Following the successful conclusion of the PASCAL autumn school and hackathon in Ghana at the start of December, Jülich’s agrosphere research team and Geoverbund ABC/J are looking to continue and expand on their project in Africa. There are plans for an Africa Day in the second half of 2019.
Today is the last day of our PASCAL project in Accra. While the group is still working hard with Dr. Jirka Šimůnek and Dr. Roland Baatz to get to know the software “Hydrus” and to implement their own data to model water flows and contaminant transports in soils we ask some participants to give us a short feedback on the week. For us it was a pleasure working with you guys. We really enjoyed your interest in the subject and your enthusiasm at the courses. Hopefully we will meet again soon.
In the PASCAL HPC-workshop (HPC = High Performance Computing) the Jülich scientists train African participants how to use TSMP to provide predictions from coupled simulations of the soil, water, and air system. The course aims to provide the participants with generic capabilities of terrestrial modelling and data assimilation which they can apply in their home countries. “Attending PASCAL is very crucial for my work”, says Chioma Ogbenna, PhD student in soil science at the University of Pretoria in South Africa and one of the PASCAL participants.
Deforestation, soil degredation, climate change: African countries face serious challenges in regard of a sustainable development, requiring a comprehensive integrated approach. The PASCAL training program aims at initiating a knowledge and technology transfer-bridge between Germany and Africa in the areas of soil science, nutrition and hydrology. An interview with Chioma Ogbenna shows how young scientists can utilize the training on HPC-enabled terrestrial modelling.
Second day of the PASCAL side programme – a lot of input for the participants! The aim is to get them to know Germany (and especially Forschungszentrum Jülich!) as a place for excellent science. Therefore the programme provides information on Germany and Jülich as a science location, it wants to foster the exchange between African and German scientists and to support scientists who are interested in a work stay in Germany/Jülich. Welcome to the “Career Fair”!
We, the members of the PASCAL team, are in Accra to organize the program, to give lectures and to do exercises with the participants – and some of us are here to report about it. Unfortunately, for most of us there is not much time besides or after the scientific program to get to know the capital and its people. At least we get an impression of this incredible city when we commute between the hotel and WASCAL headquarters. Thankfully the other day on the way back to our hotel we could persuade our driver to make some extra turns and show us “his” Accra.
Monday, November 26. Official start of PASCAL. Unlike on the weekend, when the place had a certain sleepiness, the WASCAL headquarters now hum with activity. Time to say hello to all the people who helped us organizing the workshop in the last months, e.g. Piece Ahovi from PR. All of you did a very good job, thank you!
Africa is no doubt the fastest growing continent in the world with a population of nearly 1.3 billion, growing at an average annual rate of 2.5% since the last 10 years. The growing population directly implies growing demand for food, energy, safe drinking water and health care. The growing youth population in most African countries has not been met with corresponding job opportunities within the continent to stem the incidences of high youth criminalities and quest for emigration.
Erhard Zeiss is the second colleague from corporate communications who told me how he prepares for the upcoming trip to Accra. When I talked to him I recognized that Africa has been in his mind for a long time. What he reports to me sounds like the first sentences in an adventure story…
Since the trip to Accra comes nearer I asked my colleagues from corporate communication how they prepare for Africa and how they feel four weeks ahead of their trip. Here comes, what Marcel Bülow, our social media editor, told me.
When I switched on my notebook in the morning routine on September 3rd and opened the e-mail programme, 204 applications from all over Africa awaited me! After deducting various bot applications, there are 183 applications left. This is really an impressive number and I have to admit that I would have been satisfied with a smaller number in view of the upcoming work! For the PASCAL project, however, it is a complete success. Interim goal achieved!
Some time has passed since my first blogpost on the side programme and in the beginning everything was very abstract – so many different ideas were buzzing around in my head. Now – three months before the event takes place – the programme gets more and more concrete.
The World Bank President Jim Yong Kim warns that by 2030, extreme heat could leave 40 percent of land currently used for growing maize in sub-Saharan Africa incapable of producing maize. Additionally, destroy the savanna grasslands supporting pastoral livelihoods making it impossible to end poverty and hunger by 2030. It is in this background that the Forschungszentrum Jülich aims to support Africa in making food production sustainable and secure. Last years, the Soil as a Pan-African Challenge project (PASCAL) won the International research marketing competition of the German Research Foundation (DFG).
I have spent almost a week at Forschungszentrum Jülich – ooh where has all the time gone? My interest’s range from soil research, plant science, climate change, waste water management, energy, Nanotechnology, understanding this massive supercomputer world and am afraid it feels like I have just arrived with too much I would want to explore but here on borrowed time.
Africa is speedily emerging on every front: economically, politically and technologically. All the relevant indices portray a continent that is the next emerging market with its teeming population that is nearly 50% young people with a median age of 19 years. Africa is also blessed with natural resources ranging from oil and natural gas to mineral deposits like diamond, gold, uranium, copper etc. almost across the continent. The lands are sufficiently arable for a sustainable bioeconomy and food production to sustain the population. Generally, the African climate is still green with many of the forests and parks still in their natural state. I can go on counting the numerous natural endowments which nature has bestowed on Africa. It is in no doubt, “Africa flows with milk and honey”.
I am with four other fellows on the international Journalist program on a one-week tour of Germany. Organized by the Goethe-Institut – a non-profit German cultural association that promotes the study of the German language abroad while encouraging international cultural exchange and relations, the tour starts with Hamburg, Cologne, and Munich.
If you have been to a foreign country where the official language is not your tongue, then you must relate with the frustrations that come with it. Pointing at food on menus because you cannot pronounce names, staying glued at the train’s screen because taking your eyes off for a second could mean you missing your destination? That was me for a few days last week. Finally, the language is no longer so foreign! I can relate when some words are mentioned away from class. I light up when familiar words are mentioned! And yes, I can also count a few numbers – a seemingly insurmountable problem last week. Interestingly, Germans count from left to right. And just like French it has feminine and masculine nouns.
Six of the World’s ten fastest growing economies are in Africa. The continent has been growing at an average of 5 percent per annum for over a decade, despite the global financial and economic crisis. This makes Africa confident that it can achieve its ambitious development dream, dubbed Agenda-2063 within 50 or even fewer years according to Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the former Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AU).
I am here with a team of outgoing, enthusiastic and tenacious journalists from South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Germany. Together we took a fantastic hour-long boat cruise along the Spree River passing through the house of the World’s Cultures, the Government Quarter, the Berlin Cathedral, and the Museum Island among the Bode Museum.
Did you know that about one billion people mostly from Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia live without electricity? This is according to the latest World Bank estimates. Currently, about 640 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa have no access to electricity. By 2040, it is estimated that Africa will require 700gigawatts of power to meet its demand. This is seven times more than what is currently installed.
As a journalist, I am used to asking questions, getting answers and writing about other people, events and occurrences. Rarely do I speak about myself and my work. It happened that for about six years while I was working as a radio technician and creative producer, I was used to being behind the scenes and making sure everything runs smoothly. So today, I am taking the challenge to tell you a little bit about myself.
