By Elias Ntungwe Ngalame
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (PAMACC News) – Extreme droughts, floods and other climate challenges are leading to an increase in both the number and intensity of disasters all over the world and in Africa in particular. Countries in the Sahel regions in Africa are worst affected, experts have revealed.
Participants at a technical meeting in the 6th Africa Water Week in Dar es Salam on July 19, 2016, agreed early warning systems adapted to the realities of different countries will help governments cope with the huge climate challenges plaguing Africa.
“African countries are barely able to cope with the massive climate challenges, but we think the institution of early warning systems adapted to the realities of each country is cardinal,” noted Mohamed Gilla of the Lake Chad Basin Commission at the meeting.
He said combining local and expert knowledge in addressing the challenges will yield more fruitful results.
“While expert knowledge with innovations is a key driver, the use of local and indigenous knowledge cannot be left out,” Mohamed said.
Convened by UNESCO and Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institution, the event focused on the theme “Early warning systems for water extremes and climate change information in Africa.”
Panelists highlighted ongoing tools and methodologies in addressing floods, droughts and other water related climate disasters in Africa and suggested ways of improving on them.
One of the key elements in any early warning system it was agreed is communication of the right information and training.
“Getting the right information to the relevant target audience is capital. Also of no less importance is capacity building of both the indigenous population and the experts,” the panelists noted.
Extreme climate affects agriculture dependent livelihoods, thus building and improving the capacities of farmers on early warning intricacies and techniques will help them better stand the challenges experts said.
Use of local knowledge and resource persons
The creation and training of a committee of local volunteers to assists regularly in activities to improve on existing warning systems such as measurement of water level of rivers, streams and sending on the data for analysis to existing weather forecasting centers was also highlighted.
Networking with local resource persons and knowledge has yielded positive results in early warning methodologies in many countries in Africa, experts said.
“If there are any irregularities, these local vigilant committees inform the first-aiders in the villages, who warn people via local radio and phones if a disaster is imminent. In the event of flooding, they help to evacuate the villagers to higher ground,” said Obrigada Joana of Waternet Trust in a presentation at the meeting.
In many countries where such local organization exist like the case of Mozambique, these early local committees are an important step in adapting to climate change, she revealed.
Expert however agree the use of early warning technologies like weather forecast centers have their limitations given that climate science is not exact science with stated formula.
Countries in the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zones for example,witness intense thunderstorms around the equator where the trade winds from both hemispheres meet frequently. They thus experience heavy showers and thunderstorms which develop and dissipate very suddenly.
In the tropics, the weather systems are largely driven by prevailing winds whereby small changes in the wind speed and direction can result in significant changes in weather. The problem is compounded because winds near the equator are generally quite light and variable, and thus more difficult to predict, experts explained.
In Chad for example wrong signals of predicted heavy winds in 2010 caused state authorities to close down the use of the airport for over a week causing the state heavy loss as the winds never came.
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (PAMACC News) – Use of mobile telephone technologies and community radio services has been cited as some of the best methods of sharing and disseminating climate information for effective early warning, and adaptation.
Experts attending the sixth session of the Africa Water Week (AWW) in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania have pointed out that early warning systems can be set up to avoid or reduce the impact of hazards such as floods, landslides, storms, and forest fires. However, the significance of an effective system lies in the recognition of its benefits by local people.
According to Dr Abdourahman H-Gaba Maki, of the IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC), early warning system is a major element of disaster risk reduction, and helps in preventing loss of life and properties. “This also ensures there is a constant state of preparedness,” he told the AWW.
To make the system effective and relevant to the people, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has developed a mobile telephone application (app) known as “IGAD-ASIGN”, through which mobile phone owners have an opportunity to contribute towards disaster preparedness by taking and sending photos of given geographical situation, in relation to an impending, or a particular disaster.
“The IGAD-ASIGN is an important smart-phone application because it facilitates interaction and feedback from the ground,” said Maki.
The photos taken by volunteers are used as field validation of IGAD and other partners’ satellite image analyses, thus contributing to accurate and efficient disaster risk reduction solutions. This has helped vulnerable countries in the Greater Horn of Africa region to make better and faster decisions.
In the same vein, Maki pointed out the RANET radio networks operated by the Meteorological Department in Kenya, through which farmers and residents are able to access climate related information via community based radio stations, which usually broadcast in local languages.
‘RANET’ is an international collaboration of meteorological and similar services working to improve rural and remote community access to weather, climate, and related information.
Less than two years after it went on air, Nganyi RANET Community Radio in Western Kenya for example, has become a valuable asset to the community, where many people keep glued on their radio sets listening to different programs, while other access the signal via mobile phones.
Through this radio station, the community served by the station can now understand when it is likely to rain, whether the rainfall will be heavy to cause floods, when the dry spell is likely to begin, hence, helping them prepare for the eventualities.
It helps farmers know when to plant and the type of seeds to plant depending on the amount of rainfall expected.
The Horn of Africa region has been noted to be one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change in the world (IPCC, AR5, 2014) due to the inadequacy of resources to adapt socially, technologically and financially.
Use of radio and mobile phones therefore ensures that the required information reach the people on the ground, as a way of reducing the negative impact of climate change.
According to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, early warning systems have limitations in terms of saving lives if they are not combined with “people-centred” networks.
To be effective, says the federation, warnings will have little value unless they reach the people most at risk, who need to be trained to respond appropriately to an approaching hazard.
And now, with the bigger percentage of people in rural areas having access to community radio, and some of them to smart-phones, it has become easier to interact between the government, the people and the experts.
By Isaiah Esipisu
Nairobi, Kenya (PAMACC News) – African organisations championing against climate change have called on climate deniers to be compelled to finance climate change adaptation in developing countries and as well finance all the pledged Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) by all African countries.
This comes only two days after the Democrats in both United States chambers of Congress introduced a resolution condemning the efforts of fossil-fuel industries among others companies to deliberately cast doubt on science so as to mislead the public about the impact of the fuels on climate change, in an effort to protect their financial interests.
According to the resolution, fossil fuel companies have long known about climate change and the harmful climate effects of their products following numerous peer-reviewed scientific research and investigative reporting.
And yet, directly and through their trade associations, and foundations, the multi-billion dollar companies have developed sophisticated and deceitful campaigns that funded think tanks and front groups, and paid public relations firms to deny, counter, and obfuscate peer-reviewed research.
“This comes at the right time when the world is working towards implementation of the Paris Agreement, and therefore we call on the Republicans to join the Democrats into holding these companies accountable,” said Benson Ireri, the Senior Policy Advisor at Christian Aid.
Ireri’s sentiments were reiterated by Robert Chimambo of the Zambia Climate Change Network (ZCCN) and Mithika Mwenda of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA).
“Over the years, these companies have made super profits from fossil fuel, and therefore, apart from just financing adaptation, they should support Africa’s quest for development using cleaner and sustainable energy,” said Chimambo.
The resolution points out that the companies have “used that misinformation campaign to mislead the public and cast doubt in order to protect their financial interest.
“It is a sign on the wall that 19 senators have to fight so hard against the super rich of the world, who have been misleading the general public for such a long time,” said Gerrit Bogaers, responding to a blog by Greg Laden.
According to the United States Environment Protection Agency (EPA), majority of greenhouse gases come from burning fossil fuels to produce energy.
EPA recognizes that the earth's average temperature has risen by 1.5°F over the past century, and is projected to rise another 0.5 to 8.6°F over the next hundred years, noting that small changes in the average temperature of the planet can translate to large and potentially dangerous shifts in climate and weather.
As a result of the slight changes that have already hapenned, Africa has turned out to be the hardest hit by climate change, and now many countries suffer severe droughts that result into starvation and famine, flash floods, landslides among other disasters that have direct impact to health and economies alike.
NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) – Globally, one-third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted, the equivalent of 1.3 billion tons of food per year. In Sub-Saharan Africa – home to over 230 million people suffering from chronic undernourishment – the majority of these losses occur after grains have been harvested, but before they reach the consumer. About 30 per cent of the grains produced on the continent is lost due to inadequate post-harvest management, lack of structured markets, inadequate storage, and limited processing capacity.
With more than 70 per cent of Africans drawing their livelihoods from agriculture, finding sustainable solutions to this problem holds tremendous promise for enhancing inclusive economic growth, food security, and nutrition. Over the last decade, many actors have developed a set of innovative technologies to reduce post-harvest agricultural loss across the value chain – from the farm to the consumer.
A 36-month project to scale up the use of these technologies across Sub-Saharan Africa was launched today in Nairobi. Financed by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and implemented by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), the CAD 2.889 million (USD 2.155 million) project will support applied research to bring effective, field-tested innovations for reducing post-harvest loss of soybeans and cowpeas to thousands of smallholder farmers in Mozambique and Burkina Faso.
Speaking at the launch, Dr. Agnes Kalibata, President of AGRA said that the moment has come to roll out these technologies across the continent to ensure that smallholder farmers reap maximum benefit from their investment and hard labour.
“Scaling up of simple technologies like hermetic storage bags can reduce post-harvest losses by up to 50 per cent and significantly increase farmers’ income. The deployment of mechanized threshers will also reduce the drudgery of farming, which is especially important among women who are the majority of farmers in Africa”, added Dr. Kalibata.
With Burkina Faso and Mozambique as pilot countries, the project will help drive these known solutions to scale and could benefit millions of farmers. In the short term, the innovations have the ability to directly benefit the lives of at least 10,000 smallholder farmers and up to 60,000 by 2020 .
Dr. Simon Carter, Regional Director for Sub-Saharan Africa at IDRC, hailed the project as a partnership aimed at increasing food security and farmers’ incomes, and helping build a stronger agricultural sector in Africa. “Reducing post-harvest losses, increasing the quality of produce and improving farmers’ access to markets are key to sustaining the productivity driven transformation of the agricultural sector”, said Dr. Carter.
Reducing these losses is increasingly becoming important as the demand for food increases with population rise; as part of the push to strengthen farmers’ resilience in the face of a changing climate; and to take full advantage of the continent’s food demand, which the World Bank projects will triple from $313 million in 2010 to $1 trillion by 2030.
Soybean and cowpeas were selected for this project as they are a critical secondary food, providing essential affordable proteins as well as calories to the diets of the poor. The market opportunities for both crops are also growing, offering prospects to increase income for those farmers producing a marketable surplus.
