Planning and Review Days on Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA) Implementation in Dodoma and Arusha, Tanzania

Since 2014, World Food Programme (WFP), CGIAR Research Program Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), Tanzania Meteorological Agency (TMA) and University of Reading (UoR) have been hosting trainings of intermediaries and sharing climate information services. In Tanzania the trainings and climate related services have been offered to the three Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS) pilot districts Kiteto, Longido and Kondoa, targeting the districts extension workers. These trainings and workshops aimed to equip stakeholders, particularly the intermediaries or extension workers, with the capacity to provide farmers with locally relevant climate, crop and livelihood information. As a part of follow up and monitoring, WFP, CCAFS and other partners on GFCS organized a three-day Planning and Review meetings in Dodoma (for Kiteto and Kondoa) and Arusha (for Longido) in November 2015. The purpose of this meeting was to assess the implementation plans since the first training of intermediaries that took place in 2014-2015. Plenary feedback from group works in Longido, Kondoa and Kitoto districts showed that trainings on Resource Allocation Maps (RAM), seasonal calendar, crop/livestock/livelihood options, participatory budget, and historical climate information, calculating probabilities and risks and seasonal forecast topics were successful, with farmers and pastoralists finding the topics relevant and useful. However, some logistical, cultural, linguistic challenges remain in training pastoralists and farmers, who need time to familiarize and understand the Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA) approach that is very new to their community. Working groups concluded that although there were some challenges in implementing PICSA, about 935 farmers have been trained in Kondoa district, 1572 in Kiteto district, and 1453 in Longido district. Farmers have begun to make changes to their farming practices and share the information in village meetings and Ward Development Community meetings after receiving PICSA trainings

Breeding in Africa for Africa

Traditionally, sweetpotato breeding programs have taken a long time, 7 to 8 years, to produce a new variety. Moreover, as of 2008, most countries in Africa had no real breeding program and relied on testing materials developed elsewhere. This flyer explains the work done by 13 active breeding programs in SSA between June 2014 and July 2015 to strengthen conventional sweetpotato breeding, develop accelerated breeding protocols and invest in breeding diverse sweetpotato types to meet the requirements of a wider range of producers and consumers

Workshop Report: Scaling Up Climate Information Services for Farmers and Pastoralists in Tanzania through ICTs and Rural Radio

Under the auspices of this GFCS Adaptation Programme in Africa, the World Food Program (WFP) and the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) co-organized a two-day ICT and Radio Stakeholders’ Consultation Workshop in Tanzania to define a nationally appropriate strategy for scaling up climate information services for farmers and pastoralists in Tanzania through ICTs and interactive rural radio. This national ICT and radio consultation workshop brought together 28 participants representing government MDAs, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), UN agencies, academic and research institutions, farmer based organizations, and telecom operators to brainstorm best options to streamline delivering tailored climate information to end users. The two-day workshop was held in Dar es Salaam on 27-28, April 2015. The workshop began with a brief overview of the objectives, methodology, and key recommendations from each study. This was followed by a summary of important findings, and then a question-and-answer session in which participants agreed with the key recommendations and overall findings. Participants were introduced to a draft information flow model that includes three important components: production, delivery and feedback. The plenary session gave participants room to share feedback from discussion groups. Final consensus was built on the role of each stakeholder and type of intervention needed on the ground in the short- and longer terms to enhance the delivery of climate information services for farmers and pastoralists in Tanzania. The model derived from this workshop gives a clear picture of the information flow needed to communicate agro-advisories and other climate information services at a large scale in the country. The model has three important components: the production side, delivery side, and feedback side. Particular stakeholders and technological interventions were identified for each of these components. Successful stories from India and Africa, that are relevant to the Tanzanian context, were presented to strengthen the discussions. These case studies prompted discussions on the financial sustainability of the business models, and triggered the idea to adopt similar innovations in Tanzania