17th annual IIR conference digest climate change interventions

By Samuel SAM

The Institute for Interdisciplinary Research (IIR) of the University for Development Studies (UDS), at its 17th Annual Interdisciplinary Conference (AIC), digested climate change issues and proffered solutions to the looming danger.

Participants at the AIC stressed that climate change impact is worsening in the country, particularly the northern part of Ghana; hence, the need for academia to deepen research and proffer innovative basic ways to mitigate some of these effects.

This year’s conference aimed at addressing climate change issues in the country, contributing solutions to local economic transformation and development.

It also focused on bringing about drastic changes on how to scale up development on the economic front, create a platform for young professionals in academia to present their research findings for feedback from the experienced ones as well and give opportunity for young researchers to polish their papers for publication in high-index journals across the globe.

The conference, dubbed ‘Globalisation and Local Economic Transformation: The Role of Interdisciplinary Research’, brought together lecturers, researchers and industry players among others.

Deputy Director of IIR, Prof. Abazaami Joseph, echoed that climate change is a big issue in northern Ghana, with devasting effects on both crop and livestock farmers while mentioning that mitigation measures are far below adequate.

“The situation has been further worsened by the poor approach to land use, planning, afforestation and even our efforts at addressing issues of desertification,” he noted.

He stressed that most of the buffer zones around the northern part of the country which form the basis for the Volta River are not being protected. This is not only affecting vegetation around the buffers, but the frequent flooding situation even threatens livelihoods.

He appealed to the government to raise awareness of the devastating effects of climate change in these parts of the country.

“There is a need for proactiveness on the part of the government to put to action most of the issues that have been spelt out in our national climate change policy,” he added.

He also appealed for a systemic approach to appreciating the nuances around the changing climate and the impacts of climate variability being witnessed.

Vice Chancellor of UDS, Prof. Seidu Al-Hassan, commended the management of IIR for the initiative and said the centre has encouraged more students and youth to venture into research activities around climate change issues as mandated by the university.

He said the university would do its best to ensure accurate and credible research for national development.

Additionally, he advised students and staff to collaborate on more research activities to identify national issues for redress.

He stressed that the conference served as a platform for academics to engage with industry players for joint projects of mutual interest, which has also led to the development of products that are currently on the market.

“As of 2023, we had not less than five products that emerged from this collaboration between research and industry,” he said.

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