To ensure a continuous functioning of supply of water energy and food, well-functioning technical and operational supply chains are required. An indicator for the status of supply chains is their exposure to diverse risks, arising from fast urban growth and external shocks. Major hazards to sub Saharan cities, which are likely to gain even more importance in the future, are the drastic environmental changes caused by climate change, land use changes and population dynamics. Assessing the risks influencing key urban supply chains can provide important insights in which areas technical and operational transformation and innovation is required to support sustainable development. In general, the planned research activities shall contribute to five goals:
- Identification and mapping of key agriculture, water and energy supply chains for urban systems
- Assessing the risks to supply chains caused by population dynamics, land use change and external shocks
- Exemplify the method of GIS based supply chain risk mapping in the case study region of Niamey (Niger)
- Provision of technical and organizational strategies to improve the functioning of current and future urban supply systems in sub Saharan cities
- Provision of concepts to integrate risk assessment methodologies into urban planning procedures
| The research consortium seeks to investigate and locate risks and adaptation strategies by the use of multiple research methods within five work packages. Generally, one partner institution will lead a work package and is responsible for the research methodology and coordination while the remaining partners contribute with research activities. Each work package is structured in the form, that at first, a common methodology will be applied to each sector (water, energy, agriculture) separately and in a second step the system as a whole will be analyzed to expose cross-sectoral interlinkages and interdependencies. In the last step, the general research findings will be integrated and applied to the case study region in Niamey, Niger. | Work packages in the research component:
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