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Online user engagement training on agricultural season onset monitoring in Africa
About Workshop
Weather and climate play a crucial role in the socioeconomic development of African countries. The impacts of climate change, extreme weather events, and environmental degradation pose significant challenges for the region. Most particularly farmers are highly impacted by climate variability which exacerbates their vulnerability and leads to food insecurity. The onset of rains is shifting while their duration becomes increasingly unpredictable.
In Africa, more than 90% of harvests come from small-scale farmers and rely most on seasonal rainfall variability. A failure in the start of the rainy season can lead to loss of crops and reseeding, resulting in additional costs for farmers. An effective communication of climate information during the onset is crucial to avoid losses and support decision-making, particularly to the last miles. For example, knowledge of an early or late start to the rainy season would allow farmers to make strategic choices regarding the seed’s varieties, labor investments, and agricultural inputs. Accurate and accessible rainfall information enables farmers to decide not only when to plant and to harvest, but also when to dry the crops and to look out for the outbreak of pests and diseases that can ruin yields. To help farmers monitor the start of the agricultural season, ACMAD has developed an interactive tool that uses observed rainfall data to forecast the start of the season. This cutting-edge tool aims to respond to the needs of agriculture stakeholders in predicting and monitoring the season onset. As part of the implementation of the Global Framework for Climate Services in Africa through the Climate Services and Related Applications programme (ClimSA), the African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD) in collaboration.
Objectives
The main objective of this online user engagement training is to enhance the user community’s knowledge and skills in agricultural season onset monitoring, utilizing advanced tools and techniques to improve decision-making in agriculture. The ACMAD’s onset monitoring tool will be presented. Participants will be allowed to provide their feedback and share best practices, comments, and make suggestions for improvement. In addition, there will be a session dedicated to user feedback collection on the 2024 agricultural season onset over the region through an online form.
EXPECTED OUTCOMES
❖ Improved understanding of the importance of agricultural season onset monitoring,
❖ Enhanced knowledge and skills in utilizing ACMAD’s tools, techniques for season onset monitoring,
❖ Increased capacity to make informed decisions related to “agriculture and climate risk management”
❖ Strengthened user interface plate-form for data access and knowledge sharing.
For more inquiries, please contact this following link: contact@acmad.org
