Climate Information vital for Informed Decision Making

By Dorcas Kabuya

As the world faces the consequences of climate change, the urgency to take action has never been greater. Amidst this crisis, farmers, organisations and the government are taking steps to mitigate and adapt to these changes to secure a sustainable future for future generations.

To aid farmers' access to climate information, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), working with its partners, has launched a new initiative dubbed the Munda Make Over Television and Climate Information Services radio programmes.

The programmes were launched under the Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) project in Kasenengwa District of Eastern Province.

These programmes are designed to provide farmers with accurate and timely Information about the climate and its impact to help them adapt to the changing environment.

ICRISAT Researcher Amos Ngwira said that launching the agricultural learning programmes was a milestone in the fight against climate change. Dr Ngwira stated Eastern Province and many other parts of Africa experienced low yields compared to other continents.

He added that climate change and variability provided an opportunity to pursue improving productivity and increase the resilience of the agricultural system."Good yield depends upon three factors soil, crop management and climate change. But currently, climate change and variability are posing a change to farmers in terms of how they produce their crops and the yields that are realised," he stated.

Dr. Ngwira observed that packaging climate information in the right format was one way of dealing with the effects of climate change and increasing farmers' resilience to manage the risks by taking advantage of seasonal opportunities, such as weather information. "Sometimes, the way weather information is packaged and delivered to farmers does not allow them to make informed decisions about what to plant. Therefore, as AICCRA, we came up with a way of packaging that Information to help farmers about farm management through radio and television programmes," he explained.

These programmes aim to help farmers understand climate change's impact and improve adaptation decision-making.

And Chitetezo Cooperative Federation Chairperson, Ester Zulu, noted that the organisation is committed to supplementing the government's efforts by ensuring that rural communities participate in pushing its agenda for a green economy. Ms Zulu hinted that the support from AICCRA and mentorship from Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO) had contributed to building a safer and more protected environment that would sustain the needs of farmers despite the advent of climate change.

"As a federation, we have learnt how to do farming following the rules of nature through compost manuring, crop rotation, minimum tillage and agroforestry using the rich nitrogen-fixing tree known as Gliricidia Sepium. This has led to an increase in our yields and improved soil fertility," she disclosed.

In giving a vote of thanks, Chief Chanje of the Chewa-speaking people, who is also caretaker of Chikuwe Chiefdom, was grateful for the initiative adding that local language programmes improve agricultural production in rural areas considering the educational level of most farmers.

 "With the help of the media, the educational local language programmes are disseminated to a wider audience as most rural farmers consider radio an important tool and can be an effective in behavioural change," Chief Chanje conveyed.

Speaking at the same function, Senior Irrigation Engineer Bernard Chungu, who spoke on behalf of the Eastern Province Agricultural Coordinator, pointed out that radio programmes will help farmers access vital climate information.

The launch of the climate information services is a significant step in the fight against climate change. The service will provide farmers with accurate and timely Information about the climate and its impact, helping them to make informed decisions about their farming business.

Indeed, drama is an effective tool for communicating sustainable Information that can drive a critical point and cause behavioural change on any issue affecting society, climate change inclusive.

The author is an Agriculture Information Officer at the National Agricultural Information Services. She is also CCARDESA Information, Communication and Knowledge Management (ICKM) focal point person for Zambia