138th KUASS: KYOTO UNIVERSITY AFRICAN STUDIES SEMINAR (Oct. 31)

Some insights into the vulnerability to climate extremes in Nigeria from the perspectives of the margins

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Event Info

Presenter
  • Dr. Mayowa Fasona, Professor, Department of Geography, University of Lagos, Nigeria
Commentator
  • Dr. Shuichi Oyama, Professor, Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies, Division of African Area Studies, Kyoto University
Date & Venue
  • October 31. 2025（Friday）
  • 16:00-17:30
  • Middle-sized conference room, 3F Inamori Foundation Memorial Fall, Kyoto University
Language
  • English
Contact
  • Center for African Area Studies, Kyoto University

    Tel：075-753-7803
  • caasas@jambo.africa.kyoto-u.ac.jp

Summary

The degree of vulnerability of communities to climate extremes varies according to their geography, economic status, availability and access to resources as well as the prevailing politics (i.e. how existing policies and institutions work for the marginalised). However, the vulnerability of individuals within a community could be defined by the elements of the disadvantage or deprivation complex which include social class and structure, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation, disability, age, social networks, knowledge barrier, and more importantly, access to assets and resources for resilience. These factors provide the basis for place-based and context-specific vulnerability to climate extremes. Adaptive capacity and resilience are enhanced by access to the bundle of assets (resources) available to anticipate, respond and recover from climate shocks, including natural resources, infrastructure, economic, social and financial services, information and appropriate technology.

This lecture will provide insights into the physical and social nature of climate risks and vulnerability in Nigeria (focusing on flood, drought, and heat stress) from the results of our ongoing 3-year PALM-TREEs research project. The PALM-TREEs project (Pan African and Interdisciplinary Lens on the Margins: Tackling the Risk of Extreme Events) is a cross country project aiming to rethinking the risk of climate extreme from the perspectives of the margins across six African countries.  The PALM-TREEs research in Nigeria is focused on flood, heatwaves and drought in Lagos (a city-state in Southwest Nigeria) and Kwara (a rural agrarian state in Central Nigeria). Its objectives include understanding the nature of the physical and social drivers of climate extremes, analysing the pattern of differentials in access to adaptation and resilience assets, and implementing  transformational interventions to improve resilience. This talk will discuss the physical diagnostics of climate extremes as well as the pattern of social factors that shape exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity to climate extremes in the communities.

PALM-TREEs website: https://clareprogramme.org/update/kwara-state-inception-workshop-engaging-communities-for-climate-resilience/

instructor

Dr. Mayowa Fasona, Professor, Department of Geography, University of Lagos, Nigeria

Commentator

Dr. Shuichi Oyama, Professor, Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies, Division of African Area Studies, Kyoto University

Date & Venue

October 31. 2025（Friday）
16:00-17:30
Middle-sized conference room, 3F Inamori Foundation Memorial Fall, Kyoto University

Language

English

Eligibility

Everyone is welcomed to attend.

Profile

Professor Mayowa Fasona is a Geographer with specialization in Climate, Environment and Natural Resource Management. He is an expert in Climate and Environmental Change as well as Remote Sensing & GIS Applications. He completed his doctoral thesis on land degradation and environmental change in the coast of Ondo State, Southwest Nigeria in 2007 wining the Vice Chancellor’s Award for the Best Ph.D. Thesis in the 2006/2007 convocations. He acquired Postdoctoral training in Climate Change Modeling and Adaptation at the Climate Systems Analysis Group (CSAG), University of Cape Town, as an African Climate Change Fellow in 2009-2010. He currently serves as the Head of Department of Geography at the University of Lagos. He’s a Co-Principal investigator, “A Pan-African and Transdisciplinary Lens on the Margins: Tackling the Risks of Extreme Events (PALM-TREEs)” (2023-2026).

Co-hosted by

Grant in Aid for Scientific Research (C) “Anthropological Study on Extrajudicial Violence by Security Agencies and People's Experiences of Suffering in Nigeria”

Contact

Center for African Area Studies, Kyoto University

Tel：075-753-7803
caasas@jambo.africa.kyoto-u.ac.jp

Notes

There are no parking lots available. Please use public transport.