Category: Blog

Savannas are important ecosystems characterized by the co-dominance of trees and grasses, including systems with a continuous herbaceous layer and a discontinuous woody stratum (Frost et al., 1986). These ecosystems cover approximately 20% of the Earth’s land area and takes up almost half of the African continent. The dynamics of these ecosystems are influenced by rainfall, fire, and herbivory, making them either “stable” or “unstable” (Sankaran et al., 2005), due to the magnitude of any of these factors.

There is this famous quote which states that “The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second-best time to plant a tree was yesterday.” It is at this backdrop that the Future African Savannas (AFAS) project team, led by its Principal Investigators Prof. Daniel Olago (Institute for Climate Change and Adaptation- University of Nairobi (UoN), Kenya) and the projects’ coordinators Dr. Juliet Kamau (Centre for Development Research (ZEF)-University of Bonn, Germany), Dr. Gerda Kuiper (Global South Studies Centre – University of Cologne, Germany), Prof. Ngolo Kone (African Center of Excellence for Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Agriculture-Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny (UFHB), Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire) and Ms. Lewnorah Ayietta (Institute for Climate Change and Adaptation (ICCA)-University of Nairobi, Kenya) had the team taking up a tree planting exercise at the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies.

Drawing on beyond-classroom observations from the AFAS exchange visit to Germany Published November 25, 2022 by Joseph N. Ndiba, Lawrence Akpoterai, Pius Domokong and Adrian