Work Package 1: General needs and knowledge gaps

The main objective of this work package is to assess needs and gaps, in terms of data, knowledge, capacities and research infrastructures in Africa (with respect to Europe) in the fields of land use (particularly agriculture) and land use change for what concerns GHG emissions/reductions under a changing climate. This work package will rely on stakeholders and expert groups’ engagement, and on the use of tools like surveys, working meetings, journals’ review etc. The outcomes will support the project activities providing relevant information about the above-mentioned needs and gaps.

An important starting point is the identification of stakeholders among key categories:  researchers, decision makers, farmers, NGOs, at national and regional level. Identification, networking and interaction has already took place and will be further promoted for an active engagement. Required feedbacks come from regional workshops and activities organized with stakeholders and expert groups. Stock tacking activities will be carried out to exploit the outcomes of previous and ongoing projects and experiences.

The project will assess the adequateness for Africa, and identify uncertainties, of scientific models on crop yield, greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. Uncertainties in observed precipitation products and weather forecasting will also be in the focus of this WP. Gaps in spatial data of land use change and management in agroecosystems will be analysed, including the quantification of the climate change mitigation potential (through changes in land use and land management), taking GHGs emissions into account.

Available data and metadata from different sources and at different scales will be collected and analysed in order to identify gaps and further requirements. Metadata information will be also provided, considering data sources, format, quality/accuracy, and other characteristics. Spatial assessment of understudied regions or ecosystems will be provided as well as a review of the historic data currently available.

This WP aims to produce a critical analysis of the main research infrastructures and monitoring networks in Africa, considering their interoperability with the European counterparts and their accessibility for both data providers and users. Geographical and ecosystems-type coverage, technical requirements, operational costs and maintenance, will be analysed wherever possible. A further focus activity will be the assessment of existing capacities and human capital potential, including also human and technical capabilities to collect and manage data, by gathering and reviewing the available information and from the stakeholders’ feedbacks. This will allow identifying needs and gaps and proposing solutions to better exploit and improve the current capabilities. Good practices and new promising options will be identified and opportunities for their transferability explored. The final results of this WP will be two reports on the GHG observations focusing on land use (particularly agriculture) and land-use change under a changing climate where the first will specifically focus on needs and gaps (in terms of data, knowledge and research infrastructures) in Africa with recommendations for a joint EU-Africa Research & STI agenda and the second on EU-Africa joint requirements for cooperation and capacity building (including human capital development).