The Digital Innovation to Tackle Climate Change project

The Digital Innovation to Tackle Climate Change Project was initiated in Senegal and Rwanda in December 2017 after the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU). 

This MoU seeks to strengthen cooperation between the two entities and tostrengthen cooperation to respond to climate change and variability. The project is led by the Digital Innovation Unit at FAO.

Through this project, FAO and WMO are joining forces:

• To enhance capacity for the countries to provide meteorological and climatological forecasts related to agricultural practices. The increased capacity for Senegal and Rwanda to provide more accurate Meteo and climate data combined with improved agricultural information will facilitate their integration into agriculture policies, plans and strategies.
• To strengthen the countries agro-meteorological services by making them more accessible to farmers and fishers, also through digital means. To support countries in their provision of agro-meteorological services, this project aims to improving and adapting the “Weather and Crop calendar” progressive web-based application – one of the key services of the “FAO Digital Services portfolio”  - to the local user needs. 

Local Partners

In Rwanda 

1. Meteo Rwanda is the Rwanda Meteorology Agency under the Ministry of Environment. Within the project, the agency is responsible for facilitating the data gathering and their integration into agriculture policies and plans. 
2. ICT Chamber is a federation that brings together ICT businesses. Responsible for supporting capacity development, facilitate dialogue among stakeholders and uptake of the services developed. 

In Senegal

1. ANACIM: is the Senegal Meteorology Agency, responsible for facilitating the data gathering and their integration into agriculture policies and plans.
2. Yeesal Agri Hub is an Ag-tech Hub responsible for supporting capacity development; for facilitating dialogue among stakeholders and the uptake of the services developed among farmers and agro-entrepreneurs. 

Recently, the project was launched in Senegal with a Kick-off and Training event. National workers from a Senegal’s Ministries and Agencies and agro-community leaders gathered at ANACIM’s headquarter in Dakar to learn about the power of digital innovation to tackle climate change.