On May 15, 2009 the Center for African Studies hosted the workshop "Climate Change and Livelihoods in Sub-Saharan Africa." Changes in climate have a major impact in Africa because the majority of its people are directly dependent on natural resources that are affected by climate. This workshop focused on climate change and its interaction with African systems of crop and animal agriculture. Both periodic variation and long-term trends in climate were examined. Speakers discussed theories, concepts, and methods they use to understand the interaction between social, ecological, and climate systems. The workshop addressed how researchers from multiple disciplines who are working with agricultural and pastoral systems in Sub-Saharan Africa can integrate climate change into their own research. The workshop focused on emerging ways of thinking about climate change in Africa rather than on finished research.

Overview of research on climate change in Africa [Real Player] [Flash]
David Kraybill, Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics, Ohio State University

Concepts, procedures, and data for understanding food security and adaptive response to climate change in West Africa [Real Player] [Flash]
Samuel Codjoe, Senior Lecturer, Regional Institute for Population Studies, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana

Adaptation to climate change in East Africa [Real Player] [Flash]
Chinwe Ifejika Speranza, German Development Institute, Bonn, Germany and Centre for Training and Research in Development, Nanyuki, Kenya.

A theoretical and ethnographic presentation on the interaction of households, environment, and climate in East Africa [Real Player] [Flash]
Shauna Burnsilver, Post-doctoral Researcher, University of Alaska Fairbanks, School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences, Institute of Arctic Biology. 
 
Integrative models of households, environment, and climate in East Africa [Real Player] [Flash]
Randall B. Boone, Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University.

Modeling domestic transitions, climatic change, and livelihoods: a case study of Mossi households, Burkina Faso [Real Player] [Flash]
Colin Thor West, University of Alaska at Fairbanks.

Rapporteur summary of workshop. [Real Player] [Flash]
Mark Moritz, Department of Anthropology, The Ohio State University; Andrew Keeler, John Glenn School of Public Affairs, The Ohio State University; Reuben Kadigi, Sokoine University

Workshop organizers

David Kraybill, Professor, Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics
Kelechi Kalu, Director, Center for African Studies
Laura Joseph, Assistant Director, Center for African Studies
Mark Moritz, Assistant Professor, Anthropology
Andy Keeler, Associate Professor, John Glenn School of Public Policy

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