The
Competence Platform on Energy Crop and Agroforestry
Systems for Arid and Semi-arid Ecosystems
– Africa (COMPETE) will bring
together world-leading scientists, researchers,
funders and practitioners from different fields
and across the world to create a platform
for discussion, knowledge exchange, policy
and methodology development. It will
use this concentrated expertise to provide
strategic and practical guidance and tools
on the provision of modern bioenergy for the
sustainable and optimal usage of these special
ecosystems.
The
main objective of COMPETE is to identify pathways
for the provision of bioenergy, which will:
1. improve
the quality of life for the inhabitants
e.g. poverty alleviation, value added
activities, alternative means of income
generation and providing options to
reduce vulnerability whilst, in parallel;
2. aid the
preservation of the critical functions
of arid and semi-arid regions in Africa
as intact ecosystems e.g. maintaining
biodiversity and providing ecosystem
services, and;
3. enhance
the equitable exchange of knowledge
between EU and developing countries
in this critical area of activity
A number
of sub-objectives which represent the highly
cross-sectoral nature of bioenergy provision
and the breadth and depth of the scientific
and technological objectives that COMPETE
will integrate into providing useful decision
making and implementation tools.
The
long-term provision of secure supplies of
bioenergy will require the evaluation of a
large range of inter-related factors within
a comprehensive analytical framework and associated
decision making tools leading to a holistic
policy development process. Factors, such
as; the optimal and socially acceptable allocation
of land between food, infrastructure, bioenergy
and other uses; soil degradation; the impacts
of, and on, climate change; water use; and,
the potential for political conflict. These
factors are closely linked to the problems
that many regions in Africa are confronted
with. A multi-sectoral cross-disciplinary
approach is urgently needed to cope with these
problems and the likely demands generated
by high oil prices, and that reflects the
emerging evidence base on ecosystem damage
and tools for monitoring sustainability.
Project
Implementation Plan
The
project work of the COMPETE competence network
is divided into seven major co-ordination
activities (work-packages, WP) comprising
a specified number of tasks. These co-ordination
activities have been identified in a way to
ensure that all important aspects connected
to an improved and sustainable management
of natural resources in arid and semi-arid
regions of developing countries are addressed.
