Gambia

Co-development, Capacity Building and Market Research on Digital Climate Advisory Services (DCAS)

Weather Impact will work together with the NGO Green Up Gambia and local experts in Agriculture and Market research analytics to empower stakeholders and encourage the use of digital meteorological, climatic, and hydrological information in the agricultural sector. The project objective is to enhance the reliability and quality of climate data while improving the dissemination of digital climate information services (DCAS) directly to end-users. The project is initiated and funded by the Global Centre on Adaptation (GCA).

Capacity building

One of the bigger aspects of this project involves capacity building for 30 participants through two training sessions focused on DCAS and agro-weather tools, to educate them in the correct usage, required input and interpretation of the information. Part of the group receives technical training in Python, GIS, and Google Earth Engine. We will provide training to members of the Meteorology Devision of the Department of Water Resources (DWR), and other relevant government stakeholders in the Gambian value chain. We aim to strengthen capacity for improved weather and climate advisories and encourage the use of DCAS.

Web platform

In addition, the project includes data acquisition and analysis to build the Data Inventory for a Digital Farming platform. This web platform gives access to geo-information. Green Up Gambia will lead the acquisition of environmental data, such as meteorological data, hydrological data, soil data and climate change hotspots. All the data collected will be integrated and made accessible on an interactive web platform, Google Earth Engine (GEE) Weather Impact will develop a GEE application that will combine all environmental and socio-economic data gathered in the project, while also allowing access to satellite data and other datasets available on GEE, such as rainfall products and other climate data. The user will be able to visualize all available datasets with related descriptive information and perform tasks such as extracting agricultural indices for an area of choice.

Scaling services

Last part of the project contains a market assessment to identify efficient DCAS delivery models. The primary aim is to differentiate the most economically efficient methodology for scaling weather and climate advisories to ensure that Gambian smallholder farmers benefit from timely, accurate, and reliable information. Within the framework of the business environment, the study will identify potential collaborative entities within both governmental and private sectors.

The official kickoff week takes place in April 2024, which gives us the opportunity to meet with all participants and stakeholders, take interviews and conduct an evaluation survey to tailor the training topics according to the knowledge level and needs of the participants. More news will follow!