PIK and UCFA receive German-African Innovation Incentive Award (GAIIA)
06/01/2025 - In December 2024, PIK scientists Christoph Gornott and Sophie von Loeben, together with Anthony Mugoya of the Uganda Coffee Farmers Alliance (UCFA), received the German-African Innovation Incentive Award – GAIIA for their research on the climate change adaptation potential of alternative coffee species. With this award, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) honours outstanding achievements of African scientists and supports the further development of research results into innovative solutions that address the societal and environmental challenges on the African continent and benefit the population.
The GAIIA-award honours PIK’s and UCFA’s research conducted on the climate change adaptation potential of Liberica coffee for smallholder farmers in Uganda. It constitutes funding of up to 150,000 euros for realising a joint project which translates the research findings into action. As part of the “ProLiCo”-Project (Promoting the commercial growth of Coffea Liberica to strengthen climate-resilience of Ugandan coffee farmers), various harvesting and post-harvesting processes along the entire value chain will be analysed to create a high-quality export product. Farmers are supported in implementing the identified good practices to improve the quality and marketing potential of their Liberica coffee as a pathway to becoming more resilient to climate change.
