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World Meteorological Organization
CAgM-XV/INF. 15
COMMISSION FOR AGRICULTURAL
METEOROLOGY
Original Language:
Secretary-General
9.VI.2010
English
Agenda Item:
7.1
Submitted by:
Date:
FIFTEENTH SESSION
Belo Horizonte, Brazil
15 to 21 July 2010
WMO ACTIVITIES ON TRAINING IN AGRICULTURAL METEOROLOGY
SUMMARY
REFERENCES:
1.
2.
CAgM Management Group meeting, February 2010, Geneva, Switzerland – Doc. 6
CAgM Management Group meeting, June 2008, Obninsk, Russian Federation – Doc. 6
CONTENT OF DOCUMENT:
This document is only for information on the progress of WMO Activities on Training in Agricultural
Meteorology and no decisions are based on the material provided herein. Observations/suggestions
coming out of its presentation would be recorded under Doc. 7.
CAgM-XV/INF. 15, APPENDIX
WMO ACTIVITIES ON TRAINING IN AGRICULTURAL METEOROLOGY
1.
Overview
1.1
The following training activities were organized, managed, or funded by WMO. The
major activities included the various Roving Seminars funded by WMO in India, Ethiopia, and
Sri Lanka and the METAGRI project in West Africa funded by the State Meteorological Agency of
Spain (AEMET) and managed by WMO. The goal of these activities was to improve the capacity of
agrometeorological services and increase the interaction and feedback between NMHS and the
agricultural community.
2.
Capacity Building Workshop for Downscaling Climate Prediction Products for
Agriculture and Food Security in Nairobi, Kenya
2.1
A Capacity Building Workshop for Downscaling Climate Prediction Products for
Agriculture and Food Security was held at the IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre
(ICPAC) in Nairobi, Kenya, from 21 August to 1 September 2006. The participants were drawn
from ICPAC member countries and these were personnel working in Agriculture, Livestock and
Food Security Sectors. The workshop programme covered the theoretical concepts of downscaling
methodologies. The participants made some efforts to develop some simple rainfall-crop yield
models that were used to forecast seasonal crop yields by holding other factors constant. The
rainfall forecasts used in the models were generated from seasonal probabilistic rainfall outlook
forecasts.
3.
Roving Seminars on Weather, Climate and Farmers in Andhra Pradesh, India
3.1
Nine Roving Seminars on Weather, Climate and Farmers were organized during
October–December 2007 in nine villages in Andhra Pradesh, India. The host institution Acharya
N.G. Ranga Agricultural University provided the infrastructure facilities at its District Agricultural
Advisory and Transfer of Technology Centres. The staff of Government Departments of agriculture
have also participated and were involved at every stage in these seminars. The number of farmers
attending each seminar ranged from 70 to 95. The seminars were intended to sensitize the farmers
about the weather and climate information and their application in operational farm management.
4.
Roving Seminar on Weather, Climate and Farmers in Mekelle, Ethiopia
4.1
The Agrometeorological Roving Seminar on the Application of Agrometeorology for
increasing agricultural production was held from 16 to 17 May 2007 in Mekelle, Ethiopia. This
seminar was the result of collaboration between the WMO and the National Meteorological Agency
of Ethiopia (NMA) in how to deliver practical uses and knowledge of agrometeorological
applications to increase agricultural production, and to training agricultural extension agents and
agricultural experts in providing better agrometeorological services to farmers.
4.2
The majority of the seminar participants were agricultural extension agents from the
Tigray Regional State Agricultural and Rural Development Bureau. Other participants included staff
from the Mekelle Meteorological Branch Office of the NMA, from the NMA Headquarters in Addis
Ababa and from the ten other meteorological branch NMA offices in the country. There were 34
participants from the agricultural extension services, 11 farmers, and 18 regional representatives.
4.3
The main objective of the seminar was to show how farmers can benefit from the
agrometeorological advisories from the start of sowing activities to the time of harvest. The first day
was spent on learning the experiences from Mali, based on four training presentations given by
Mr Diarra. The training presentations by Mr Diarra included an overview of the Agrometeorological
Extension service in Mali; basics of agrometeorological observation principles and important
CAgM-XV/INF. 15, APPENDIX, p. 2
components of agrometeorological service; and the role of the farmers in agrometeorology
observation and agrometeorological advisories.
5.
METAGRI Project - Roving Seminars in West Africa
5.1
The Roving Seminars on Weather, Climate and Farmers started as a WMO pilot
project in Ethiopia and India in 2007. In October 2007, WMO organized a Conference of Directors
of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services of West Africa in Las Palmas, Spain. From
this meeting, an action plan was developed with the objective to reinforce the NMHSs of the
region. Based on this meeting and subsequent discussions, WMO organized an Expert Meeting on
Agrometeorology in the Service of West African Agriculture in Niamey, Niger in April 2008. The
meeting was co-sponsored by the State Meteorological Agency of Spain (AEMET). Twenty experts
from Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Spain and Switzerland and from AGRHYMET
and the African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD) participated in
the meeting.
5.2
During this meeting, the METAGRI project was developed to organize Roving
Seminars for Weather, Climate, and Farmers whose aim is to increase the interaction between the
National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) and rural farmers. AEMET is the
funding agency and WMO provides technical coordination. These seminars strive to secure rural
farmers’ self reliance in West Africa by raising their awareness about effective weather and climate
risk management and the sustainable use of natural resources for agricultural production. The
seminars also provide crucial feedback from rural agricultural community to the NMHSs.
5.3
The roving seminars ranged from one to two days and brought together farmers from a
group of villages to a centralized location in any given region. The National Meteorological Service
of Mali supplied 200 raingages to each country for distribution to the farmers at each of the ten
seminars (20 per seminar) that were to be organized. In Phase I of the METAGRI project, 8 to 10
roving seminars were organized in each of these countries: Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger,
Senegal (Sep 2008 to Jan 2009).
5.4
A Coordination and Training Meeting on the METARGI project was held in Bamako,
Mali from 9-11 September 2008. This meeting brought together representatives from Burkina Faso,
Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Spain, WMO, and AEMET to discuss the organization of the
seminars and to provide hands-on experience. Representatives from Mali took the lead in
providing lectures to the focal points from the other 4 countries and in leading a two-day seminar
with 40 rural farmers from the Koulikoro region (50 kilometres from Bamako).
5.5
An Evaluation and Planning Meeting on the Roving Seminars on Weather and Climate
for Farmers in West Africa was held in Bamako, Mali from 18-20 March 2009. This meeting
evaluated the outcome of Phase I of the project and developed the plan for Phase II which
included the organization of 10 roving seminars in Benin, Cape Verde, Gambia, Guineé, GuineéBissau, and Togo. Some of the difficulties encountered included: transport of rural farmers to the
seminars, managing uninvited participants, and timing the seminar in the winter season. Benefits of
the seminar included good partnerships with local organizations, better understanding of the needs
of the rural farmers by the NMHS’s, and better perception of climate change by the rural farmers.
Some of the recommendations included creating a regional network to exchange ideas and explore
using seasonal climate forecasts from the Regional Climate Outlook Forums.
5.6
The Phase II of the METAGRI project was developed to organize an additional three
roving seminars in the Phase I countries and 8 to 10 roving seminars in Benin, Cape Verde,
Gambia, Guineé, Guineé-Bissau, and Togo from June to September 2009.
5.7
In February 2010, the Banjul action plan was approved by the Conference of the
Directors of Western Africa NMHSs which included Phase III of the METAGRI. The activities of
Phase III include extending the Roving Seminars to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Côte d´Ivoire, Ghana
and Nigeria. Also two to three Roving Seminars will be held in the 11 Phase I and II countries.
CAgM-XV/INF. 15, APPENDIX, p. 3
6.
ANADIA-MALI Project
6.1
A meeting to launch the project on “Assessment of the Impacts of Floods and Droughts
on Agriculture in Mali” (a Project in the framework of the “Assessment of Natural Disaster Impacts
on Agriculture (ANADIA)”, was held in Bamako, Mali on 16 and 17 March 2009. Fourteen
participants from different agencies in Mali including the National Meteorological Service, the
Institute of Agricultural Research, the National Hydrological Services and the National Agricultural
Service, WMO and IBIMET (Italy) attended the meeting. Plans for training workshops on the
different aspects of assessment of impacts of floods and droughts in Mali were discussed.
6.2
A Drought Monitor Training Workshop organized by WMO and the National
Meteorological Service of Mali was held in Bamako, Mali from 14 to17 September 2009. There
were 27 participants overall with 22 participants from Mali, 4 lecturers from the National Drought
Mitigation Center in Lincoln, Nebraska, and a representative from the WMO Secretariat. The
workshop was funded by Italian Cooperation and was part the ANADIA-MALI (Assessment of
Natural Disasters in Agriculture) project. There was an exercise on how the US Drought Monitor is
created each week and a brief presentation on how the Drought Monitor process could be applied
to Mali.
6.3
Some participants seemed not to understand the concept of analyzing drought in a
historical concept. Following discussions with workshop participants, the next steps in the project
were agreed upon and these included: building/improving a reliable historical climate database;
creating a WMO ANADIA-MALI Website; provision by Mali of a detailed process of the production
of an agrometeorological bulletin; assistance from NMDC to Mali with SPI; and preparation of a
quality climate dataset by DMN.
7.
Roving Seminars on Weather, Climate and Farmers in Sri Lanka
7.1
Two roving seminars were organized in Sri Lanka during December, 2009. Both
seminars – held in the local sinhalese language - discussed the following topics: introduction to
weather and terminologies used in weather/climate forecasting; climate/weather and rice crop
production; use of short-term weather forecasting in agricultural operations; clouds, weather map
and to seasonal climate patterns; climate risk in production and drought alerts in different crops;
and introduction to better risk management.
The first seminar was organized on
22 December 2009 at Mathugama village in Kalutara District and involved 87 farmers. The seminar
was presided over by Mr Mahinda Samarasinghe, Hon’ble Minister for Disaster Management and
Human Rights of the Government of Sri Lanka. The second seminar was organized on
24 December 2009 at Agalawatta Village in the same Kalutara District and was presided over by a
highly respected Buddhist Monk. Sixty-one farmers participated in the seminar.
8.
Other training activities
8.1
The following activities were those training events organized or managed by other
institutions in which WMO was represented at or funded lecturers or participants:
(a)
Workshop on Linking Regional Climate Model with Crop Growth Model to Analyze
Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture, held from May 7 to 9 2007 in Viçosa, Brazil;
(b)
Mediterranean Training Programme for the Harmonization of Early Warning Systems
and operational instruments for Monitoring Climate Change and Desertification, held
from 24 to 26 September 2007 in Florence, Italy;
(c)
First Workshop on Climate Change and Agriculture: Setting the Scene held from 24 to
25 July 2009 in Rome, Italy; and
(d)
International Training Course on Agrometeorology, held from 16 November to
4 December 2009 in Nanjing, China.