Projects Archives - Page 3 of 3 - Sustainable Futures in Africa

Scoping Trial, Malawi

Scoping Trials

Sustainable Futures in Africa is an interdisciplinary collective aiming to build understanding, research, and practice in socio-ecological sustainability in Africa. In order for relationships to be built, methodologies to be explored, and to achieve the shared understanding that is aspired for, the SFA network is running trial research projects. These are being run with an emphasis on the trial and error aspect, for researchers to explore the unfamiliar, social scientists exploring hard science and vice versa. Furthermore colleagues in Glasgow will take every opportunity to work with the projects in Nigeria, Malawi, Uganda and Botswana as they develop.

Malawi Research Project: Creative Geovisualisation

This research trial took place from 24th - 26th May 2017 through a collaborative partnership including:

Philip Nicholson, University of Glasgow
Professor Deborah Dixon, University of Glasgow
Dr. Deepa Pullanikkatil, Abundance
Dr. Boyson H Z Moyo, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Dr. Hazel Long, University of Glasgow
Dr. Brian Barrett, University of Glasgow

Dr. Deepa Pullanikkatil departed from South Africa and Dr. Boyson H Z Moyo from Malawi for Glasgow on the 22nd May, arriving 23rd May. The research team was based in the University of Glasgow for the 24th, 25th and 26th May.

At the end of May, Philip Nicholson, Deborah Dixon, Brian Barrett, and Hazel Long were joined at the University of Glasgow by Glasgow PhD alumni Boyson Moyo from Malawi, and Deepa Pullanikkatil from South Africa. From the 24th to the 26th of May they spent time collaborating, sharing research, and discussing methodologies, working on a creative geovisualisation project on the theme of environmental sustainability in Malawi.

For the project they focused on two sites in Malawi, the Tikondwe Freedom Gardens, an organic farm, and the Likengala River. In preparation for the meeting, participants collected and shared various kinds of data sets for those sites relevant to their own expertise. As a result, the first day involved discussions around the nature of the data, i.e. how it was acquired, what methods were used to capture it, why was it captured, who owns it, and so on. The following two days were focused on a collaborative effort to bring these different types of data together into a narrative structure using the storymap format as model.

https://twitter.com/SF_Africa/status/868489776621645826

https://twitter.com/SF_Africa/status/868200955719946240

https://twitter.com/SF_Africa/status/868044176570580992

In Partnership with

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Scoping Trial, Nigeria

Scoping Trials

The Nigerian research trial will take place in Autumn 2017 with a collaborative partnership including:

Prof Joshua Olusola Akande, Obafemi Awolowo University
Ms Kyauta Agmadalo Giwa, Women Environmental Programme
Priscilla M Achakpa, Executive Director, Women Environmental Programme
Professor Sola Ajayi, Obafemi Awolowo University
Professor Dixon Torimiro, Obafemi Awolowo University
Dr Brian Barret, University of Glasgow

The Research Question has been defined as: Prioritizing Challenges to the Development Of Mining Communities In Nigeria: The Case of Itagunmodi (Osun State) and Komu-Igbojaye-Babaode (Oyo State).

Research Trial update, Nov 2017

The Nigerian research team is on the move again. After the exciting and memorable visit to Itagunmodi Atakumosa West in Osun state in July. The team is paying another visit this winter to other mining communities situated at Oyo State in the Southwest Nigeria, namely Igbojaye - Komu and Baba-ode, where we will be familiarizing and interacting with the community members and stakeholders.

The aim of this research is to experiment methodologically in trying to uncover the socio-ecological impact of the mining on the local community. You can find a detailed report from our last research trial here for more information: https://sustainablefuturesinafrica.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/itagunmodi.pdf

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Scoping Trial, Uganda

Scoping Trials

The Ugandan research trial will take place from the first of June, running until the 22nd June when Daniel Koehn, University of Glasgow, departs from Kampala. The locations will be in the community of Kibanjwa village, Kibanjwa Parish, Kitoba Sub-County, Hoima district (Albertine region) and the Alebtong district.

Dr. Hannington Twine outlines the research methods and design below:

Field Approvals

In both study sites, our contact persons will use their ongoing research approvals and contacts to introduce the rest of the team to the communities.' Dr. Alex Okot who is a board member of Apala Widows and Orphanage Centre will take an advance visit ahead of the Ugandan research team. He will inform the Local Council Officials in writing of the visit to the organisation. Likewise, Ms. Kellen Aganyira has ongoing research engagement in the Albertine region and she will use her current approvals to introduce the team to Local Council officials of Kibanjwa in Hoima district.

Methodology

This field trial visits will approach the communities without a pre-conceived research design. The interest of team Uganda will be to understand the communities’ perception of the environmental issues and ecosystems. We shall enter the communities as learners or listening posts. We shall provide direction of the discussions by a problem posing approach, that is, probing and prompting them to talk about issues related the environment, biodiversity and ecosystems.

Data collection

The data collection will be by the researchers themselves in partnership with the community members in the respective regions. a collaborative process. We will be assisted with local council officials especially on the planed transect walks. Due to language differences, we shall require services of one interpreter in northern Uganda. This is because we shall be divided into two transect walk groups and yet we only have one person among us who communicates properly in the local dialect. In the Albertine region, there will be no need of an interpreter since two members in the group understand the local dialect and we shall only have one group for the transect walk.

Data collection will be by way of observations, transect walks, Community forums and journaling. We intend to capture images of humans and their environment. Areas of special interest in this pilot study will include:

Land tenure system
Water sources and their management
Landscape and geology
Trees/forests and their importance to them
Wetlands (relationship and importance)
Agricultural practices (Animal husbandry and cultivation)
Wild life (relationship and importance)

Team Members

Daniel Koehn, University of Glasgow
Kellen Aganyira, Makerere University
Vincent Muwanika, Makerere University
Twine Bananuka, Makerere University
Charles Masembe, Makerere University
Karembe Ahimbisibwe, Makerere University
Richard Kagolobya, Makerere University
Kevin Aanyu, Makerere University
Joseph Watuleke, Makerere University

Albertine Region

On the 9th June Daniel Koen will arrive in Kampala, Uganda, to join the rest of the Ugandan scoping trial team. Their interaction with the Kibanjwa Community, Kitoba Sub-County, Hoima district in the Albertine region will begin on the 11th June. The research will draw upon the existing issues surrounding oil and gas and the impact of this on the environmental area. The team will return to Kampala and Daniel will travel to the Rwenzori Mountains on the 14th June to further his personal research in the region.

See map below for the location of the research trial in Uganda.

Alebtong Region

On the 18th June the research team will then travel to the Alebtong Region where they will partner with Apala Widows and Orphanage Center to analyse issues that impact the locality such as the large refugee influx and the subsequent strain on resources alongside the local water sources to form a socioecological analysis. The research will draw to a close on the 22nd June when Daniel returns to Glasgow, Scotland.

See map below for the location of the research trial in Uganda.

In partnership with:

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Volcano-Tectonics in Tanzania, exploring the World’s Strangest Volcano

The University of Glasgow Tanzania Expedition took place in June 2015 and consisted of a team of 13 Glasgow students who worked alongside a group of students from the University of Dodoma to study the unique Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano.

Translating to “Mountain of God” in the local Maasai language, Ol Doinyo Lengai has been dubbed the “strangest volcano on Earth” by National Geographic due to the unique composition of its magma and the importance of it geological setting. Located in the Arusha region of Tanzania, Ol Doinyo Lengai is part of the East African Rift System; an active continental rift zone which stretches 1000’s of kilometres from the Gulf of Aden to Mozambique. It began developing around 25 million years ago at the onset of the Miocene and since then the smaller Somalian Plate has been pulling away from the Nubian (African) Plate at a rate of roughly 6-7mm per year, providing a modern analogue to help us understand how continents break apart. Ol Doinyo Lengai (3188m) sits on the eastern branch of the rift known as the Gregory Rift. It is the only active carbonatite volcano in the world and has the coolest lava, erupting at 500-600degreesC, resulting in extensive interest from the geological community.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHbwnWy5VAo&w=560&h=315]

Partners

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Rwenzori Mountains, Albertine Rift System, Uganda

Understanding the structure, permeability and activity of faults in and around the Rwenzori mountains, Albertine rift system, Uganda.

¹Daniel Koehn, ²Kevin Aanyu, ¹Allan Hollinsworth, ¹Roderick Brown, ²Andreas Schuman

¹School of Geographical and Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow, UK

²Department of Geology and Petroleum Studies

Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda

The East African Rift System (EARS) has intrigued scientists for decades as it is the archetype of a continental rift and is believed to be the cradle of humankind. However, our current understanding of this geological feature is still clouded with mystery. In this project we focus on rift faults in the western branch of the EARS in and around the Rwenzori mountains, and aim at an understanding of why and how a basement block was uplifted during extension of the crust. The EARS represents one of the most variable environments on Earth being an area of active tectonics, dynamic topography with deep lakes, high mountains and active volcanoes. The variability of this changing landscape, its local climate and its richness in natural resources poses opportunities as well as challenges for local communities and consequently regional and global interests. We are working together with researchers from Makerere University, Uganda Wildlife Authority and local community guides to develop an understanding of the geology, faulting and rock uplift as well as science communication and local community development.

This research is funded by the NERC Oil and Gas CDT and supported by the Ugandan Council for Science and Technology (UNCST) and Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA). We thank NERC, UNCST and UWA for their support.