Weather and Climate Seminars for Farmers

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1 World Meteorological Organization Working together in weather, climate and water Weather and Climate Seminars for Farmers Robert Stefanski Chief Agricultural Meteorology Division WMO

2 World Meteorological Organization WMO OMM United Nations agency for weather, climate, hydrology and water resources and related environmental issues. 189 Members from National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHS) 10 major scientific & technical programmes (Secretariat) 8 Technical Commissions advise & guide activities of programmes (Experts) 6 Regional Associations involved in implementation 2

3 WMO Technical Commissions WMO OMM Commission for Aeronautical Meteorology (CAeM) Commission for Agricultural Meteorology (CAgM) Commission for Atmospheric Sciences (CAS) Commission for Basic Systems (CBS) Commission for Climatology (CCl) Commission for Hydrology (CHy) Commission for Instruments and Methods of Observation (CIMO) Joint WMO-IOC Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (JCOMM) 3

4 Past experiences Recent weather and climate initiatives demonstrated the importance and value of targeted weather forecasting and climate predictions in increasing preparedness of farmers and farm business managers, leading to better outcomes. Experiences in Mali Roving Seminars on Weather, Climate and Farmers 4

5 2009 Seminar - Mali Met Service Presentation WMO OMM 5 5

6 2009 Seminar Farmers ask Questions WMO OMM 6 6

7 Distribution of Rainguages to Nigerian Farmers 7

8 Roving Seminars in Western Africa: Georeference 159 Seminars

9 Roving Seminars in Western Africa: Description 9

10 Example of Crop Planting Advice WMO OMM based on Rainfall Crops: Millet and Sorghum Crop Cycle: days 1 Avoid planting before 10 June, but proceed to make field preparations. 2 From 11 to 30 June, plant long-cycle crops (120 days) as soon as the 10- day cumulative recorded rainfall which reaches or surpasses 20 mm. 3 From 1 to 20 July, plant short-cycle crops (90 days) as soon as the 10-day cumulative recorded rainfall reaches or surpasses 10 mm. Due to the high spatial variability of rainfall, each farmer or village can make planting decisions based on their own raingauge. 10

11 Crop yields and farm incomes for farmers taking management decisions with and without agrometeorological information, in the season. Agriculture in Mali in Climate Risk Management in Africa: Learning from Practice. Hellmuth, M.E., Moorhead, A., Thomson, M.C., and Williams, J. (eds) 2007 IRI 11 11

12 WMO OMM RAINGUAGES DISTRIBUTED INVITED MEDIA INVITED NGOs / ASSOCIATIONS NATIONAL METEO STAFF WOMEN FARMERS FARMERS VILLAGES SEMINARS FINAL METAGRI STATISTICS

13 SMS project 13

14 Project overview Every year, around fishermen die on Lake Victoria as they face sudden winds and high waves that cause the boat to capsize C. de Wet 14

15 Project overview fishermen and traders from Ssese Islands have registered for the mobile alert service and receive a forecast every morning around 4am (1) Integrated Observations (2) Severe Weather Forecasting (3) Communication via mobile phone (4) Stakeholder Engagement (5) Socio-economic benefits analysis Mobile Weather Alert: Community weather information via mobile technology 15

16 Project overview KYENVU Kulabula Atusa Uganda Met Kalangala 02:19 AM 17:02:12 Ekisera: 6am 6pm Okulabula: BEERA NGOMANYI Omuyaga: GW AMAANYI ENNYO Embera y?obudde ENKUBA N OKUBWATUKA KW EGULU WANO N AWALI Wokoma kulaba: WAKIGERO 16

17 Alert table 17

18 Community Mobilizers In the first stakeholder management workshop in May 2011, 19 community leaders from the Kalangala region came together to learn more about the project and promote it among their communities C. de Wet (1) Integrated Observations (2) Severe Weather Forecasting (3) Communication via mobile phone (4) Stakeholder Engagement (5) Socio-economic benefits analysis 18

19 Surveys Mobile Weather Alert is a pilot project, that tries to demonstrate the need for this type of service. Baseline survey was done in July 2011 to get a better understanding of the way the fishermen use the service. Final evaluation of the service was done in February 2012 to learn if the service has had any impact in the lives of the fishermen. C. de Wet (1) Integrated Observations (2) Severe Weather Forecasting (3) Communication via mobile phone (4) Stakeholder Engagement (5) Socio-economic benefits analysis 19

20 Namisoke landing site, Bubeke, Kalangala district, February All photos C. de Wet

21 The usefulness of the service How would you rate the usefulness of the forecasts that you received? Do you think that the service has improved your safety on the lake? 3% 2% N % Yes % No % 38% 57% Very useful Useful Quite useful Not useful 21

22 Forecast accuracy The extent to which the responders trust the weather information Were the forecasts accurate and did the actual weather correspond to the forecast? 15% 1% 21% N % Yes, everyday 76 65% A few times a week 9 8% Occasionally 32 27% Never 0 0% Not at all Sometimes Most of the time 63% All of the time 22

23 What did the responders think about the service? WHAT DID THE RESPONDERS LIKE ABOUT THE SERVICE? - It is free of charge - It s in Luganda - It s easy to use - It s understandable and easy to read - SMSs come in time - They value the information WHAT DID THE RESPONDERS NOT LIKE ABOUT THE SERVICE? - The alerts are only send out in the morning - some fishermen go fishing during the night - MTN network is a problem - Spelling mistakes - Technical problems: too many SMSs a day meaning the same - SMSs are received too late sometimes 23

24 World Meteorological Organization Working together in weather, climate and water Thank You WMO