Researchers, policymakers, industry leaders, entrepreneurs, development partners and community stakeholders have converged in Kumasi, to deliberate on approaches to building climate resilience and advancing sustainable development.
The event dubbed African Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem (WEFE) Nexus Summit forms part of a broader TRANS-SAHARA Project, a flagship European Union Horizon Europe research and innovation initiative implemented across Ghana, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Senegal, Djibouti and Chad.
In Ghana, the project is being implemented by the Technology Consultancy Centre – a Centre for Innovation, Manufacturing and Emerging Technologies (TCC-CIMET) at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) with local communities, government institutions and research organizations to develop practical, community-led solutions for climate resilience and sustainable natural resource management.
Professor Daphne Gondhalekar from the Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany, and Project Coordinator & Principal Investigator of the TRANS-SAHARA Project, speaking at the opening of the four-day Summit in Kumasi, explained that the programme reflected a shared commitment to addressing the interconnected challenges of water security, sustainable energy, food systems, ecosystem restoration, and climate resilience.
She explained that water security was a key priority and with climate change, water accessibility would become increasingly unpredictable.
Prof Gondhalekar said: “The nexus approach may help us to think about water resources more holistically as one close cycle where we can recycle waste-water and use it as a resource.
“In TRANS SAHARA, we are focusing on storing flood water for its use in the dry season instead of letting it run-off.
This is how a holistic approach can help us to prepare for climate change impacts and make systems and society more resilient.
“This is a part of the long-term irrigation plan- to store fresh water in the ecosystem so that is available for use in the next decades when there is less predictability of rainfall,”
She called for stronger partnership with policy and decision makers to embed this cross-disciplinary approach in policy making.
Prof Francis K. Davis, the Director General, TCC-CIMET, noted that Africa continued to witness the growing impacts of climate change including droughts, floods, declining soil fertility, water insecurity, biodiversity loss, and rising energy demands which increasingly affected livelihoods, food production and economic development.
He reiterated that these challenges do not occur independently; they interact in complex ways that require integrated solutions.
The WEFE Nexus provided such a framework, reminding that sustainable development could not be achieved through isolated sectoral interventions.
“Water security depends on healthy ecosystems.
Food production depends on sustainable water management and reliable energy.
Renewable energy development must protect biodiversity”, he advocated.
Prof Davis indicated that, the Technology Consultancy Centre had, for decades, served as a bridge between research, innovation and development practice, adding that, the Centre’s mandate had always extended beyond generating knowledge to ensuring that knowledge created tangible improvements in people’s lives.
Prof Mrs Rita Dickson, the Vice-Chancellor, KNUST, called for collective commitment to translating research into practical solutions, empowering the next generation of innovators, and building resilient societies capable of meeting the environmental challenges.
The Summit was themed: “Harnessing Resources for Sustainable Climate-Smart Water-Secure Development.”
