(April 18, SENDAFA, Ethiopia (AlertNet)--Farmers in Ethiopia struggling to cope with unpredictable weather related to climate change have gained access to a trove of meteorological data through a new government website.
The geographically precise information, culled from local records and combined with satellite measurements, may enable them to spot trends in changing weather patterns to improve their crop yields.
In Sendafa, a town 40 km (25 miles) north of Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, farmers come to the Saturday market to trade livestock and dairy products and to buy coffee, salt and other commodities. Once business is over, talk often turns to the weather and how it may affect their livelihoods. Sitting in a makeshift bar, farmer Tesfaye Lema spoke recently with an old man sipping areke, a traditional homemade liquor.
“The rain is poor these days; they were saying on the radio that the belg crops will suffer,” Lema said, referring to crops that traditionally grow after the early spring rains.
“At this time of the year, we always receive poor rains,” his drinking companion replied. “It has always been like this, but it should all be good beginning (in) June. What do the radio people know?” Rain is the lifeline of the subsistence farming that largely defines Ethiopia’s poor but growing economy.
Uncertainty over changing patterns – and how to respond to them – is one reason farmers such as Lema are excited about the possibility of access to free, accurate meteorological information. “That’s everything ... I would know when to plant my crops and when not to, (judging) from past trends,” he said. Read more from AlertNet »
The geographically precise information, culled from local records and combined with satellite measurements, may enable them to spot trends in changing weather patterns to improve their crop yields.
In Sendafa, a town 40 km (25 miles) north of Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, farmers come to the Saturday market to trade livestock and dairy products and to buy coffee, salt and other commodities. Once business is over, talk often turns to the weather and how it may affect their livelihoods. Sitting in a makeshift bar, farmer Tesfaye Lema spoke recently with an old man sipping areke, a traditional homemade liquor.
“The rain is poor these days; they were saying on the radio that the belg crops will suffer,” Lema said, referring to crops that traditionally grow after the early spring rains.
“At this time of the year, we always receive poor rains,” his drinking companion replied. “It has always been like this, but it should all be good beginning (in) June. What do the radio people know?” Rain is the lifeline of the subsistence farming that largely defines Ethiopia’s poor but growing economy.
Uncertainty over changing patterns – and how to respond to them – is one reason farmers such as Lema are excited about the possibility of access to free, accurate meteorological information. “That’s everything ... I would know when to plant my crops and when not to, (judging) from past trends,” he said. Read more from AlertNet »
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