A senior lecturer in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics of the Federal University of Technology Akure, FUTA, Dr David Awolala has been awarded the 2021 Climate Research in Africa Research Fellowship under the ClimapAfrica Programme in Climate Research for Alumni in Africa by the German Academic Exchange Service, Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdiest (DAAD ).

The research work titled, ‘Evaluating Weather Forecasting Information for Rainfall Index Insurance in Maximizing Selected Agricultural Value Chains in Nigeria’ which will span 22 months will be implemented in partnership with the West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL) Competence Centre. Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso and other German affiliations from February 2021 to December 2022.

In a letter, conveying his selection for the research fellowship, President of the DAAD, Professor Dr Joybrato Mukherjee said, “I am pleased to be able to inform you that the selection committee of the DAAD has selected you for the Climate Research for Alumni and Post Docs in Africa 2021. We wish you all the very best and every success with your study project.”

Awolala, a prolific scholar had been previously awarded a Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship of the African Science for Weather Information and Forecasting Techniques (SWIFT) Project under the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCFR) of the Faculty of Environment, University of Leeds, United Kingdom. The Fellowship ran between November 2018 and May 2020 and was co-hosted by the Department of Meteorology, University of Nairobi (UoN) Kenya and the Department of Meteorology, Federal University of Technology, Akure. Reacting to the award, Dr. Awolala said that the Fellowship will equip him in advancing the research agenda of the university in the aspect of promoting climate research and work in fostering institutional linkages with other African climate research centres.

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Joseph Fuwape has congratulated Dr Awolala, urging him to make the best of the Fellowship and be a good ambassador of the University. He said the award is a reward of diligence and a display of intellectual competence.