Interview Mónica Estébanez Camarena

Yes, teamwork does make the dream work

This year, Weather Impact celebrates its 10-year anniversary! To mark the occasion, we reflect on the last ten years and speak to both former and current colleagues who helped shape the company into what it is today.

This week we talk to Mónica Estébanez Camarena, who joined us last year as a business developer.

A strong team

I learned of Weather Impact by coincidence. A friend of mine at TU Delft (where I was pursuing my PhD) asked me if I was familiar with the company, and when I visited the website, I thought, “This is what I am looking for”.

I left Spain almost nine years ago. My first stop was South Africa, to study for a master’s degree. It was my first time in Africa and since then I kept going back. For my PhD, I did a lot of field work with farmers in Ghana which became my favourite part of my research. I knew I wanted to pursue similar work in the future.

I started as a business developer in September 2023. Transitioning from an academic environment to a business setting was quite a big change for me. The pace of work is different, with tight deadlines and a fast-paced atmosphere.

At the same time, it’s a close-knit team with a strong sense of community which is important to me. In my current role, I enjoy sharing ideas, planting seeds and discussing opportunities with partners. Recently, I provided training in Burundi and The Gambia, which was a valuable experience. I also had the opportunity to join a summer school for impact evaluation in Morocco.

Creating impact

Only two months after starting at Weather Impact, I travelled to Burundi for a few weeks. I was excited, but felt comfortable to do it, as I have lived and worked in Africa for several years already. During my time there, we conducted a series of training sessions on the content, use and interpretation of weather information within agriculture.

In total, together with my colleagues, we delivered 14 trainings to over 800 people throughout the country! We trained so-called ‘activators’ from AUXFIN, who will disseminate the information in the AgriCoach app to other farmer households. This initiative aims to empower 500,000 farming households with essential climate information.

After the final training, I felt an immense sense of accomplishment, which was incredibly rewarding. We could also sense the happiness of the local people. One participant, who was an activator as well as a comedian, even composed a song about the AgriCoach and the trainings!

Commitment is key

A positive remark we often receive from partners is that we deliver on our promises. Our young and small team is essential to our success; we are all deeply committed to our work which contributes to our achievements. I take pride in our approach in the Global South, where we adapt to the local contexts and respond to users’ needs, always in collaboration with local partners. This allows us to work directly with end-users at the last mile.

I am genuinely happy now; I love my job. I am where I meant to be.