International Conference: Human Dimensions of Climate Change: the politics of food and water security in Africa

The DDMI and Department of International Politics, with support of IBERS and C3W, hosted a major inter-disciplinary conference on this critical topic. It took place in Interpol on 18-20 Sept 2013. 

- Click to read the Storify web story on the conference - with Tweets, video, photos, and text. 

- Click here for video of the entire conference sub-divided by day and by panal.

- For additional details about the C3W, click here: http://c3wales.org. 

- Some photographs from the conference can be viewed below.

- A near-final draft program is available (scroll down). There were only a few changes to this program.

 

Some photos from the conference:

 

Above, a photograph of the proceedings (L-R): Engobo Emeseh (Aberystwyth University), Rattan Yadav (Aberystwyth University), Fantu Cheru (American University), Daniel Yeo (Global Green Growth Institute), and Ken Booth (DDMI Director, Aberystwyth University).

 

 

Above, from the panel on 'Water Security' (L-R): panel chair Carl Death (University of Manchester) and speakers Larry Swatuk (University of Waterloo), Daniel Yeo (Global Green Growth Institute), and Inga Jacobs (Water Research Commission).

 

*** Draft programme (as at 4 September) ***

The Human Dimensions of Climate Change:
THE POLITICS OF FOOD AND WATER SECURITY IN AFRICA 

Wednesday 18 September
4.00-4.30pm: Arrival and registration. Tea/coffee.
4.30-5.304.45pm: Welcome
- April McMahon, Vice-Chancellor of Aberystwyth University
4.45-5.30pm: Introduction
- Sir Emyr Jones Parry, President of Aberystwyth University: ‘The Politics of food and water in Africa’
- Ken Booth, DDMI and Aberystwyth University: ‘What’s it all about?’.

5.30-7.00pm: Panel I: Questions of security
- Chair: TBC
- Engobo Emeseh, Aberystwyth University: ‘Climate change, natural resources management and food security in Africa: Issues and trends’
- Peter Vale, University of Johannesburg: ‘“Die blount en die blou”: State-building, security and food in Southern Africa’
7.00-8.30pm: Buffet in Medrus.
8.30-10.00pm: Plenary address
- Jean Ping, Former-President of the African Union: ‘Title tbc’

Thursday 19 September
9.00-10.30am: Panel II: water security
- Chair: TBC
- Inga Jacobs, Water Research Commission: ‘The Water-Energy-Food Security Nexus: Challenges and Opportunities for Food Security in South Africa’
- Muna Mirghani, WATER Transboundary Resource & Advisory Center: ‘Water and food security in Africa amid climate change and national political drivers’
- Larry Swatuk, University of Waterloo: ‘Green Water Productivity: A new approach to “water for food security”’
10.30-11.00am: coffee/tea
11.00-11.30am: Problems of food production and distribution
- Chair: TBC
- Alun Davies AM, Minister for Natural Resources and Food, Welsh Assembly Government
11.30-12.30pm: Africa, the UN, and the world
- Chair: TBC
- Lord Mark Malloch Brown [skype QandA from New York]
12.45- 3.45pm: Crop science
- Wayne Powell, Aberystwyth University: Presentation and tour of IBERS (including lunch and tea)
4.15-6.00pm: Panel III: Agriculture and rural development
- Chair: TBC
- Fantu Cheru, American University: ‘Beyond “land grab”- Peasants, the State and Foreign Direct Investment in African Agriculture: assessing the technology, finance and knowledge platforms’
- Boaz Blackie Keizire, African Union: ‘The Politics of Agricultural Development in Africa and within the CAADP Framework’
- Joseph Yaro, University of Ghana: ‘Climate change and adaptive capacity: the case of sustainable rural livelihoods in northern Ghana’
7.30pm: Drinks reception and conference dinner – Medrus.
- Myles Wickstead, Commission for Africa: after dinner address

Friday 20 September
9.00-10.30am: Panel IV: Research agendas in food and water security
- Chair: TBC
- Eric Danquah, University of Ghana: ‘Training plant breeders at WACCI for the future of food security in West and Central Africa’
- Carl Death, University of Manchester: ‘Why should environmental politics be critical?’
- Anne-Marie Izac, CGIAR: ‘Climate change and agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa: implications for science-policy linkages’
10.30-10.45am: coffee/tea
10.45-11.45: The future of food and water security
- Chair: TBC
- Sir Gordon Conway, Imperial College London: ‘Title tbc’
11.45-12.30pm: Concluding discussion

Taxis will be provided for those wanting to get to the station for the 1.30 train to Birmingham, Manchester, London etc.