A student at the University of Ghana, Rabiatu (Rabi) Abass is excited to present her research for the first time in a large international conference such as Adaptation Futures, that will take place in Cape Town on June 18-21, 2018. We asked Rabi what she is looking forward to, what she will be presenting, and how her experience with the Adaptation at Scale in Semi-Arid Regions (ASSAR) project is influencing her career.

1. What do you expect to learn or gain from your attendance at this year’s conference in Cape Town?

Adaptation Futures will be my first large international conference, and I believe it will provide an opportunity to learn new ideas and tactics from other students/researchers from different universities and countries. I will take advantage to network socially too.

 2. What will you be presenting at Adaptation Futures?

I will be presenting a poster on “Formal and Informal Institutions in Agricultural Adaptation: The Case of Lawra and Nandom Districts, Ghana”. The poster highlights the results of a comparative analysis I carried out in 2017, assessing how institutions support the implementation of climate change adaptation strategies in the Lawra and Nandom districts. 

3. Can you describe your experience working with the ASSAR project so far, and how do you see this work influencing your future career as a researcher? 

Besides funding my research, ASSAR has also provided the opportunity to participate in seminars and workshops organized for the students as part of the project. The exposure to new knowledge and skills has sparked my interest in research. I am looking forward to continuing working in this field in a tertiary institution in Ghana in the next few years.

The Adaptation at Scale in Semi Arid Regions (ASSAR) project aims to improve understandings of barriers and enablers to climate change adaptation in semi-arid areas in Africa and Asia.  START leads the West Africa team of ASSAR and plays a lead role in the overall capacity building efforts of the project, strengthening research and science communication skills with early-career researchers and creating capacity building opportunities for community members and other stakeholders in the regional research sites. The project is a collaboration with the University of Cape Town, the University of East Anglia, the Indian Institute for Human Settlements, and Oxfam Great Britain, and is supported by supported by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID).