Adaptation Fund Innovation Project
Tanzania, The Gambia
The WMO HydroHub has been preparing a regional proposal to be submitted to the Adaptation Fund (AF) to implement the innovation project “Enhancing Hydromet Services through Regional Monitoring Innovation Hubs in Africa”.
Innovation Project Flyer
Background
The proposed project will execute a portfolio of activities through the WMO HydroHub to advance innovation in the hydrometry agenda. The project will help accelerate the pull-through of new cost-effective approaches and technologies into operational use by monitoring agencies within the target countries and develop new sustainable partnerships, by providing actors across the public and private sectors at local, regional and national levels with capacity, innovation and engagement opportunities.
Together, these actions will lead to an increase in the availability of reliable hydrological data and information needed for the provision of hydromet services in the region. These improved hydromet services will support data-driven decisions in agriculture, disaster risk reduction, water resources management and environmental protection among others. The Regional Innovation Hubs will be established in Tanzania and The Gambia as regional partnerships through collaborations between National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs), relevant national and regional entities active in the field of hydrological monitoring, academia and private sector entities that could support the manufacturing and maintenance of new technological solutions.
Overall Goal
To improve the delivery of hydromet services through two “Regional Innovation Hubs” in Africa by advancing the uptake of innovative hydrometric approaches by the NMHSs in Tanzania, The Gambia and surrounding countries.
Objectives
- Increasing operational capacity of the NMHSs to deploy and maintain innovative hydrometeorological observation, data and metadata exchange, calibration and data processing technologies through collaborative Innovation Call projects, training interventions and support for Regional Technical Champions
- Developing two Regional Innovation Hubs in hydrological monitoring and data processing, which use novel mechanisms (such as Innovation Camps and International Twinning) to bring together public and private entities to support the development, manufacturing and maintenance of digital and physical monitoring technologies
- Enhancing regional cooperation for mutual technical assistance among NMHSs and other monitoring organizations within the region where the Innovation Hubs are established
- Increasing political and institutional commitment for operational hydrology through improved stakeholder collaboration and engagement, including co-production of hydromet services
Timeline
A three-step submission process is currently being followed:
- Pre-concept Proposal (June 2021 - January 2022): approved by the AF Board in April 2022
- Project Concept Proposal (May 2022 - November 2022)
- Fully-Developed Proposal
During the development of the Project Concept Proposal, two stakeholder consultation workshops took place in The Gambia and Tanzania in June 2022. The aim of the workshops was to support the development of the Project Concept Proposal reflecting the national and regional requirements and to allow national stakeholders to take full ownership of the project. The Workshops also resulted in:
- Refining and confirming the activities that will be implemented by the project;
- Consultation with all direct and indirect stakeholders of the project, including (1) beneficiaries, (2) potential impacted vulnerable communities (e.g., youth and women), and (3) other projects funded by Governments, the AF and other development partners in The Gambia and Tanzania.