Our Mission

The project initiative stems from the urgent need to develop sound and robust evidence-based and science-backed strategies to preserve and protect the fragile environments of the West and East African savannas against the combined threats of extensive and diverse land use and rapid climate change. AFAS aims to train young African scholars in the interdisciplinary field of climate change adaptation and biodiversity and to transfer scientific findings into practice, while at the same time reducing the climate and environmental footprint of education, research and international cooperation. The project specifically focuses on the potential of nature-based solutions and of cooperation on the science-policy-practice interface.

With these aims in mind, AFAS:

• offers a hybrid training program to MSc- and PhD-students based in Nairobi and Abidjan, which strongly reduces physical mobility while enabling international exchange;

• organizes online, offline and hybrid networking activities to strengthen interfaces between science, policy, business and civil society in West and East Africa and Germany;

• invests in research and capacity building activities that:

  • support the development of a more secure natural resource base for livelihoods, economic growth and climate resilience; 

  • inform initiatives and investments in locally acceptable nature-based solutions with opportunities for inclusive economic growth.