More accurate seasonal forecasts can help save crops, enhance food security and reduce flood risk. NORCE leads a new EU project to improve climate prediction in 11 countries in East Africa.
The agriculture in East Africa is mainly rain-fed with little or no irrigation. Farmers and smallholders are highly dependent on rainfall and have no reserves to draw on in dry periods. This means that advance knowledge of the rainy season is extremely important in this region.
Better information about how expected rainfall amounts is a crucial factor for the success of the crops. But this information is also important for hydropower producers in countries like Kenya and Tanzania, where hydro is a key component of the energy mix, who need to make plans ahead in time to enhance production and reduce downstream flooding, says climate scientist Erik Kolstad at NORCE and the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research.
Kolstad will lead the new Horizon 2020 project CONFER, with a budget of €7 million. The project starts in September, and soon after that Kolstad and his colleagues will travel to Nairobi to meet with the other partners in the 3.5-year project.
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