In the framework of my research studies, I, Sènankpon Tcheton, a Ph.D. student at the Global Change Institute of the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, traveled to Cape Coast, Ghana, from 1st November to 16 December 2023. The main objective of my journey was to meet my co-supervisor in person and discuss the progress of the research, present my work and highlight actions under Solving the Sustainability Challenges at the Food-Climate-Biodiversity Nexus and Future Ecosystems For Africa projects, and talk to researchers and scientists from the Africa Centre of Excellence in Coastal Resilience to find common interests and ground for future collaborations.
During my research, I had the opportunity to:
- collaborate with young researchers in coastal and marine ecosystems. I mainly focus on young researchers since they represent the majority of the research center and are the ones who are more accessible to talk to. The senior researchers and lecturers from the research center are always traveling and busy with their teaching schedules. However, with the assistance of my co-supervisor, I had the chance to meet with some of them to discuss my research plan and got helpful feedback, contacts, and recommendations for my work.
- attend a full training day upon request to my fellow researchers on using R Software for fundamental quantitative and qualitative data analysis and the bibliometric data analysis for systematic literature review. This helped move forward with the quantitative literature review I am conducting on the rationale of using Indigenous and Local Knowledge in Solving the FCB challenge and also opened the window for me to apply the knowledge after my data collection in February 2024.
- present my research work. I was invited by the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture Sciences (DFAS) of the University of Cape Coast as a guest presenter to introduce my work and highlight the progress I have been making so far to the audience of lecturers, senior researchers, and postgraduate students. I gave the presentation on ‘’Indigenous Knowledge in Exploring the Futures of the Mono Transboundary Biosphere Reserve in West Africa’’. Through the presentation, I introduced the audience to the Nature Future Framework and highlighted actions under my project to contribute to the Solving FCB project. Feedback and comments from the audience and the participants were instrumental in moving forward with the work.
- Meet and talk with the Early Career Researchers Group for the Solving FCB in Ghana, Ms. Vinolia Pitris (MSc), and Rodrigue Pelebe (Ph.D.). Discussions were more about the Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing in West Africa and how to capture a wide variety of fishing activity to feed the objectives of the Solving FCB. Scientific paper writing with Vinolia was set as one of the outcomes of the discussions.
Acknowledgment: I gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Solving FCB and FEFA projects for making my research visit possible. I thank the African Centre for Coastal Resilience, the staff, and the Director (my co-supervisor) for the warm welcome and the assistance and facilitation in connecting me to the right people. Thanks are also due to the young researchers of ACECOR with whom I interacted the most: Abdou, Rael, Eric, Rodrigue, Vinolia, Innocent, Evans, Joshua, Charles, Isaac, Anastasia, Nanabanyi, Sheila, and others.