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aWhere Weather: Free Weather Data for International Development

May Resources Contextual Project Weather Data

Weather Data for Agriculture and DRR Early Warning Systems
 
Farming communities in Africa and South Asia are becoming increasingly vulnerable to shock as the effects of climate change become a reality. This increased vulnerability, however, comes at a time when improved technology makes critical information more accessible than ever before. aWhere Weather, an online platform offering free weather data for locations in Western, Eastern and Southern Africa and South Asia provides instant and interactive access to highly localized weather data, instrumental for improved decision making and providing greater context in shaping policies relating to agricultural development.
 
Weather Data in 9km Grid Cells Weather forecasting is in high demand from small-holder farmers. This demand is often unmet in regions where there is a lack of meteorological stations- if weather information is available it’s likely from a station that’s far away, rendering the data useless for local decision making. aWhere collects weather data from meteorological stations around the world and interpolates it into 9km grid cells- it’s like having a complete meteorological station every 9km! Within each grid cell, aWhere provides 3-5 years of historical, daily-observed and forecasted weather data for the following variables:

  • Precipitation
  • Minimum and Maximum Temperature
  • Minimum and Maximum Relative Humidity
  • Solar Radiation
  • Maximum and Morning Wind Speed
  • Accumulative Growing Degree Days (calculated with user input)

Benefits of Weather Data With access to localized historical, daily observed and forecasted weather data, a level of transparency is achieved, allowing farmers, extension workers or policy officers to view weather patterns and make decisions critical to farmers. These data prove essential for risk adaption efforts, food security interventions, climate-smart decision making and agricultural or environmental research activities. Examples of use include:

  • Localized, climate-smart recommendations that directly impact the individual farmer
  • Identifying location specific trends
  • Predicting harvest dates based on seasonal GDD accumulation and/or precipitation levels
  • Characterizing weather patterns at field trial locations
  • Creating crop and pest models based on favorable weather conditions
  • Managing vector-borne diseases
  • Making food security predictions based on anticipated yields, neighboring country situations and detailed precipitation data

In addition to viewing data online, users can sign up for daily or weekly emailed weather reports for their locations of interest.

Sign up now.
Access to aWhere Weather is free and easy! Register at http://www.awhere.com/en-us/weather-p.
Then, you can log back in anytime at me.awhere.com.
Contact aWhere, Inc.,Lizzy Leighty:
Lizzyleighty@awhere.com.

Papua New Guinea | Poverty | Health | Malnourishment

Papua New Guinea
Ben Sipa (Papua New Guinea) and Naomi Soncag (United States) I’ve been working on a project on the Huon Peninsula in Papua New Guinea. Their project is focused on a lack of access to public services, poverty, and malnourished, sick children.
Challenges
 These are the challenges that the community Ben and Naomi are working with prioritized.
  • Lack of access to public services such as healthcare, secondary schools
  • Minimal income-generating opportunities
  • Many children are sick and malnourished
 
Underlying Causes
Challenges in communities frequently have complex causes.
  • Lack of transportation and roads
  • Little knowledge of health and hygiene
  • Little of knowledge of home gardens for nutrition
  • Climate variability changes the pattern of dry and wet seasons and negatively impacts food production and collection
  • increase in heat enhances malaria bone mosquitoes that makes children and adults sick
 
Negative Impacts
Challenges and their causes can lead to profound negative impacts in communities.
These challenges lead to increased poverty, the inability to buy basic household goods, and the inability to get products to market before spoiling. Children’s lack of education and malnourishment leads to a reduction in their ability to develop and prosper as adults, and also reduces the ability of adults to lead the productive, meaningful, prosperous lives they need to leave the cycle of poverty and contribute to the development of their communities.
 
Adaptation to CC Climate change challenges and coping strategies.
Adaptation. Collection of fruits, nuts and other forest products on seasonal basis have ceased due to the change in pattern of dry and wet seasons. Seasonal gardening & harvesting is nonexistent, people have adapted to changes. Increased species migration of lower to next higher elevation causes sicknesses such as malaria, thus putting financial burden for families to afford healthcare, transportation and other associated costs in such remote places that disproportionally lack funds.
Read more about the solutions which they have developed to address these challenges.
 

Questions? Online.Learning@csd-i.org

Learn more about design and implementing Community Based Development Projects.
 
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The Center for Sustainable Development specializes in providing sound, evidence-based information, tools and training for humanitarian development professionals worldwide. CSDi is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
 

April CBA News: Climate Smart Ag | S. Sudan | Tanzania | St. Lucia | Kilimanjaro | Mozambique | Soil Stewardship | CBA Resources

April CSDi Newsletter
Special Issue: Climate Smart Agriculture
Climate Smart Ag | S. Sudan | Tanzania | St. Lucia | Kilimanjaro | Mozambique | Soil Stewardship | CBA Resources
 
THIS MONTH’S NEWS

The theme of this month’s newsletter has a special focus on climate smart agriculture for smallholder farmers to address the fact that so many partner projects have a basis in challenges with agriculture for subsistence farmers.

South Sudan

Piotr Barkzak (Poland/Belgium/South Sudan) was called to South Sudan in the fall. Poitr is an environmental lobbyist in Brussels—but also has experience working in Africa.

He has been working on a project in Jonglei State developing an ecologically sensitive agricultural program for 60 farming families. He prepared a brief final report in English in March for those of us in the CSDi community to enjoy. Here is a link to his report so that you can learn more about his project and look at a greater range of photographs.
 
Tanzania
 Adaptation Through Conservation Agriculture

Chris Enns (Canada), has been working on a project in the community of Wagete in the Region of Mara, Tanzania. 4,000 community members are suffering from reduced crop yields due to unpredictable weather patterns related to climate change. Chris launched a farmer soil and water conservation program, and led a very comprehensive conservation agriculture workshop. You can link to a report of the workshop complete with detailed photographs of the conservation agriculture techniques they used.
 
Saint Lucia
 Adaptation, Agriculture and Livelihoods

Brenda Wilson (Saint Lucia), has been working on a project in the community of La Pointe, Micoud, St. Lucia. Households are suffering from low incomes from reduced crop production due to changes in weather patterns bringing extreme weather events such as hurricanes, and an increasingly unpredictable beginning and end to rainy season.
 
Brenda recently completed the development of a community Climate Smart Agricultural Community Management Committee. Download Brenda’s report.
 
 
Mozambique Finding Climate Smart Agricultural Solutions to Famine
Phipps Campira (Mozambique), Zipo Akinyi (Kenya/New Zealand), and Lenneke Knoop (The Netherlands) have been working on a project in the community of Mezimbite, Mozambique. 566 households (3,400 people) are frequently suffering from famine caused by a lack of knowledge of improved agricultural practices and climate change related unpredictable rain and extreme weather events.
 
The team developed this project outline to increase crop production, reduce malnutrition, improve food security, and reduce mortality rates among children and the community. Download their scientific research on project activity effectiveness.
 
Kilimanjaro Extreme Weather Events and Recurring Drought Create Food Insecurity for 1300 Households
Since 2007 there has been severe drought and crop failure in the Kilimanjaro region—mostly in Moshi rural, Rombo, and Lower Hai and Mwanga districts. This has led to difficult livelihood challenges among community members; housing and food security are also challenges.
 
Minja Gileard Sifuel (Tanzania), Gemi Montecchi (Italy) and Ellen deGuzman (US) have been developing a project which includes a soil restoration program, a home gardening for nutrition program, and a soil and water resources management program. Read more about the challenges this community faces that this team have come up with.
 
May Field Guide Managing Soil and Water on Sloping Agricultural Terrain
Subsistence farmers suffer not only from depleted soils but from challenges with water: too little water, too much water, and erosion from water. This field guide looks at different ways of developing barriers on farm fields for reducing the flow of water so that it can percolate into the soil and build up soil moisture. The barriers also reduce soil erosion. Topsoil suspended in water settles behind the barriers creating level terraces. These low cost/no cost techniques can be incorporated into farm fields over the span of time—spreading the workload.

 

This field guide includes detailed descriptions and illustrations of  barriers to water movement. Download.
 
OL 333 CSA News Update on Climate Smart Agriculture Course
Climate Smart Agriculture. Launched nine months ago, Climate Smart Agriculture has attracted course participants from North America, the Caribbean, Africa, the South Pacific, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and Europe. Needs assessments illuminated challenges including depleted soils, access to water, flooding, and a lack of coping strategies for adapting to a changing climate.

Soil restoration  techniques, and buffering techniques against extended dry spells and unpredictable seasons were evaluated to match the most appropriate for the community’s context and their capacity for long lasting sustainability.
 
Spring Quarter Courses Begin May 7. Are you interested in:

Would you like to learn how to develop Community Based Adaptation Projects?

What’s happening in the region where you live?
Please write us with your stories, thoughts and comments through Online.Learning@csd-i.org
 
 
I look forward to hearing from you.
 
Sincerely,
 
Tim Magee, Executive Director
 
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The Center for Sustainable Development specializes in providing sound, evidence-based information, tools and training for humanitarian development professionals worldwide. CSDi is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.