http://197.159.135.214/jspui/handle/123456789/3 A long essay, dissertation or thesis involving personal research, written by postgraduates for a degree. Wed, 06 May 2026 00:20:36 GMT 2026-05-06T00:20:36Z http://197.159.135.214/jspui/handle/123456789/1157 Title: The Effects of Climate Extremes on Illegal Migration of The Gambia's Youth Authors: Baldeh, Demba Abstract: Migration is as old as human existence and it has been a suitable option for residence faced with disasters. The movement of people within the African continent can be traced far back to precolonial era. When people in the western Sudan were deeply engaged in trade with their northern counterparts. However, the irregular/clandestine/illegal migration of people between Africans and Europeans had predated colonisation of Africans. But this was not made an issue until recently, when mass exodus of African youths to Europe gained public attention both in the print and electronic media. The irregular migration of The Gambia’s youths to Europe is well documented in the country’s history. These youths are mostly from the rural areas where farming is the predominant economic activity and the source of livelihood. With the advent of climate change and climate variability, farming is likely be impacted so seriously that many more youths relying on rainfed agriculture will be tempted to migrate. Consequently, the study therefore investigates the effects of climate extremes on illegal migration of The Gambia’s youths. It specifically: assesses the perception and causes of illegal migration; examine the effects of floods and droughts on illegal migration; identify problems faced by youths during journeys to their destination; identify their coping strategies during the perilous journey; and evaluate measures taken by the government, civil society groups and other organized institutions to address illegal migration of youths. The research employed both qualitative and quantitative research designs were illegal migrants and returnees formed the sample of 105 respondents. These interviewees were selected by snow ball sampling. A second group of interviewees were parents of the illegal migrants that were 10 groups of 8 in the four Regions. Also 12 Key Informants Interviews drawn from institutions dealing with climate change and migration nexus were done. The data was analysed using statistical packages for social sciences (SPSS Version 20), Micro soft excel (2013) and Arc GIS 10.3 software application. The research established that climate extreme events specifically flood and drought had been pronounced in the four regions under study. Long dry spells are more severe in NBR and CRR than in URR and WCR. This is negatively impacting all farming communities in the regions and it is fast-tracking the migration of the youths. Furthermore, the odds evicting youths from their home to take the perilous journey commonly called the “Backway” is worsen by dreadful scenes they encounter. Notwithstanding, the illegal migrants sought numerous strategies earmarked to keep them moving at all cost. Finally, both Government and its development partners like the EU are actively engaged in addressing illegal migration of the youths. But their efforts are thwarted by inadequate understanding of the hybrid of issues surrounding the theme. The uncertainty of climate change phenomenon and limited understanding of climate variability and migration nexus complicated the issues further. Many climate extremes related mobility and mortality are preventable through education, good floodplain management, and early warning systems. These make it a sine qua non to integrate climate change related extremes like floods and drought into the national school curriculum. The findings will further contribute to shape and reform public policies relevant to youth development, and societal resilience to hostile effects of climate change. Description: The Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT http://197.159.135.214/jspui/handle/123456789/1157 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z http://197.159.135.214/jspui/handle/123456789/1156 Title: Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change: Understanding and Awareness Among Coastal Communities in The Gambia Authors: Dibba, Bintou Abstract: The coastal zone of The Gambia provides important ecosystems services, including habitats and breeding grounds for aquatic animals, plants and migratory birds. This area is vulnerable to climate change hazards as cited in literature. Therefore, this study aims to assess the awareness and understanding of climate change among coastal communities in The Gambia and their level of vulnerability and adaptation to climate change. The research utilised Landsat imageries of the years 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2020, freely downloaded from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) website to evaluate the extent of land cover transformation along the coastal zone. Mann–Kendall trend test and Sen’s slope estimator were utilized to assess the trend and slope magnitude of key climate variables (i.e. total annual rainfall (mm), minimum temperature, maximum temperature (oc), windspeed (knots) and relative humidity (%)) along the coast. Furthermore, climate change vulnerability index assessment was conducted to evaluate and compare the vulnerability of coastal cells to extreme climate events from 1990 to 2020. Finally, qualitative approach was used to assess the level of participation of state and non-state actors in building resilience to climate change. The findings of the research had demonstrated that the coastal environment had undergone significant modifications as a result of multiple stressors within the last 30 years. The extent of transformation for each of the land cover characteristics indicated an increase in barren land by 46% and built up by 680% and a decrease in vegetation cover by 35%, water bodies by 31% and wetlands by 14%. Consequently, these changes are associated with increased human population around 10-25km of The Gambia’s coastline from 1990 to 2020. The results further showed an increasing positive precipitation (mm), maximum and minimum temperature (oc) trends along the coastal zone. Furthermore, the study shows that there is low level of climate change understanding (31%) among coastal communities even though majority (78%) are aware of climate change. Moreover, the coastal zone of The Gambia on average is vulnerable to climate change with a vulnerability index score of 0.58 and an exposure index of 0.57. However, the differences in adaptive capacity and socio-economic characteristics of the coastal households had resulted to differences in sensitivity, exposure and vulnerability observed among the study cells. With the limited ability of individual households to adapt to the varying consequences of climate change and with insufficient interactions and support from state and non-state actors in building resilience to climate change, these communities also lack organisational structures to enable them to tackle climate change issues affecting their livelihood. Therefore, there is need for mobilisation of appropriate level of capacity, funding, diverse skills and knowledge systems within households, communities and state and non-state institutions to address the socioeconomic and environmental hazards affecting the coastal environment and inhabitants. Description: A Thesis submitted to the West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use and the University of The Gambia, Banjul, The Gambia, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Climate Change and Education Mon, 01 May 2023 00:00:00 GMT http://197.159.135.214/jspui/handle/123456789/1156 2023-05-01T00:00:00Z http://197.159.135.214/jspui/handle/123456789/1155 Title: Women as Agents of Change: The Gender Factor to Climate Change and Education Nexus for Improved Livelihoods in Ghana Authors: Gyimah, Amma Birago Kantanka Abstract: Global research on Climate Change Education (CCE) interventions has emphasized the school-based (formal) sector with little accent on the informal sector and negligible evidence from the global south. Notably, interventions targeting women, who are highly vulnerable to Climate Change (CC) impacts, are largely missing in the literature. This is particularly important for Ghana, where rural women rely on climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture and forestry. This research assessed the critical factors in CCE that can enable rural women farmers build resilient livelihoods. Employing a mixed method approach, a formal questionnaire and a question schedule were used to collect data from a sample of 497 individual respondents and six focus group discussions consisting of Rural Women Farmers (RWF) from two agro-ecological zones. Thirteen expert interviews were also conducted with national and local stakeholders. Quantitative data were analysed using frequencies, percentages, Relative Importance Index, Adaptive Capacity Index, Chi-Square statistic and Binary Regression. Qualitative data were analysed through theme generation and synthesis. In assessing the situational awareness of RWFs, the study projected a disconnect between climate change knowledge and climate actions on the scale of perception (87.0%), comprehension (84.0%) and climate actions – [mitigation (31.0%) and adaptation (79.0%)]. Adaptation actions were found to be temporary and spontaneous rather than planned. Existing individual and systemic factors characterising RWFs, such as low literacy, workloads, high household size, unfavourable land ownership rights and limited access to expert knowledge, influenced the prevailing disconnect. Respondents were also challenged with timely (43.9%), reliable (51.1%), and particularly understandable (64.0%) CC information from various sources. The study found a moderate (0.405) adaptive capacity level for RWFs. It was also revealed that access to capitals by women farmers did not necessarily result in benefit from the capital assets. Access to different climate knowledge sources and climate actions predicted a significant drive on livelihood capitals, indicating appropriate climate knowledge's ability to influence adaptive capacity. Lessons from National and local stakeholders in CCC and CCE provided a guide to what strategies worked. Stakeholders subscribed to identifying personally relevant framing of CC knowledge considering women's unique backgrounds. Hands-on, interactive approaches were encouraged, including user-friendly and local-dialect-sensitive virtual platforms. The absence of proper operational structures and appropriate technical staff coupled with entrenched sociocultural norms limited respondents' ability to build resilience. The existing climate knowledge gaps and critical enablers to CCE from stakeholders were synthesised into a proposed framework for educating rural women farmers on climate change for livelihood resilience. The study concluded by highlighting the role of CCE in building the resilience of RWFs whose roles in reproduction, production and community make them important agents of change. However, systemic factors expressed through access, ownership and control rights of rural women limited their potential. It is therefore recommended that CCE and CCC should be framed taking into consideration the unique context of RWFs. A long-term benefit will be a progressive reconstruction of societal norms that disenfranchise women through multi-stakeholder engagements from the local to National levels. Description: A Thesis submitted to the West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use and the University of The Gambia, Banjul, The Gambia, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Climate Change and Education Mon, 01 May 2023 00:00:00 GMT http://197.159.135.214/jspui/handle/123456789/1155 2023-05-01T00:00:00Z http://197.159.135.214/jspui/handle/123456789/1104 Title: Simulation of Biohydrogen Production by Sequential Dark-Photo Fermentation of Pineapple Waste Authors: Woenagnon, Komlan Djiwonou Abstract: Biomass from agro-industrial waste represents a sustainable resource for bioenergy production. JUS DELICE, a pineapple processing factory in Togo generates large streams of waste but relies solely on composting as waste valorization pathway. As a result, the energy potential of the generated waste is still unexplored. On the other hand, Aspen Plus is a software widely used for the simulation of thermochemical processes. However, the software rooted in thermochemical processes is very limited in the simulation of biochemical processes due to the lack of built-in models for microbial kinetics, metabolic conversions, and inhibition effects. This study investigated biohydrogen production using pineapple peels collected from JUS DELICE through three valorization pathways: dark fermentation, photo fermentation and the integrated sequential process. The peels were characterized through ultimate analysis, proximate analysis and fiber content and the data from characterization was used in Aspen Plus to simulate biohydrogen production under mesophilic conditions. The results revealed a good potential of pineapple peels for biohydrogen production with very high volatile solid content of 94.99% and high carbohydrates content on dry matter basis. It was also found that the integrated sequential process significantly improved the conversion process with a cumulative biohydrogen yield of 798.7 𝑚𝑙/𝑔𝑉𝑆 and a heating value conversion efficiency of 54.36%. Description: A Thesis submitted to the West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use, the Université de Lomé, Togo, and the Universität Rostock in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the International Master Program in Renewable Energy and Green Hydrogen (Bioenergy/Biofuels & Green Hydrogen Technology) Mon, 29 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT http://197.159.135.214/jspui/handle/123456789/1104 2025-09-29T00:00:00Z