India
Gender equality
To support climate-smart farm-decision making, Weather Impact, Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI), ESOKO and Tanzania Youth Espouse for Gender and Development (TYEGD) develop and test in the Mara region a location-specific dynamic Agri-Weather Advisory.
Project deployed by:
Tanzania is home to over 63 million people, 80% of which is dependent on the agricultural sector. The agricultural sector of Tanzania is dominated by smallholder farmers producing 95% of the national food requirements.
Many cultivate staple crops such as maize and cassava, which are part of the top three most consumed foods in the country. These crops which represent the two largest planted areas in the Mara region are not only consumed domestically but also serve as cash crops for export. For years, local populations have experienced aggravating droughts, floods and delays in the start of the rain season coupled with uneven rainfall distribution during the season. Due to climate change, crop yields of staple produce (i.e., maize, cassava) are projected to decrease (USAID 2018). Tanzania is the 26th most vulnerable country to climate risks.
The enterprise Weather Impact has been using the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) model and has been developing agri-weather solutions across Sub-Saharan Africa to provide weather forecasts to smallholder farmers in order to optimize their agricultural strategies and increase their resilience to weather shocks.
The project "Kilimo Thabiti" aims to go further by not only sending weather forecasting and general agro advisories but making those farmer- and crop-specific. The project plans:
Three local partners are involved in the development of this innovation:
In this FID funded test phase, it is expected that 2,400 farmers in the Mara region will receive alerts and forecasts in local language directly on the phone via SMS, voice message and mobile application. 500 of them will receive training on usage of the Agri-weather tool, climate change, and digital literacy. Furthermore, 50 rain gauges will be distributed for daily local rainfall observations.
Following this pilot project, the expected results are:
Ultimately, the project "Kilimo Thabiti" aims to contribute to enhancing food security in the Mara region and other parts of Tanzania.
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