College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Department of Forestry

Current Position(s)

January 2022 to Now, Director General Centre de Suivi Ecologique (CSE), Senegal

Fann Résidence Rue Leon Gontron Damas, Dakar, BP : 15532 Dakar Sénégal

2012-now: Adjunct Professor, Michigan State University-Forestry. Lansing-USA

Phone: +1 202 462 2213 (work);

email: c.mbow@up.ac.za ; cheikhmbow04@gmail.com

Research Interests

• Remote Sensing and GIS, Sustainability challenges, transdisciplinary, Agroforestry
• Disturbances of savanna vegetative systems, particularly the impact of bush fires and other land cover changes in rural areas.
• Climate change and above-ground carbon stock assessments, vegetation inventory the use for carbon models, and the monitoring of vegetative communities.
• Tropical savanna woodland ecosystems fire dynamics and climate change effects on carbon storage and fluxes.

Overview

Cheikh Mbow is a research Professor and the Director General of the Centre de Suivi Ecologique-CSE (Senegal). He was previously Director of Future Africa at the University of Pretoria.  He served as the Executive Director of START-International in Washington DC and Lead Scientist on Climate Change at the World Agroforestry center in Kenya. He is Adjunct Professor at Michigan State University’s Department of Forestry. He works on Global Change research capacities for developing countries in Africa and Asia. He worked on land productivity and climate change at the Institute of Environmental Sciences, an interdisciplinary institute of the University Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar (UCAD).  At the university, he managed the research team CAREX (Climate Change, Adaptation and Environmental Risks). Over the past 23 years, Mbow has been active to raise funding and develop research and education partnerships. He established and coordinated the GOFC-GOLD Regional Network for West Africa (WARN) and worked in several regional programs such as AFRICANESS, AMMA (FP6), UNDESERT (FP7) projects, for the Global Atlas of the convention on Desertification, the GBO3 and for the GLO. Cheikh Mbow has been a Senior Scientist (Team Leader) on Climate Change and Development at World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and supported the inter institutional program CCAFS (Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security). He is currently Adjunct Associate Professor at Michigan State University's Department of Forestry where he supports integrated land use systems such as agroforestry.  With more than 120 publications on various sustainability issues, Mbow has proven transdisciplinary expertise on food security and sustainable production in Africa. His work focuses on natural resources management, capacity building and translation of scientific information to decision makers and various stakeholder groups. He is a Lead Author on the Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) chapter in the IPCC's AR-5 and AR-6. Mbow is now a Coordinating Lead Author for the IPCC Special Report on Food Security. He served in many Scientific Committees such as the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program-IGBP (2012-2014) and Future Earth (2013-2015). He contributed to many high-level science-policy documents for UN agencies.

Editorial Work

• Editor: Global Environmental Change (Elsevier) from October 2020
• Editorial Board Member for MDPI Journal “LAND”: Since 2018
• Guest Editor: Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability: Special Issue on Sustainability Challenges. Cheikh Mbow, Henry Neufeldt, Peter Akong Minang, Eike Luedeling, Godwin Kowero. Volume 6, Pages 1-170 (February 2014)
• Guest Editor: MDPI Journal “LAND”. Special Issue "Advancing Methods and Models for Implementing REDD+ for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation"
• Associate Editor: International Journal of Wildland Fires (2008-2012)

Academic Records

Google scholar

Research Gate

Performance Rating and Awards

• DANIDA Alumni Prize 2018: https://alumni.dfcentre.com/nomination-for-danida-alumni-prize-2018
• DANIDA Fellow from 1997-2000
• Bourse D’Excellence 2002 : Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie-AUF, Post-Doc in Sherbrooke 
• Visiting Scientist Award (2005 START-International), to Michigan State University USA
• NASA Medal 2008 (LANDSAT-5, 25 Years), as part of the GOFC-GOLD effort in Africa
• ICRAF Staff of the year: 2014
• ICRAF best performance award: 2013, 2014, 2015
• START Ranked 3^rd Think Tank on Climate Change and Policy in Northern America 2016 (http://www.thinktankmap.org/NewsDetails.aspx?ID=81)
• GLP-Global Land Program Fellow since 2017 https://glp.earth/user/301
• IAM (Institut Africain de Management ) Ndiatigui Honorary Degree awarded on 15^th of January 2021

Selected Citations (Since 2015)

• UNCCD-Joint Research Center (JRC-EC)
• IPCC-UNFCCC
  1. Mbow, C., C. Rosenzweig, L.G. Barioni, T.G. Benton, M. Herrero, M. Krishnapillai, E. Liwenga, P. Pradhan, M.G. Rivera-Ferre, T. Sapkota, F.N. Tubiello, Y. Xu, 2019: Food Security. In: Climate Change and Land: an IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems [P.R. Shukla, J. Skea, E. Calvo Buendia, V. Masson-Delmotte, H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, P. Zhai, R. Slade, S. Connors, R. van Diemen, M. Ferrat, E. Haughey, S. Luz, S. Neogi, M. Pathak, J. Petzold, J. Portugal Pereira, P. Vyas, E. Huntley, K. Kissick, M. Belkacemi, J. Malley, (eds.)]. In press.
• Cherlet, M., Hutchinson, C., Reynolds, J., Hill, J., Sommer, S., von Maltitz (Eds.), 2018. World Atlas of Desertification. Rethinking land degradation and sustainable management. Publication Office of the European Union. Luxembourg.
• Mbow, C. Halle, M., Beker, L., Thiaw, I., 2019. Land of opportunities: Framing contextual and practical solutions for lasting peace and prosperity in the Sahel. Background document for UNCCD Bellagio Workshop. 29 p.
• United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). 2019. The Global Land Outlook, West Africa Thematic Report, Bonn, Germany, Cheikh Mbow (Edt).

• Global Commission on Adaptation
  2019. Sinclair, F., Wezel, A., Mbow, C., Chomba, S., Robiglio, V., and Harrison, R. 2019. “The Contribution of Agroecological Approaches to Realizing Climate-Resilient Agriculture.” Rotterdam and Washington, DC. Available online at www.gca.org.
• Journal articles
• Borona M, Mbow C, Ouedraogo I, Coe R. 2015. Associating multivariate climatic descriptors with cereal yields: A case study of Southern Burkina Faso. ICRAF Working Paper No. 207 Nairobi: World Agroforestry Centre. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5716/WP15273.PDF
• Ouedraogo, I., Mbow, C., Balinga, M., Neufeldt H. (2015). "Transitions in Land Use Architecture under Multiple Human Driving Forces in a Semi-Arid Zone." Land 4(3): 560-577.
• Sehmi R, Mbow C, Pitkanen S, Cross H, Berry N, Riddell M, Aynekulu E, Heiskanen J. 2016. Replicable tools and frameworks for bio-carbon developments in West Africa. ICRAF Working Paper 237. Nairobi, World Agroforestry Centre.
• Mbow C., Brandt M., Ouedraogo I., Leeuw J.d. & Marshall M. (2015). What Four Decades of Earth Observation Tell Us about Land Degradation in the Sahel? Remote Sensing, 7, 4048-4067.
• Brandt, M., Mbow, C., Diouf, A. A., Verger, A., Samimi, C., Fensholt & R. (2015). Ground- and satellite-based evidence of the biophysical mechanisms behind the greening Sahel. Global Change Biology. Volume 21, Issue 4; pp 1610–1620. DOI: 1111/gcb.12807.
• Tagesson, T., Fensholt, R., Guiro, I., Rasmussen, O. M., Huber, S., Mbow, C., Garcia, M., Horion, S., Sandholt, I., Holm-Rasmussen, B., Gottsche, M. F., Ridler, E. M., Olen, N., Olsen L., J., Ehammer, A., Madsen, M., Olesen, S. F., Ardo & J. (2015). Ecosystem properties of semiarid savanna grassland in West Africa and its relationship with environmental variability. Global Change Biology, 21, 250-64.
• Tian, Feng, Brandt, Martin, Liu, Y. Y., Verger, Aleixandre, Tagesson, Torbern, Diouf, A. A., Rasmussen, Kjeld, Mbow, Cheikh, Wang, Yunjia, Fensholt Rasmus (2016). "Remote sensing of vegetation dynamics in drylands: Evaluating vegetation optical depth (VOD) using AVHRR NDVI and in situ green biomass data over West African Sahel." Remote Sensing of Environment 177: 265-276.
• Brandt, M., Hiernaux, P., Tagesson, T., Verger, A., Rasmussen, K., Diouf, A. A., Mbow Cheikh, Mougin, E., Fensholt R. (2016). "Woody plant cover estimation in drylands from Earth Observation based seasonal metrics." Remote Sensing of Environment 172: 28-38.
• Mwenda Borona, Cheikh Mbow, Issa Ouedraogo (2016). Unstacking high temporal resolution meteorological data for multidimensional analysis of climate variability in southern Burkina Faso. Geografisk Tidsskrift-Danish Journal of Geography, 1-14; Doi:10.1080/00167223.2016.1212668.
• Brandt, M.; Rasmussen, K.; Hiernaux, P.; Herrmann, S.; Tucker, C.; Tong, X.; Tian, F.; Mertz, O.; Kergoat, L.; Mbow, C.; David, J.; Melocik, K.; Dendoncker, M.; Vincke, C.; Fensholt, R. (2017) Farmlands Feature Greater Woody Cover than Savannas in Semi-Arid West Africa. Preprints 2017, 2017030173.
• Rasmus Fensholt, Cheikh Mbow, Martin Brandt and Kjeld Rasmussen (2017). Desertification and Re-Greening of the Sahel. Climate Science, Oxford Encyclopedia.
• Martin Brandt, Jean-Pierre Wigneron, Jerome Chave, Torbern Tagesson, Josep Penuelas, Philippe Ciais, Kjeld Rasmussen, Feng Tian, Cheikh Mbow, Amen Al-Yaari, Nemesio Rodriguez-Fernandez, Guy Schurgers, Wenmin Zhang, Jinfeng Chang, Yann Kerr, Aleixandre Verger, Compton Tucker, Arnaud Mialon, Laura Vang Rasmussen, Lei Fan & Rasmus Fensholt (2018). Satellite passive microwaves reveal recent climate-induced carbon losses in African drylands. Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 2, pages 827–835 (2018).
• Global Sustainable Development Report 2016. Contributing Author for Chapter 5. Chapter 5: Identification of Emerging Issues for Sustainable Development.
• Martin Brandt, Gray Tappan, Abdoul A. Diouf, Gora Beye, Cheikh Mbow, Rasmus Fensholt (2017). Woody vegetation die off and regeneration in response to rainfall variability in the West African Sahel, Remote Sensing, 9(1), 39.
• Kouassi, J.-L.; Wandan, N.; Mbow, C. Predictive Modeling of Wildfire Occurrence and Damage in a Tropical Savanna Ecosystem of West Africa. Fire 2020, 3, 42.
• Kouassi, J.-L.; Wandan, N.; Mbow, C. Exploring Wildfire Occurrence: Local Farmers’ Perceptions and Adaptation Strategies in Central Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa. J. Sustain. For. 2020, 00, 1–20.
• Ndao, B.; Leroux, L.; Gaetano, R.; Diouf, A.A.; Soti, V.; Bégué, A.; Mbow, C.; Sambou, B. Landscape heterogeneity analysis using geospatial techniques and a priori knowledge in Sahelian agroforestry systems of Senegal. Indic. 2021, 125.
• Skole, D.L.; Samek, J.H.; Mbow, C.; Chirwa, M.; Ndalowa, D.; Tumeo, T.; Kachamba, D.; Kamoto, J.; Chioza, A.; Kamangadazi, F. Direct Measurement of Forest Degradation Rates in Malawi: Toward a National Forest Monitoring System to Support REDD+. Forests 2021, 12, 426.
• Nicholas Berry, Helen Cross, Mike Riddell, Cheikh Mbow, Issa Ouedraogo, Jerome Tondoh. 2016. Community Biocarbon Projects in West Africa: Challenges and Lessons learned, 43 p.
• Kennedy Wahome Muthee, Cheikh Mbow, Geoffrey Mugo Macharia, Walter Leal-Filho, (2017) "Ecosystem services in adaptation projects in West Africa", International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management.
• Cheikh Mbow (2017). The Great Green Wall in the Sahel. Climate Science, Oxford Encyclopedia.
• Pius Borona, Cheikh Mbow, Issa Ouedraogo (2018). Linking Temporal Changes of Climate Factors with Staple Cereal Yields in Southern Burkina Faso. World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, International Journal of Environmental and Ecological Engineering. Vol 12 (2):
• Martin Brandt, Kjeld Rasmussen, Pierre Hiernaux, Stefanie Herrmann, Compton J. Tucker, Xiaoye Tong, Feng Tian, Ole Mertz, Laurent Kergoat, Cheikh Mbow, John L. David, Katherine A. Melocik, Morgane Dendoncker, Caroline Vincke & Rasmus Fensholt, 2018: Reduction of tree cover in West African woodlands and promotion in semi-arid farmlands. Nature Geoscience, 11, pages 328–333.
• Kouassi, J.-L.K.; Wandan, N.E.; Mbow, C (2018). Assessing the Impact of Climate Variability on Wildfires in the N’Zi River Watershed in Central Côte d’Ivoire. Fire 2018, 1, 36.
• Rosenzweig, C.; Mbow, C.; Barioni, L.G.; Benton, T.G.; Herrero, M.; Krishnapillai, M.; Liwenga, E.T.; Pradhan, P.; Rivera-Ferre, M.G.; Sapkota, T.; Tubiello, F.N., Xu, Y. (2020). Climate change responses benefit from a global food system approach. Nat. Food 2020, 1, 94–97. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-020-0031-z.
• Cheikh Mbow (2019). Comment réconcilier notre alimentation avec le climat. Number 553, November 2019. https://www.larecherche.fr/search/node/Mbow
• Mbow, C., Toensmeier, E., Brandt, M., Skole, D., Dieng, M., Garrity, D., Poulter, B. (2020). Agroforestry as a solution for multiple climate change challenges in Africa. In Deryng, D. (ed.), Climate change and agriculture, Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing, Cambridge, UK, 2020, (ISBN: 978 1 78676 320 4; bdspublishing.com).
• Papa, C., Nzokou, P. & Mbow, C. (2020). Farmer Livelihood Strategies and Attitudes in Response to Climate Change in Agroforestry Systems in Kedougou, Senegal. Environmental Management 66, 218–231 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-020-01302-8
• Mbow, C. (2020). Use it sustainably or lose it! The land stakes in SDGs for Sub-Sahara Africa. Land, 9(3), 63; https://doi.org/10.3390/land9030063
• Mbow, C.; Halle, M.; El Fadel, R.; Thiaw, I. Land resources opportunities for a growing prosperity in the Sahel. Curr. Opin. Environ. Sustain. 2021, 48, 85–92. 1016/j.cosust.2020.11.005