Climate Change and Agriculture (CC & Agric)

Graduate Research Program on

Climate Change and Agriculture (CC & Agric)

1. Introduction

Climate change (CC) constitutes the most striking environmental risk on which the attention of the whole world is focused because of its global dimension and its negative effects on socio-ecological systems. It has been established that without adequate response, the effects of CC will increase in the coming years, with the greatest negative impacts on the most vulnerable populations and ecosystems in the world particularly those in the sub-Saharan part of Africa.

The training of highly qualified human resources constitutes one of the major adaptation strategies to CC. Actually, highly qualified human resources, having relevant infrastructures and equipments will be able to strengthen scientific knowledge on agriculture and climate interactions.

WASCAL is an initiative of the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) to help West African countries to tackle the challenges of CC adaptation through capacity building and scientific research. The activities of the WASCAL Graduate Research Program (GRP) are set up and managed based on a partnership between 10 West African countries and German universities and research institutes. CC and Agriculture (CC&Agric) is one of the six PhD programs initiated within this framework. IPR/IFRA of Katibougou, in partnership with University of Cape Coast (UCC) and the University Sciences, Technics and Technologies of Bamako (USTTB), hoststhis PhD program in CCAgric. There are also more than 10 cooperating partner universities and partner Research Centers: Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (Ghana); University of Lomé (Togo); University of Bonn – Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation (Germany); Michael Okpara University of Agriculture (Nigeria); University of Abomey-Calavi (Benin); University Felix Houphouet-Boigny (Cote d’Ivoire); University Cheikh Anta Diop (Senegal); Polytechnic University of Bobo-Dioulasso (Burkina Faso); University Abdou Moumouni (Niger); Federal University of Technology, Akure (Nigeria); Institut d’Economie Rurale (Mali).

Objective of the CC&Agric Program

The PhD program in CCAgricaims at training highly qualified human resources for West African countries in anticipating the effects of CC.

Objective of the call: to select candidates for a PhD program at USTTB - IPR/IFRA, Mali.

2. Student Eligibility

The entry requirements into the program are the following:

• Candidates must be from the WASCAL countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, The Gambia, Ghana, Ivory Coast,Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Togo);
• Candidates must have a Master’s Degree, or its equivalent in Soil Sciences, Crop Sciences, Agro-forestry, Forestry, Animal Sciences, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) or other relevant disciplines, with at least an average of 60 % (Second Upper Class, Assez Bien);
• Experience with modeling routines or GIS would be an advantage but not a prerequisite;
• Candidates must submit the following documents: 1) completed application form; 2) birth certificate; 3) certificate of nationality; 4) two recent passport photos; 5) MSc official transcript or equivalent; 6) transcript of grades for the obtainment of MSc or equivalent; 7) abstract of the MSc (or equivalent) Dissertation; 8) transcripts of previous university degrees; 9) transcript of grades for the obtainment of university degrees; 10) detailed CV; 11) letter of motivation (personal statement should include the student’s academic and personal qualities as well as his/her interests in research in the area of Climate Change and Agriculture); 12) a project pre-proposal (which will be fine-tuned under the guidance of supervisors, if admitted); 13) support letter from employer(if employed) granting study leave, in case of success; 14) names and contact details of 3 referees, one of whom must be his/her Master’s supervisor.

Female candidates are encouraged to apply.

Maximum Intake

The program will admit a maximum of 10 students per batch(one student per country). There shall be equitable distribution of students across the WASCAL countries.

3. Language requirements

CCAgric is an English-speaking graduate program. The following are the language requirements:

• Basic Certificate in English Language;
• Functional Certificate in English Language;

A three-month intensive English language proficiency course will be offered at the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Ghana, for the selected francophone students before the beginning of the program.

At the end of this English language course, students will have to pass an English language proficiency test e.g. TOEFL (550 or above).

French language courses will also be offered to English speaking students while in Mali (at IPR/IFRA).

4. Scholarship and Research Support

The scholarship and research support will normally be provided based on the criteria below:

• After admission, students will be required to maintain a graduate level Grade Point Average (GPA) of B or a minimum of B from the course;
• During the course curriculum phase, students will be required to develop a detailed research project, including budget;
• During the project/research stage, students are expected to present their progress reports regularly and be evaluated accordingly.

Each student will receive a stipend of € 500.00 per month (€250.00 during the pre-course language preparations) to cover accommodation and other expenses for his study period.

Research funds will also be made available to students after approval of their research proposal by their advisor/supervisor, the GRP Coordination and WASCAL headquarters.

The student may travel to Germany once during the course of the PhD fellowship period to work with scientists at German universities or research centers. Airfare will be paid for by the project and a monthly stipend of about €1000.00 will also be provided for each month spent in Germany.

5. Outline of the program

The time required for the completion of the PhD program is 3 years.

Training components

The following steps are required: English upgrade (see above 3. Language requirements), indoor courses, and research component.

Intensive Indoor Courses (6 months)

Registered students will take part in six months of intensive course work at IPR/IFRA (Mali) and UCC (Ghana).

Contents of the courses: The teaching modules are the following:

i. Introduction to Climate Change;

ii. Research Methodology and Skills Development: System thinking; Scientific research methodology; Scientific writing; Communication with rural communities; Participatory Action Research;

iii. Statistics and Modeling Tools: System and optimization models (linear and non linear programming of resource allocation); GIS, RS and Geostatistics; Biostatistics; Sampling methods, field trials and surveys);

iv. Adapted Agricultural Production Systems to CC: Concept of Resilience in Agricultural Production Systems (Livestock and cropping); Energetics of production systems (energy flows); Soil science (Soil conservation and restoration, Soil organic matter management/GHG emissions, Soil fertility management); Agricultural water management (rain-fed agriculture and irrigation methods); Agro-biodiversity management and breeding strategies; Pests and diseases management (animal and crops); Animal production and ranch management;

v. Agricultural Value Chain and Policies: Food systems and food security; Post harvest technologies; Social and economic drivers of adaptation; Agricultural policies (index based Crop and livestock insurance, National Adaptation Plans or NAP, PES, etc.);

vi. Modeling of Agro-ecosystems: System modeling (socio-ecological modeling); Agricultural land use mapping (GIS and RS); Development of crop models at the field scale; Application of simulation models to assess climate impact on production systems;

vii. Innovation Systems in Agricultural Production/Field trip/Excursion

Research component

Eachstudent will carry out some research in a common agreed upon location. It includes the research plan preparation, field work, data analysis, final write up and defense.

• Research Plan Preparation (3 months), during the course-curriculum phase.

• Field Work: The field work can be done in or outside Mali depending on expertise (supervisor), availability of equipment and accessibility to relevant data.

• Data analysis-if needed visit to Germany/WASCAL (maximum 6 months): During the course of their research, students may visit Germany for duration of 6 months. Such visit is to enable the student have access to specialized equipment and computing facilities otherwise not available in Mali, partner universities or in WASCAL Competence Centre (Burkina Faso).”

• Final write up and defense: The final write up of the thesis will be undertaken at the university or research centre where the supervisor works or at IPR/IFRA or in the Competence Centre (Burkina Faso). The thesis defense will be conducted in Mali (at USTTB).

6. Application Procedure and Contact

Candidates may apply directly to the USTTB or the GRP CCAgric by submitting all information requested via e-mail to Prof. Ouaténi Daillo e-mail ;Prof. Amoro Coulibaly, e-mail or ; DrBenjamin Kofi Nyarko, e-mail ; Selasi Weto and to WASCAL:

Application Deadline: January 8th, 2016

7. Publication of the Selection Outcome

Shortlisted candidates will be contacted by January 15th, 2016. Selected students will be asked to submit a hardcopy of the application packageand to present original diplomas at the time of registration (by February 1st, 2016).

8. Additional Information

For details regarding the program please refer to the following websites: or send a message to Prof. Ouaténi Diallo, Prof. Amoro Coulibaly, e-mail or d copy to DrBenjamin Kofi Nyarko, e-mail