In 2017 the Ørskov Foundation received a total of 21 applications, from students in 11 countries across Africa and Asia, for funds to support training linked to their postgraduate degrees. At the Trustees meeting in March, five applications were shortlisted and the following four applications received funding:
Ms. Fatumah Nakiguli from the School of Life Sciences and Bio-Engineering (LiSBE) , Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, TANZANIA has received £2495 as a student grant. She will be studying Sustainable Land Management, Food Security and Climate Change Sciences as part of her PhD in Life Sciences (Major: Biodiversity and Ecosystems Management) at The School of Forestry, Environmental and Geographical Sciences within the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Uganda. This training will help to disseminate awareness of modern approaches to sustainable food production andenvironmental conservation, so as to achieve social-economic transformation for the well-being of the present and future African generations.
Getenet Kebede Urgessa from the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Wollega University College of Social Sciences, Ethiopia has been awarded the sum of £2487 as a student grant. He will be carrying our research focusing particularly on research methodology that can facilitate the creation of original contribution by linking modelling climate change impacts with food security as part of his PhD in Natural Resources Management (specialization in Climate change adaptation and mitigation). The work will be carried out through the College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine Jimma University, Ethiopia. The training will allow Getenet to design how to effectively address the climate change and improve food security. Therefore, improved quality food security promotes conservation and restoration of ecosystems and these results a multiplier effect on sustainable environmental development in the study area in particular and in the country in general.
Samuel Ayesu from Department of Agroforestry Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana has been awarded £2472 as a student grant. He will be studying the Application of Remote Sensing, GIS and GPS in Natural Resources Management as part of his PhD in Agroforestry. Work will be carried out at the Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD), Kenya. With this training, Samuel hopes to develop scenarios that will help decision makers and planners to promote sustainable land management practices that enhance agriculture productivity and livelihood of the poor and vulnerable, promoting models that enhance biodiversity conservation, reduction deforestation and promote agricultural practices that enhance soil productivity and ecological stability. The output of the project work will also contribute to achieving the objectives of the national biodiversity conservation strategy and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 6, 13 and 15.
Mebrahtom Gebremariam Kebedew of the Bahir Dar Institute of Technology, School of Civil and Water Resource Engineering, Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia has been awarded £2330 as a grant. He will be studying GIS and Remote sensing training as part of his PhD in Assessing Sediment Retention Capacity and its Implication on Lake Sustainability, Lake Tana the headwaters of Blue Nile, Ethiopia. The work will be carried out as part of a programme run by Mekelle University, Ethiopia. This training will lead to a better understanding and assessing the underlying lake sediment load therefore leads to identification of the best lake management scenario to enhance lake ecological and economical values. In addition, the findings of this research will have a paramount importance for sustainability of the lake for its beneficiaries.
