Bossombra Kouamé Epse Koffi

Bossombra Kouamé Epse Koffi headshot

Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow, 2023-24

  • Home country: Côte d'Ivoire
  • Specialization: Climate Change Economics
  • Current role: Economics Professor, Université Jean Lorougnon Guédé
  • Education: Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Ph.D. in Climate Change Economics; Université Félix Houphouët Boigny, Master’s in Economics
  • Connect: bnk27 [at] cornell.edu (Email) 

Bossombra Kouamé Epse Koffi is dedicated to addressing climate change challenges, particularly focusing on climate change mitigation through forest conservation. For the past five years, Bossombra has been a faculty member at Université Jean Lorougnon Guédé in her home country of Côte d'Ivoire. She imparts knowledge on Public Economics and Geographic Economics to students in the Economics department, and Green Economics to professionals in the Agroforestry department.

An urgent concern for her is the illegal settlement of people in protected forests, which poses a significant threat to forest conservation in her country. Recognizing the forests' role in carbon storage and greenhouse gas emissions, she aims to engage rural communities residing in these forests in conservation efforts. To achieve this, she advocates for training and supporting locals in smart agriculture practices like agroforestry, smart irrigation, and off-soil cropping to foster community-based forest conservation.

Bossombra believes local actions are crucial in contributing to broader climate change mitigation efforts. The rapid loss of forests in Côte d'Ivoire, where forests cover almost 90% of its territory, approximatively 90% of the forest area, deeply concerns her. She is motivated to spearhead collaboration with stakeholders and policymakers to address the issue.

During her academic journey, she pursued a Master's in Economics and specialized in Climate Change Economics during her Ph.D. studies at WASCAL (West African Science Service Center in Climate Change and Adapted Land-Use). Her expertise lies in promoting sustainable practices and environmental preservation to combat the pressing threats of climate change both locally and globally.