Maprooms turn ‘invisible’ climate data into powerful tools for action
This story is adapted from a originally published Impact on Africa through accelerated CGIAR climate research.
“I feel like I’m sitting on a pot of gold – there’s such a wealth of information in the map room,” said Kabenuka Munthali, senior agricultural research officer at the Zambia Agricultural Research Institute.
Munthali is one of more than 30 people attending Map Room training events in Zambia and Kenya in November 2022. Like Munthali, other participants come from national-level institutions that play a key role in promoting the customization and use of climate information and services in the agricultural sector.
‘Maprooms’ is a freely accessible online analysis and visualization tool that improves the usability of climate data.Developed by Columbia Climate Institute International Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), which are now being tailored and expanded to support adaptation in African agriculture, as part of the accelerated impact of CGIAR climate research on Africa (ACRA) project.
Because they are developed through the interaction between producers of climate information (National Weather Services) and end users, IRI’s maprooms are demand-driven products designed to transform intangible climate data into actionable Action information.
These tools are used not only in Zambia and Kenya, but also in more than 20 other countries, mainly in Africa. They represent significant progress in supporting locally-led climate adaptation. There are several reasons for this.
First, the map room is linked to a rich national dataset at a very high 4 km spatial resolution. Imagine a net encircling the entire globe, with each square measuring four by four kilometers. Such a fine resolution makes location-specific analysis of past, present and future climate information finally possible in parts of Africa.
This is game-changing for the millions of farmers who depend on rainfed agriculture, as it enables the network of organizations that support them – such as national research agencies, departments of agriculture and agricultural extension systems – to provide locally relevant information and promote agricultural planning. This includes important information such as when the rainy season is likely to start, expected rainfall, and other key parameters that can determine whether households are food secure or not.
“Getting climate information and data for us to help users has been a challenge for a long time,” said John Kisangau from the Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organization. “Previously, we could only get information at a resolution of up to 9 kilometers. Map Room [give us] More granular information and data. These data sets have been translated, customized, and placed in a portal where any user, technical or not, can access this information. “
While other tools that provide local climate information services do exist, the high-resolution products available in the IRI Map Room are the only ones that can identify and utilize local ground station data provided by the National Weather Service itself. This is because they were developed as part of IRI’s efforts to strengthen national climate services (formulate) initiative, which combines local data with satellite rainfall estimates and climate model reanalysis products to generate high-quality datasets spanning decades across the country. These data sets are owned by the countries themselves.
“Not all information is created equal. Even when researchers and meteorological agencies strive to provide the information users need, there can be significant barriers preventing practical use of theoretically useful information,” said Tufa Dinku, who leads the ENACTS program. “We need to ensure that those who generate climate information and those who use it meet regularly to ensure that this information is translated into sector-relevant and policy-relevant products.”
Bringing all partners together
Workshops held by AICCRA in Kenya and Zambia extended the ENACTS approach to ensure that this is exactly what is happening on a consistent and ongoing basis.
This means bringing together all those who have a role to play in promoting the use of climate information and services, and resilience more generally, and building their capacity to extend these tools and knowledge to those most in need in the agricultural sector.
“For farmers, climate change is more than just carrying an umbrella when it rains. It affects every aspect of farmers’ decision-making processes and planning. So this information, not just data, needs to be presented in a way that they can actually use and make decisions about. available to them.” — Dominic Namanyungu, Ministry of Agriculture, Zambia
In Kenya, a Map Room ‘train-the-trainer’ in October brought together the Kenya Meteorological Service with key institutions responsible for adaptation, communication and other capacity building for the use of climate information in the agricultural sector, especially at most local levels Interact with farmers. Zambia’s November ‘train the trainers’ event brought together key national institutions to the same end.
“Climate change is more than just carrying an umbrella when it rains for farmers. It affects every aspect of farmers’ decision-making processes and planning,” said Dominic Namanyungu from Zambia’s Ministry of Agriculture. “So that information, not just data, needs to be made available to them in a way that they can actually use it and make decisions.”
For example, the Zambia Meteorological Service’s own “Climate and Agricultural Map Room” helps to do this.
By allowing users to explore things like when rainfall has historically started and stopped, how long a rainy season lasts or how much rainfall falls in any given area, those who support farmers can better tailor their input advice to them. This is now possible even at the district level, as many government agricultural planning decisions are related to seed and fertilizer distribution.
Similarly, the department’s Seasonal Forecast Map Room allows users to view the full probability distribution of rainfall over or below a specific rainfall for any location in the coming season, supporting more evidence-based decisions that are critical to livelihoods, such as crop or Variety promotion, when to plant and more.
Mapoooms analyzes are presented as maps and charts, and are freely downloadable in many popular formats. They are automated, allowing for easy integration into reports and other documentation, giving even non-technical users one-click access to reliable information critical to agricultural planning and even emergency response.
A screenshot of the Map Room, developed in collaboration with the Zambia Meteorological Department, showing historical rainfall start dates for western Zambia. This information is critical for farmers to plan their seasons and for those who support them, such as input suppliers, to ensure these materials are ready on time.
In response to a long-term need, AICCRA is developing courses for agricultural extension systems in Kenya and Zambia, which will be deployed from 2023, so that they have the key knowledge and skills to assess climate risk and how to use and interpret maprooms.
Integrating the best available climate information and products, such as maprooms, into agricultural extension systems helps to ensure that they are sustainable innovations from private and public sector colleagues tasked with expanding climate information services and climate Smart farming.
To promote a better enabling environment for the development of such services, both countries have also developed their own national frameworks for climate services.
These framework Will systematize coordination among all stakeholders, especially those attending workshops, to improve the production, customization and delivery of climate information that truly meets real needs, not just farmers and support their participation The perceived needs of the network.
“The National Framework for Climate Services will help our agencies work better together to produce climate information products,” said Kenneth Sinachikupo of Zambia’s Meteorological Department, who was at the forefront of developing the country’s National Framework for Climate Services. “This will strengthen their ownership and development. It is important to take these initiatives forward to have a positive impact on the Zambian community.”
