Co-HYDIM-SA responds to the expressed need for hydrometeorological early warning and information systems (EWIS) to optimize water resources management and thereby enhance water security in Southern Africa. This will be achieved through a transdisciplinary approach by combining scientific, academic and operational expertise from the fields of meteorology, hydrology and risk assessment with the expertise of river basin authorities as well as water resource and dam managers. The innovative aspects are to (a) utilize the novel capabilities of sub-seasonal to seasonal
hydrometeorological forecasting, (b) significantly improve the capability and details of seasonal forecasts, e.g. for river discharge, soil moisture and terrestrial water storage, (c) to link hazard monitoring and forecasting to actual risk mitigation, and (d) to provide a proof of concept for improved
monitoring and early warning of key hydroclimatic components in two transboundary catchments, the Cuvelai-Cunene and the Upper Limpopo. State-of-the-art technologies and socio-economic approaches such as vulnerability and risk assessment will ensure that the jointly developed EWIS takes
into account the needs of stakeholders in a holistic perspective and supports improved water resource management. The approach will be flanked by the promotion of young scientists in the region and the establishment of an "educational hub", which will serve as a knowledge broker for the systematic training of technical experts.

Institute: IMKTRO Institut für Meteorologie und Klimaforschung
Contact: Prof. Dr. Andreas Fink
Duration: 2024 – 2028
LINK: Ko-Design eines hydro-meteorologischen Informationssystems für nachhaltiges Wasserressourcenmanagement im südlichen Afrika | kooperation-international | Forschung. Wissen.Innovation.

The FURIFLOOD project will generate scientific knowledge regarding climate drivers of current and future extreme events related to flooding in West Africa and integrates this with case studies to better understand current and future risks and impacts. Based on this understanding the FURIFLOOD project will derive and evaluate ecosystem-based strategies to reduce current and future risk to flooding using a participatory approach. The case studies of the FURIFLOOD project will be in the tropical region of West Africa and thus complementing and building on the results of the first WASCAL research program in the Sudan Savannah zone. This approach allows to develop a regional expertise on flooding and extreme events in West Africa to be implemented at the WASCAL Competence Center. KIT-IMKTRO will work on statistics and dynamical understanding of present and
future extreme precipitation using observational data and model experiments as well as in capacity development measures and supervision of WASCAL Ph.D students. The topics of their theses are planned to cover other climate extremes like heat waves, dust storms and droughts.

Institute: IMKTRO Institut für Meteorologie und Klimaforschung
Contact: Prof. Dr. Andreas Fink
Duration: 2021 – 2024
LINK: https://furiflood.imk-tro.kit.edu/

Sub-Saharan Africa is currently experiencing rapid population growth, associated with a significant agricultural intensification. This causes, inter alia, environmental degradation, increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, soil erosion and biodiversity loss. Climate change (CC) exacerbates the
vulnerability of the people by increasing temperatures, shifting precipitation regimes (rainy season onset and cessation changes), and altering drought and heavy precipitation risks. Accordingly,sustainable agriculture and food production under climate and land use (LU) change is a crucial factor in improving people’s livelihoods and maintaining peace in the region. Sustainable agriculture must not only be resilient to CC but also needs to mitigate GHG emissions and increase carbon (C) sequestration in already degraded soils. The aim of CONCERT is to identify emission mitigation options for the major greenhouse gases carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), in parallel with improving food security. This will be tackled through (a) the extension of WASCAL’s current flux observation network, b) estimation and projection of GHG emission budgets for the region, using a fully-coupled regional climate-hydrology-dynamic vegetation model (Earth System Model,ESM), specifically adapted to the WASCAL region, and c) identification of LU options suitable for mitigating GHG emissions, increasing soil C stocks and improving food security for the West African Sudan savanna. This will be achieved by a unique concerted and intertwined observation and modeling strategy in CONCERT. The results will be jointly developed and iterated with stakeholders and communicated to policymakers of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for implementation.

Institute: IMKIFU Institut für Meteorologie und Klimaforschung
Contact: Prof. Dr. Harald Kunstmann
Duration: 2021 – 2024
LINK: https://www.uni-augsburg.de/en/fakultaet/fai/geo/prof/georkl/forschung/project-concert/

Climate variability and climate change pose a major challenge for water security in southern Africa. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research is addressing this challenge in the “Water security in Africa - WASA” program, which calls on research consortia to work together with African research partners and users to develop innovative technologies and solutions that support improved sustainable water resource management, effective water infrastructure and the development of early warning systems in sub-Saharan Africa. The successful implementation of the program will be accompanied by the networking and transfer project WASANet. WASANet (Supporting the implementation, utilization and transfer of scientific knowledge, services and technologies for the BMBF WASA Programme to increase water security in Sub-Saharan Africa) aims to i) process, utilize, integrate and synthesize the results of the individual research projects, ii) coordinate the projects across topics, iii) the effective public presentation of the funding program to interest groups from research, politics, the private sector and industry, iv) the networking of the projects with the same interest groups and v) the support of decision-makers in the water sector through effective communication of innovative WASA technologies and services. The WASANet consortium consisting of KIT, GWP, SANWATCE and SUWI combines outstanding expertise and many years of experience in the field of global and Africa-related water, climate and environmental research, integration of research results, science communication, research coordination and networking with stakeholders and draws on an extensive academic, research, industry and policy network in the German and African water sector. 

Institute: IMKTRO Institut für Meteorologie und Klimaforschung   

Duration: 2023 – 2027 

Contact: Dr. Jörg Helmschrot 

Website: https://www.imk-tro.kit.edu/english/12210_13132.php 

In sub-project E: NetCDA GRP1 Nigeria, the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT) is pursuing a long-term approach to strengthen and improve the networking of academic education on climate change adaptation strategies in West Africa, particularly in Nigeria. A sustainable implementation of this project is achieved in three steps: (i) First and foremost, KIT supports the doctoral students of the partner of the Federal University of Technology Akure, WASCAL GRP West African Climate System, Akure, Nigeria, to successfully pursue and complete their doctorates. In particular, the doctoral students will be supervised by the KIT project team during their stay as visiting scientists at the applicant KIT, during the trips of the supervisory team to Nigeria and via virtual meetings in their research projects. (ii) In the medium term, KIT actively contributes to strengthening the German network of WASCAL graduate schools and (iii) in the long term, KIT supports the initiation of an academic network that brings together climate change researchers from Europe and Africa active in education in a transnational network. 

Institute IMKTRO Institut für Meteorologie und Klimaforschung   

Duration 2024 – 2025 

Contact Prof. Andreas Fink, Dr. Marlon Maranan 

Website https://www.imk-tro.kit.edu/english/12210_13059.php