Enhancing drought resilience and agricultural monitoring
A recent workshop in Geneva, Switzerland, and a learning exchange in Naivasha, Kenya, focused on strengthening transboundary drought management and enhancing agricultural monitoring in East Africa, bringing together diverse experts to share best practices and explore collaborative opportunities.
Addressing droughts in transboundary basins
A Global Workshop on Droughts in Transboundary Basins was held in Geneva, Switzerland, from 26 to 27 February 2024. The workshop brought together water, agriculture, climate and environment communities as well as drought experts, to jointly discuss best practices and lessons learned in addressing droughts in transboundary basins.
Major achievements from the workshop included:
- Strengthened connections to Country Parties of the Water Convention with regards to WMO and the Integrated Drought Management Programme (IDMP);
- Expression of interest of the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) to join IDMP;
- Explored potential partnership with Spanish Government Representatives for the International Drought Resilience Alliance (IDRA).
This global workshop was organized under the auspices of the Water Convention serviced by United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), under the leadership of the governments of the Netherlands and Switzerland, in cooperation with the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), World Bank, WMO and the International Network of Basin Organisations (INBO).
In addition, the 5th Meeting of the Fifth Intergovernmental Working Group (IWG) on Drought of the UNCCD was held in La Serena, Chile, from 18 to 21 March 2024. The IWG is exploring various drought policy frameworks that could be presented as decisions to the UNCCD COP-16 (Saudi Arabia, December 2024). However, since the IWG has an advisory role, its mandate is to identify options that are deemed capable of presenting a pathway in dealing with drought proactively on a global scale. UNCCD parties would ultimately decide which one(s) to adopt. The IWG is organized into four working groups to examine the following: financing options; technical options, including global target(s) and a working programme; legally binding and non-legally binding instruments of the UNCCD. WMO will assist the working group on developing a proposed global target on integrated drought management.
Agriculture monitoring and early warning in East Africa
The Group on Earth Observations Global Agricultural Monitoring Initiative (GEOGLAM) and the IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC) held the East Africa Crop Monitoring Learning Exchange in Naivasha, Kenya (18 – 21 March 2024).
The workshop aimed at sharing information on effective agricultural practices, assessing existing in-country capacities and identifying gaps and needs, opportunities and tools for enhancing the use of Earth observations for agricultural monitoring. Over 60 experts from 13 countries (Kenya, Uganda, Lesotho, South Sudan, Burundi, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Malawi, Rwanda, Somalia, Zambia, and Djibouti) attended the event.
The participation of WMO and experts from the agrometeorological divisions of NMHSs at a forum that would normally be the domain of agriculture experts highlighted the important role of climate services for early warning in agricultural monitoring. WMO presented on drought early warning principles and facilitated group exercises on needs assessment and concept note development. WMO and GEOGLAM will explore further opportunities for collaboration, including joint activities and resource mobilization efforts.
