On Friday, May 3 and Saturday, May 4, 2024, the Institute for African Development, in collaboration with the Polson Institute for Global Development and the Einaudi Center for International Studies, Cornell University, will host a symposium on Imagining Just Environmental and Climate Futures in Africa. Please see our website for the schedule on Friday and Saturday! The event is fully hybrid, so join us in Mann in person or remotely via zoom.

Keynote talks include:

Edmond Totin, Universite Nationale d'Agriculture (Benin): "Positive failures: rethinking climate resilience planning by understanding the legacy of interventions in food production systems ” (May 3, 9-9:45am EST)Nadège Compaoré, University of Toronto, Mississauga: "African Climate Solidarities: Beyond Boundaries" (May 3, 1-2:30pm EST)Timothy Raeymaekers, University of Bologna: "Rural Work: What Future for Social and Ecological Reproduction" (May 3, 1-2:30pm EST)Siri Eriksen, Norwegian University of Life Sciences: "Between a rock and a hard place: Exploring the lived experience of climate change and social injustice" (May 4, 9-9:45am EST)Hanson Nyantakyi-Frimpong, University of Denver: "Nature-Based Solutions to Climate Change and the Reproduction of Maladaptation in Africa" (May 4, 1-2:30pm EST)Paper discussion sessions:

1. “Environmental governance and transformative policy in Africa,” Chuan Liao & Edmond Totin, discussants (May 3, 10-noon)

Nehemias Horacio, Observatório do Meio Rural, “Vulnerability and Adaptation of smallholder farmers to salinity intrusion in Mozambique: Case of Lower Limpopo Irrigation Scheme”Assefa Berhanu, Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia, “Gender-Disaggregated Vulnerability and Resilience to Climate Change among Smallholder Farmers in Ethiopia”Jerry Owusu Banahee, University of Cape Coast, Ghana, “Private sector involvement in climate change adaptation action in developing countries: evidence from Ghana”Allan Basajjasubi, Natural Justice, “Right of Nature and its Utility in Climate Change Litigation”Alain Elegbe, Texas State University, “Water justice in Benin”2. "Scales and time: extractive economies and agrarian change," Nadège Compaoré and Timothy Raeymaekers, discussants (May 3, 2:45-4:45pm)

Olufemi Olamijulo, Harvard University, “Beyond Extraction: Cobalt, Local Refining, and Environmental Equity in the DRC”Dumisani Moyo, Cornell University, “Plutocratic Narrativization and the Danger of a Black Psycho-oneiric Complex in Malawi’s Crop Agriculture, 1500s to 2022"Sidney Madsen, Cornell University, “Class dynamics of agroecology: Case study from Malawi”Brandon Marc Finn, University of Michigan, “End-of-life informality: assessing the negative externalities of the decarbonization circular economy”3. "Lived experiences of precarity and calls for climate justice," Siri Eriksen and Wendy Wolford, discussants (May 4, 10-noon) - use main zoom room

Sylvia Hagan, University of Ghana, “Voices of the Vulnerable: exploring perceived cliamte change impacts and mental health in poor urban coastal communities in Ghana”Emily Baker, Cornell University, “Imagining justice at the conflict-climate nexus”Michelle Pressend, University of Cape Town, “Racing the land history memory of a wind farm in South Africa on colonised reclaimed land”Anesu Makina, University of Cape Town, “Informality and climate futures in Africa: of justice, global policies, and African urban realities”Tom Tom, University of South Africa, “Futuring Rural Zimbabwe: Artisanal Gold Mining, Tobacco Production and Environmental Sustainability in Resettlements Areas”4. "(Mal)adaptation in socioecological systems and institutions," Hanson Nyantakyi-Frimpong and Natacha Bruna, discussants (May 4, 10-noon) Breakout zoom link for this session

Seongmin Shin, Cornell University, “Everyday climate adaptations enhance smallholder agriculture and food security in Sub-Saharan Africa”Loveth C. Ode-Omenka, Covenant University, Nigeria, “Impact of Climate Change on Livelihood and Food Security of Female Farmers in Burkina Faso and Nigeria”Adele Woodmansee, Cornell University, “Water resources in the High Atlas: Adaptation and change in local irrigation systems”Benedicta Quarcoo, Luiss University, “The Carbon Tax in Ghana: Barriers and Prospects”Hayford Bokpin, University of Ghana, “Climate Justice and Ghana's Emission Tax Policy: A critical review”Bob Manteaw, University of Ghana, “Climate Justice and Post Carbon Futures: How might a just-transitioned Africa look on the ground?”Organized by the Institute for African Development, Polson Institute for Global Development, and the Einaudi Center for International Studies.