Producing the next generation of skilled human capital and supporting applied research is the core business of the Africa Center of Excellence for Climate Smart Agriculture and Biodiversity Conservation. The main aim of applied research at the center is to generate technologies, practices, and policy-relevant evidence oriented towards combating the negative impact of climate change on sustainable agricultural productivity growth and biodiversity conservation in Eastern and Southern Africa. The center runs research-based postgraduate training both at MSc and PhD levels. Hence, applied, problem-solving and impact-oriented research activities are carried out mainly by postgraduate students, under the supervision of faculty at Haramaya University and elsewhere in the country and scholars drawn from the region and beyond.

Among the deliverables expected of ACE Climate SABC activities is the generation and dissemination of at least twenty technologies to enhance agricultural productivity, socio-economic development, and biodiversity management under climate change and climate variability. Research at the center is also expected to generate knowledge and information to inform development policies and practices for promoting sustainable agricultural development and biodiversity management under changing climate.

Identifying, prioritizing, and systematically categorizing existing knowledge gaps in addressing the challenge of meeting the growing demand for food, fiber and fuel while protecting the natural resource-base (biodiversity) in the context of climate change is the first critical step in designing and implementing need-based and impact-oriented research. To this end, the center has established working groups consisting of senior faculty of Haramaya University for developing research thematic areas in five focus areas, namely: