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Full-value chain Optimized Climate User-centric Services for Southern Africa
The Full-value chain Optimized Climate User-centric Services for Southern Africa (FOCUS-Africa) project, funded by the European Union under the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Action, is nearing the end of its first year of implementation. Restrictions on travel and gatherings, imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, forced project partners to make important changes to the original implementation plan, but thanks to the dedication of the project partners and the support of local stakeholders, several activities have been completed.
Kick-off Meeting and Virtual workshop
A virtual kick-off meeting was held in September 2020, followed by the first stakeholder workshop on food security in South Africa in November-December 2020. South African representatives of farmers associations, academia, climate service providers and financial lenders shared their perspective on the climate services needed for decision-making. The videos, presentations and final reports from this workshop can be found on the FOCUS-Africa webpage. The second stakeholder workshop, scheduled to take place online on 14-15 September 2021, will focus on food security, energy and infrastructure in Tanzania.
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Communications and visibility
A communications plan to reach a wide community of stakeholders was developed in coordination with other relevant projects in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. FOCUS-Africa is strengthening synergies with related projects (CONFER and DOWN2EARTH) and preparing for a jointly-hosted webinar and podcast on climate change-related topics in Africa.
For more information and frequent updates, please consult the FOCUS-Africa newsletter.
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WMO HydroHub enhances hydrological monitoring systems around the world
The first phase of the WMO HydroHub Project has ended. Established in 2017 with financial support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), HydroHub Phase I addressed hydrological monitoring challenges by enhancing hydrological monitoring systems around the world and by providing technical guidance and support to a broad range of stakeholders to ensure sustainable operations.
Highlights from Phase I include successful Innovation Calls in Africa, South Asia and South America, Capacity and Needs Assessments in Latin America and the implementation of the WMO Hydrological Observing System (WHOS) in the La Plata and Arctic basins. A video has been produced by WMO to highlight the successes of Hydrohub Phase I.
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HydroHub Phase II has been designed building on the achievements and lessons learnt in Phase I and is foreseen to start in September 2021 and run for a five-year period.
For more information on HydroHub visit here.
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Enhancing agricultural climate resilience in East Africa
Activities under the Agricultural Climate Resilience Enhancement Initiative (ACREI) project continue despite the travel-related challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since March 2020, project partners in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda have been collaborating online to provide workshops and develop seasonal advisories for the various project regions.
In June, the Ethiopia National Meteorological Agency (NMA), with support from the IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) conducted a virtual workshop for the main Kiremt rainfall season (June-September). The workshop was aimed at development agents from the Ministry of Agriculture, who will use the advisories to guide farmers in the project regions to better plan for the season. In the lead up to the Kiremt rainfall season, project partners installed 20 low-cost rain gauges in 10 Kebeles (neighbourhoods) targeted by the project. The NMA trained farmers in the Kebeles on the use of the rain gauges and how they can help inform agricultural activities such as planting.
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In Uganda, the National Meteorological Authority (UNMA) are also leading ongoing rain gauge installation and trainings.
In Kenya, during the most recent rainfall season, FAO supported farmer field school (FFS) groups to undertake climate-resilient learning enterprises for produce such as poultry and vegetables for which the groups had received small financial grants to procure inputs and materials. Trained facilitators have also been made available to guide farmers through the weekly learning process. The FFS learning is being complemented by regular climate advisories from the Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD) that are communicated through WhatsApp and radio, and in some cases through in-person visits by the County Director for Meteorology.
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Continuing support of Early Warning System service delivery in Burkina Faso
In 2017, the CREWS Initiative funded a 2-year, US$2.1 million project in Burkina Faso to improve projection and delivery of hydrometeorological early warning services, which would contribute to reducing risks in the relevant national sectors. Significant emphasis was placed on improving early warnings and information for flood-related risks for agriculture and food security. The project was implemented in partnership with Météo-France, Spain (AEMET/BSC), United States (HRC), CILSS (AGRHYMET) and the national meteorological service (ANAM).
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On 23 March 2021, a high-level meeting was jointly convened by the Burkinabe ministers responsible for meteorology, hydrology, food security and disaster risk reduction and WMO. During this meeting, WMO negotiated a no-cost extension of the project to December 2022 with CREWS. Under this extension, WMO will provide advisory services for a US$33 million Hydromet project funded by the World Bank, which aims to improve the country’s hydro-meteorological, climate and early warning services and to provide access to such services to targeted sectors and communities. WMO Secretary-General Taalas and Minister Dabilgou signed a Memorandum of Understanding to formalize this new relationship.
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Strengthening Weather, Climate and Flood Forecasting Services in Côte d’Ivoire
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In May 2020, the French Development Agency (AFD) approved financing for the 5-year, €28 million, Vigilance Climatique et Météorologique (VIGICLIMM) Project in Côte d’Ivoire. The project aims to improve the quality of climate information delivered by the National Meteorological and Hydrological Service of Côte d’Ivoire (SODEXAM) to ensure preparedness for floods and adaptation of the agricultural sector to climate change to enhance food security.
On 11 February 2021, WMO and the Côte d’Ivoire Government, represented by SODEXAM, signed a cooperation agreement concerning the VIGICLIMM project. The agreement states that WMO will provide expertise to ensure compliance with its standards and practices, advice on investments related to the observational network, forecasting and service delivery systems, and support the Goverment on project management. This expertise will be mobilized from WMO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland (staff and consultants), from the WMO sub-regional office in Abuja, Nigeria and from Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire within SODEXAM premises.
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For more information on WMO Projects visit: https://public.wmo.int/en/projects-0
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