Browsing by Author "KAMANDA, JOHN KOWA"

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ASSESSING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PARIS CLIMATE AGREEMENT IN AFRICA
(World Scientific, 2025-08-30) KAMANDA, JOHN KOWA
The implementation of the Paris Agreement in Africa focuses on governance, financial mechanisms, and sustainable energy transitions. The agreement offers Africa a framework for sustainable economic development, with projections indicating a potential reduction of climate change-induced economic losses by approximately 1.6% of GDP, equating to \$588.731 billion in financial relief. While Africa’s share of global CO 2 emissions rose from 3% in 2006 to 5% in 2016, current Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) show a more ambitious mitigation pathway, projecting only a 4.2% increase in emissions from 2022 levels by 2030, a significant improvement from the 65.2% increase projected under the first NDCs from 2015 levels. Unconditional NDC commitments account for 23% of projected emission reductions, with the remaining 77% dependent on international support. Despite notable successes from Rwanda’s quantified emission reductions (16% unconditional, 38% conditional by 2030), Morocco’s enhanced NDC targets (45.5% GHG reduction), Ethiopia’s ambitious sectoral mitigation (74.7% conditional reduction in waste emissions), and renewable energy adoption growth (24 GW added since 2013) in the continent, yet challenges persist, including inadequate international climate finance (adaptation-related finance below US\$5.5 billion annually) and climate finance allocation disparities with East Africa requiring 35% of continental climate finance, capacity gaps in governance, socioeconomic barriers such as the social and economic burden of phasing out coal. Successes include the mobilization of green finance, notably through green bonds and debt-for-climate swap models. Addressing research gaps and emerging trends, particularly in aligning diverse national priorities with international climate goals and ensuring equitable access to finance and technology, is crucial for accelerating progress and realizing Africa’s full climate action potential.
IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON CROP PRODUCTION IN WEST AFRICA
(World Scientific, 2025-09-22) KAMANDA, JOHN KOWA
The impact of climate change on West African crop production is severe and multifaceted with over 95.0% of croplands being rainfed, characterized by projected median yield losses of −11% and documented reductions of 10–20% for millet and 5–15% for sorghum, driven by rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, and extreme events that exacerbate regional food insecurity. This review synthesizes evidence from case studies across Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Ghana, and Burkina Faso, demonstrating that adaptation strategies such as optimized planting dates and climate-resilient varieties, can offset losses by 13–19%, though their efficacy is highly context-specific and constrained by socio-economic barriers like limited access to credit and extension services. Policy implementation, while promising in instances like Senegal’s large-scale irrigation schemes, is often hindered by inadequate resources and weak institutional capacity. Critical research gaps persist, including a need for longitudinal studies on adaptation sustainability, frameworks for integrating Indigenous knowledge with scientific forecasting, and gendered impact analyses. Addressing these gaps through genomics-assisted breeding, decentralized climate services, and financial mechanisms is imperative for developing evidence-based, localized policies that bolster resilience and secure food production across the region’s diverse agro-ecologies.
MICROPLASTICS AND CLIMATE CHANGE IN AFRICA
(World Scientific, 2025-04-26) KAMANDA, JOHN KOWA
This review examines the dual threats of microplastic pollution and climate change on African marine ecosystems, synthesizing current knowledge to assess their sources, impacts, and synergistic effects. Microplastics, pervasive due to inadequate waste management and rapid urbanization, infiltrate marine environments, adsorbing toxins and disrupting biodiversity, while climate change exacerbates their distribution and toxicity through rising temperatures and extreme weather. The study revealed that despite Africa contributing 7.8% of the global riverine plastics, research remains fragmented, with only 22.9% of African countries studied, and inconsistent methodologies and policy frameworks often lack the integration of climate adaptation and pollution mitigation. Case studies from Rwanda, Ghana, and South Africa highlight successful mitigation strategies, including regulatory frameworks, recycling initiatives, and bioremediation. Key recommendations include advancing research on microplastics–climate interactions, hybrid policies, AI-enhanced monitoring, strengthening waste management infrastructure, fostering regional collaboration, and prioritizing innovative circular economy approaches to safeguard marine biodiversity and ecosystem services. Addressing these challenges requires urgent, coordinated action to mitigate compounding risks and ensure sustainable marine conservation in Africa.