About the Project
Climate change is expected to impact African water and food security, sustainable development and economic sustainability (ISS, 2010). Already, climate change is affecting people, their livelihoods and cultures on the African continent (IPCC, 2001). Subsistence agriculture, which is frequently rain fed in large parts of Africa, will be potentially very severely impacted by climate change.
Alexandratos et al. (2012) predict that anticipated climate variability in sub-Sahara Africa would adversely affect agriculture, e.g. by reducing cereal crop yields between 20%-30% by the end of 2050. This would pose significant food security, employment and economic challenge to poorer nations in sub-Sahara Africa (UNDP, 2007). Furthermore, the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007) explicitly stated in its fourth assessment report that sub-Sahara Africa’s vulnerability is a result of its high dependence on agriculture.
According to the International Labour Organization (ILO, 2011), over 60% of all employment in sub- Saharan Africa depends on agriculture, which has become extremely vulnerable to climate change. Furthermore sub-Sahara Africa’s vulnerability has been exacerbated by extreme poverty and inequality (Brooks, 2003 and Boko et al., 2007). There is therefore an urgent need to explore climate change impacts in more detail to facilitate the development of effective adaptations.
Past work in the research group has considered precipitation patterns as well as land cover change in West Africa based on remotely sensed data (Figure 1). We now want to extend the work to modelling approaches. Recent improvements in remote sensing data sets have resulted in a range of different data at 1km resolution (e.g. soil, vegetation, surface temperature). This offers the opportunity to simulate land surface processes at a scale that becomes relevant for agriculture.
Research questions:
• Does the assimilation of medium resolution (1km) remote sensing data into a land surface model provide useful information in West Africa?
• What is the impact of climate variability and change in West Africa on subsistence agriculture?
• What is the impact of future climate change in West Africa on subsistence agriculture?
The methods will be centred around simulations with and data assimilation into JULES, the joint UK land environment simulator, version 4.6, which includes a crop growth model. The work will use a range of different data at 1km resolution (e.g. soil, vegetation, surface temperature). First, past impacts of climate variability will be explored. Using data from recent decades and data assimilation, the model will be calibrated for West Africa. This then allows the impact of future climate change to be explored using simulated climate for future decades.
Results will be written up for publication in scientific journals.
Dr Jörg Kaduk has 25 years experience in carbon cycle and ecosystem modelling with particular focus on ecophysiology and has supervised 7 PhD students to completion. Dr Darren Ghent has 10 years experience in interpretation and application of remote sensing data and data assimilation and has supervised several Masters students.
Entry requirements
Applicants are required to hold/or expect to obtain a UK Bachelor Degree 2:1 or better in a relevant subject. The University of Leicester English language requirements apply where applicable.
How to apply
Please refer to the CENTA Studentship application information on our website for details of how to apply.
As part of the application process you will need to:
• Complete a CENTA Funding form – to be uploaded to your PhD application
• Complete and submit your PhD application online. Indicate project CENTA2-GGE8-KADU in the funding section.
• Complete an online project selection form Apply for CENTA2-GGE8-KADU
Funding Notes
This studentship is one of a number of fully funded studentships available to the best UK and EU candidates available as part of the NERC DTP CENTA consortium. The award will provide tuition fees as the UK/EU rate and a stipend at the RCUK rates for a period of 3.5 years.
For more details of the CENTA consortium please see the CENTA website: www.centa.org.uk.
Applicants must meet requirements for both academic qualifications and residential eligibility: http://www.nerc.ac.uk/skills/postgrad/