MSc in Climate Change, Agriculture & Food Security (CCAFS)

The world’s climate is rapidly changing due to global warming, and will continue to do so for the decades and centuries ahead. This poses major challenges for future agricultural systems to provide food and other bioresources for the 10 billion people that will occupy the planet by 2050.

The 1 year MSc in Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) provides students with the skills and tools for developing agricultural practices, policies and measures addressing the challenge that global warming poses for agriculture and food security worldwide.

The MSc CCAFS programme is a partnership with the international CGIAR Research Programme on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), which is led by the CGIAR and Future Earth, and currently involves over 700 partners worldwide www.ccafs.cgiar.org.

Graduates of the MSc CCAFS programme will be equipped to pursue roles associated with local, national and international efforts to promote sustainable agricultural production, global food security and climate change adaptation. Read about the MScCCAFS program, including the current activities of past graduates, on the global CCAFS webpage on the NUI Galway MScCCAFS program.

There is now a growing recognition of how different agriculture systems can contribute to climate change, past and present. Hence, the dual challenge of adapting future agricultural systems to climate change, must also include mitigation of the effects of agriculture on climate change.

The MSc in Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) is aimed at students who want to combine scientific, engineering, technical, social or policy skills so that they are better equipped to understand and make significant contributions regarding adaptation and mitigation of climate change impacts on global agriculture and food security.

The MSc CCAFS lectures and training is directed by Prof. Charles Spillane and coordinated by Dr. Peter McKeown, with lectures provided by an international and inter-disciplinary course faculty of lecturers and experts, including: Tom Arnold, Suresh Babu, Elizabeth Bryan, Kevin Coffey, Liz Coleman, Edna Curley, Joseph Curtin, Jonathan Derham, Alex de Pinto, Boru Douthwaite, Catriona Duffy, Tara Garnett, John Geraghty, Sharon Gourdji, Helen Greatrex, James W. Hansen, Jonathan Healy, Tim Hess, Danny Hunter, Andrew Kruczkiewicz, Peter Iverson, Andy Jarvis, Christine Jost, Tahseen Jafry, Gary Lanigan, JJ Leahy, Ruth Meinzen, Charles Midega, John Muldowney, Una Murray, Tony Murray, Sibyl Nelson, Earnan O'Cleirigh, Cathal O'Donoghue, Diarmuid O'Donovan, Vincent O'Flaherty, Julian Ramirez-Villegas, John Recha, Claudia Ringler, Niall Roche, Rico Santiago, Rogier Schulte, Tara Shine, Charles Spillane, Jennifer Twyman, Ioannis Vasileiou, Sonja Vermeulen, Joost Vervoort, and Paul Wagstaff.

Following the completion of the MScCCAFS research project thesis by each student, the MScCCAFS program holds an MScCCAFS Program Annual Research Conference in late August/Early September each year. The programs for each MScCCAFS Annual Conference can be found on the following weblinks:

MScCCAFS Annual Research Conference (2022)

MScCCAFS Annual Research Conference (2019)

MScCCAFS Annual Research Conference (2018)

MScCCAFS Annual Research Conference (2017)

MScCCAFS Annual Research Conference (2016)

Details on the MSc CCAFS (including how to apply and entry requirements) can be found on:

(a) the NUI Galway MSc CCAFS weblink.

(b) the CCAFS weblink to the MScCCAFS program

Follow the MSc CCAFS program on Twitter

https://twitter.com/MScCCAFS_NUIG