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Context
Climate change threatens Nepal’s agriculture sector, in particular threats of increasing floods and droughts. The agriculture sector employs over two-thirds of the labor force and contributes to roughly one-third of the country's GDP. There is an urgent need to increase adoption of early warning systems to reinforce climate resilience in order to reduce climate change-induced loss of agricultural productivity. The timely dissemination of reliable weather and climate information are critical for management decisions such as selection of crop type and variety, planting and harvest timing, field fertilization, and grazing and migrating livestock. Despite several efforts to improve climate information services, weather forecasts produced by national bodies are not widely disseminated in rural and remote areas.
CTCN Support
The objective of the technical assistance is to customize weather and climate information products issued by the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology to the needs of local farmers. The assistance will support the development of an application programming interface (API) for the automatic dissemination of location-specific customized 3-day weather forecasts to farmers in user-friendly language using mobile and internet-based SMS. The dissemination system will then be piloted in selected communities to build farmers’ capacity to use this information.
The API integrates with relevant meteorological data sources to generate forecasts tailored to the specific geographic location of each farmer, reflecting local weather conditions that influence agricultural activities. The system translates technical meteorological information into simple, farmer-friendly language, making it easy for users to understand and apply in day-to-day farm decisions such as irrigation scheduling, input application, harvesting, and protection against extreme weather events. The API connects to appropriate dissemination mechanisms, including SMS, WhatsApp, and other digital platforms, to ensure that the customized 3-day forecasts reach registered users automatically, promptly, and reliably without manual intervention.
Overall, this objective creates an automated, scalable, and user-centric digital service that enhances farmers’ access to actionable weather information, reduces climate-related risks, and supports more informed, climate-resilient agricultural planning.
Expected Impact
The increased use of improved early warning weather services for decision-making in the agriculture sector provides economic and social benefits. The technical assistance will help farmers to adapt to changing weather conditions, reducing risks to agricultural production and leading to enhanced food security. The technical assistance will support the targets for the Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use (AFOLU) sector articulated in Nepal’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), as it will test a customized set of weather forecast products for smallholder farmers for increased access to climate-smart agricultural technologies.
Additionally, the project will strengthen and establish Public Weather Services (PWS), which falls under the country’s key policy priorities on adaptation. The project will integrate the Gender Equality and Social Inclusion NDC target through involving women, children, youth, indigenous peoples, and marginalized groups in consultations and workshops at national, district and village levels.
For more information, contact [email protected]
