A Decade of Science, Innovation and Transformation: CCAFS Impact In East Africa

This legacy document is intended to capture the key outcomes and highlight the impact of the CCAFS East Africa regional program over the past decade. The reporting is structured around the Strategic Research Pillars detailed in the CCAFS-EA Strategy 2019–2021, apart from the fact that aspects related to Gender, Youth and Socially Inclusive Growth (Pillar 4) are not treated separately but integrated into the other three pillars.The report also highlights the influence and likely contributions of CCAFS East Africa to upcoming endeavors such as OneCGIAR, Accelerating the Impact of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA), and the Two Degree Initiative for Food and Agriculture (2DI)

South-South Technical Knowledge Exchange and Learning Initiative (STEKELI) Workshop

In Africa, many actors, programmes, projects, or initiatives are implemented by international organizations or continental institutions, or sub-regional and national entities to improve the development, provision, uptake and use of weather and climate services1 .For instance, the Regional Climate Centers (RCCs) have been engaged in developing models and methodologies based on ground and satellite observations to forecast/monitor rainfall, cropwater requirements, drought, early warning system, weather/climate, and seasonal and inter-annual variations. They have also provided training in a wide range of expertise in agro-meteorology, hydrology, and equipment maintenance, as well as on topics related to food security, climate change, and sustainable natural resources (land and water) management. Reliable observed climate data are essential to monitoring past and current weather and climate conditions, producing reliable forecast information, assessing the models' skill, understanding climate variability and longterm changes, and assessing sectoral impacts (agriculture, water resources, and health). Reliable climate information could, therefore, help build resilience against the negative impact of climate change and improve people's livelihood

Streamlining climate change, climate risk management in Agriculture, climate information services, and climate-smart agriculture innovations into undergraduate university curriculum modules in Ethiopia

Ethiopia, as is the case for other African countries, is a disproportionately higher risk of adverse consequences of climate change. The country has a high risk of hydrometeorological hazards and natural disasters. Its vulnerability is further exacerbated due to the high poverty level and its dependence on key sectors most likely affected by climate change: agriculture, water, tourism, and forestry. The country is considered a climate hotspot where climate change poses grave threats to human well-being and natural environments. The accelerating pace of climate change in the region is invariably being felt through increased extreme weather and variability, which affects the frequency, intensity, spatial distribution, duration and timing of severe weather and climate events. The changes in the frequency and severity of extreme climate events and the increasing variability of weather patterns result in substantial challenges for both human and natural systems. The major and almost exclusive livelihood activities of rural Ethiopia are crop production, livestock production, natural resource extraction, and only less than a small percentage engaged in off-farm activities

Proceeding Report of the 40th Anniversary of National Meteorological Agency, Official endorsement of the National Framework for Climate Services an International Scientific Conference

Ethiopia is located in the Horn of Africa within 3–15° N and 33–48° E, bordered by Eritrea to the north and northeast, Djibouti to the east, Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, and Somalia to the south and east. It covers an area of about 1.14 million square kilometers. The country's topography consists of high and rugged plateaus and peripheral lowlands. Elevations in the country range from 160 meters below sea level (northern exit of the Rift Valley) to over 4600 meters above sea level (of northern mountainous regions). The highest mountains are concentrated on the northern and southern plateaus of the country. A large percentage of the country consists of high plateaus and mountain ranges, dissected by major rivers such as Blue Nile, Tekeze, Awash, Omo, Wabi Shebelle, etc. Overall, Ethiopia consists of 9 major rivers and 19 lakes. The Blue Nile, the chief headstream of the Nile, rises in Lake Tana in northwest Ethiopia. The meteorological observation started in the 1890s with few meteorological stations. In 1951, meteorological services were established as a small unit in the then Civil Aviation Department to render aeronautical services. Since then, meteorological observation has been expanding over Ethiopia. As the importance of meteorology was realized by other economic sectors, National Meteorological Services Agency (NMSA) was established by the Government Proclamation Number 201/1980. Besides, NMA started seasonal forecasting and advisory service in 1987 for three seasons, namely Belg (February - May), Kiremt (June-September), and Bega (October-January). The primary duty of NMA is to support all country's socio-economic developments by delivering climate services. Moreover, NMA has more than one thousand three hundred conventional Meteorological stations, three hundred automatic weather stations, five AWOS, three air pollution monitoring stations, three upper air stations, one radar, and eleven satellite receiver stations. The government of Ethiopia is determined to eradicate poverty and become a prosperous country by 2030. In this regard, addressing climate variability and change play a pivotal role in achieving this goal. To this effect, NMA is equipping with modern weather observing and monitoring capabilities and improving processing, analyzing, interpreting, and forecasting weather and climate capabilities at a high resolution and accuracy to meet the end-user's demands and effectively support all socio-economic developments of the country. NMA collaborates with all key stakeholders and partners through continuous engagement on climate services. The NFCS, endorsed during the NMA 40th Anniversary, is envisaged to strengthen collaborative co-production between climate services provider (NMA) and climate service beneficiaries institutions (MoWIE, EFCCC, MoA, MoH, and NDRMC). To commemorate its 40th anniversary, NMA has organized a conference with a theme of "Forty Years of Climate and Weather Services in Ethiopia" on May 25-26, 2021, at Skylight Hotel, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Generally, three main sessions were held during the conference. These include; Session one: panel discussion and opening ceremony; session two: presentations on the history of NMA and NFCS Ethiopia, official endorsement of NFSC Ethiopia, and certificate wards; and session three: parallel session of four groups and paper presentations on different thematic areas were made. The 40th anniversary was attended by ministers, commissioners, heads of organizations, and representatives from the WMO Africa regional office, international institutes representatives, experts from different organizations, lecturers, researchers, and NMA officials and staff. This document is proceedings of the 40th anniversary, including summaries of the opening session and the presentations

Agricultural Drought Monitoring System Country-level ASIS Launching Workshop

On January 20, 2022, the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), the Ethiopian Meteorological Institute (EMI), and the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) with the collaboration of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate, Change Agriculture, and Food Security (CCAFS) launched an agricultural drought monitoring and warning platform in Ethiopia. During the launching workshop, over 100 key stakeholders including researchers, academics, policymakers, development practitioners, media, and officials from the public and private sectors participated

Enabling Markets and Public-Sector Actions for Catalysing Transformation for Small-Scale Agricultural Producers under Climate Change

Our food systems have performed well in the past, but they are failing us in the face of climate change and other challenges. This book tells the story of why food system transformation is needed, how it can be achieved and how research can be a catalyst for change. Written by a global interdisciplinary team of researchers, it brings together perspectives from multiple areas including climate, environment, agriculture, and the social sciences to describe how different tools and approaches can be used to tackle food system transformation. It provides practical, actionable insights for policymakers and advisors, demonstrating how science together with strong partnerships can enable real transformation on the ground. It also contributes to the academic debate on the transformation of food systems, and so will be an invaluable reference for researchers and students alike. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core