence for science and technology in Africa, but until now the interest has been academic, as they never imagined that the establishment of such a centre would be a possibility. African leaders increasingly recognise the fundamental role of science and technology in designing measures to meet the needs of the continent,” he said.

Mutorwa stressed that these could include efforts to increase agriculture production and food security, stemming environmental degradation, improving infrastructure and communications and promoting industrial production.

Countries such as Angola, Namibia, Botswana and South Africa that form regional clusters need to develop strategies and remedial measures to cope with the imminent impact of climate change.

According to the minister, Namibia already has a proven track record as researcher in the fields of arid zone ecology; community based resource management and integrated land use management.

The country also boasts a crop of scientists that are already sensitised to the significance of factoring in climatic influence.

But to overcome the climate change problem, the minister said, there should be increased support at national, regional and international levels to unlock the continent’s potential for generating and applying innovations to reduce the impact thereof.

Mutorwa added that the support of the international community is likely to be a factor in improving the status quo.