West African universities have been urged to integrate courses in climate information system and climate smart agriculture in their curricula to help create awareness on climate challenges among the youth. Proper understanding of climate change and appreciation of the challenges, impact on the environment and food production among the youth will help them develop and implement appropriate strategies for solutions. Professor Wilson Agyare, the Director of West African Science Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL), said climate change and its related challenges had become critical, and there was the need to address them at every level, to protect the environment and ensure food security. He was speaking at a capacity building workshop on Integrating Climate Change into University Curriculum across West Africa, at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi. Organised by WASCAL, in collaboration with Accelerating Impacts of Climate Research for Africa and Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture, participants discussed soil carbon sequestration, crop production, renewable energy, water resources management, and agriculture, among others. It was attended by lecturers and administrators from various universities in Ghana and other African countries. Prof. Agyare said climate change issues must be addressed because it was evasive and directly affected agriculture and could affect food security soon. Farmers must also be trained to adapt to climate change challenges such as rising temperature and erratic rainfall patterns. Prof. Akosua Dickson, the Vice Chancellor, KNUST, said integrating climate change into the university curricular was a laudable idea, which would enable the universities to contribute to addressing such issues in the sub-region.

Source: Ghana News Agency