
News facts
Benin’s Ministry of Agriculture requested assistance through the CTCN to address its severe lack of data and forecasting information which threatens farmers’ agricultural productivity and resilience to increasing droughts and floods in the country. The CTCN assistance aims to fill the identified gaps by strengthening expertise of national practitioners to utilize appropriate forecasting software.
CTCN Consortium partner UNEP-DTU Partnership is assisting Benin in creating an agro-meteorological information system to strengthen climate resilience of agriculture producers. Part of the assistance is the training of national stakeholders on the GeoWRSI software, which is taking place in May, in Benin.
Agricultural extension agents will be trained in data collection, information dissemination and popularization of agro-meteorological information. The agro-meteorological system will enable national planners and local producers to analyse the agro-meteorological information and make calculations for ensuring better forecasting and analysis of water balance in relation to the agricultural calendar of producers.
The agriculture sector is the mainstay of Benin’s economy, providing livelihoods for almost 60% of the working population. However, droughts and floods are increasing in frequency and severity, thus harming agricultural production in Benin. Farmers have little access to basic climate forecasting information, which impedes their ability to adapt their agricultural planning and practices accordingly.