Rio de Janeiro – To stimulate research in the fight against desertification in Africa, precisely in the arid and semi-arid regions, a call will be issued on Thursday (21) by Brazil in partnership with France and the Pan-African Great Green Wall Agency. The announcement was made on Wednesday (20), at an event in parallel with the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio+20.
The investment will be one million euros in research and projects, visits to Africa and Brazil for exploration, as well as events for the transfer of technology. The requirement is for those interested to work for institutions or to be researchers in one of the three countries, explained the president of the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), Glaucius Oliva.
According to him, Brazilian institutions like the Federal universities of Bahia, Ceará and Pernambuco, for example, already develop research or have experience in the Brazilian sertão, the country’s dry lands, which may be replicated in Africa. Among them is installation of wells, treatment of brakish water, management of animal production and the use of typical vegetation.
The call is turned to French-Speaking African countries, mobilized since 2010 by the Institute for Research Development (IRD). The representative of the organisation in Brazil, Jean-Loup Guyot, explains that since the seminar on desertification organized by Brazil in 2010, researchers from African, Brazilian and French institutions showed interest in the partnership.
*Translated by Mark Ament
