On Tuesday, May 13, 2025, CRC DETECT hosted the 1st African-European Workshop on Land Surface and Climate Change at the University of Bonn. The workshop brought together ten cooperation partners from six African countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Senegal) alongside DETECT members and other interested participants.
The aim of the workshop was to share insights from the African partners on land use, water resource management, and the impacts of climate change in their regions. The invited African participants from various universities and institutions contributed with rich and diverse presentations, highlighting both the challenges and opportunities in their respective regions. The discussions revealed a strong potential for long-term collaboration.
The presentations were distributed between two main sessions, the first on Climate and Land Use Impacts on Hydrology & Water Resources and included the following:
- Cheikh Faye (Université Assane Seck de Ziguinchor, Senegal) - Assessing the Impact of Climate Change on Current and Future Temperatures, Rainfall, and Watershed Flows in Senegal.
- Tadesse T. Kenea (Arba Minch University, Ethiopia) - The Status of Water Budget Study in Ethiopia Amid Land Use and Climate Changes: Progresses, Challenges and Opportunities.
- Leonard K. Amekudzi (KNUST, Ghana) - Climate and Landuse Impacts on Hydrological Processes in Ghana: State of Water Resources and its Management Strategies.
- Djigbo F. Badou (Université Nationale d'Agriculture, Benin) - Impacts of Land Use and Climate Variability on Hydrological Extremes in Benin: Implications for Water Resource Management.
In the second session, participants discussed land use and resources management:
- Dilys S. MacCarthy (University of Ghana) - Intensification of Cropping Systems in the Face of Climate Change: The Case of West Africa.
- Yap Loudi (National Institute of Cartography, Cameroon) - Impact Analysis of Recent Hydraulic Dams Construction on Water Storage and Flooding in Cameroon Using GRACE/FO, Satellite GNSS Reflectometry, and In-Situ Measurements.
- Vincent Logah (KNUST, Ghana) - Agro-ecological Zones and Soil/Land Use Types in Ghana: Relevance for the Water Cycle.
- Tazen Fowe (2iE, Burkina Faso) - Overview of 2iE's activities on water monitoring and management of small dams in a multi-use context in Burkina Faso.
- Mamadou A. Sarr (CSE, Senegal) - Earth observation Based Applications for Assessing Natural Resources and addressing Climate change in West Africa.
- Patrick Essien (Environmental Protection Authority, Ghana) - Land Use Contribution to Climate Change: An African Perspective.
The workshop also featured a presentation by Stefan Poll (Research Centre Jülich), who introduced Terrestrial Systems Modelling Platform (TSMP), a key tool used in DETECT for integrated land surface and climate modelling. In addition, Jean-Martial Cohard (Grenoble Alpes University, France / AMMA-CATCH Observatory), contributed with a talk emphasizing the importance of data-model integration for informed water management in West African agriculture.
The 1st African-European Workshop was an important step to exchange the knowledge and experience as well as to strengthen the collaboration between DETECT and its African partners.
