Building resilience to face recurring environmental crisis in African Sahel

• Published in: Nature climate change Vol. 3; no. 7; pp. 631 - 637
• Main Authors: Boyd, Emily, Cornforth, Rosalind J., Lamb, Peter J., Tarhule, Aondover, Lélé, M. Issa, Brouder, Alan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.07.2013; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Climate Change; Climate Change/Climate Change Impacts; Crises; Drought; Environment; Environmental Law/Policy/Ecojustice; Environmental problems; Human ecology and demography; perspective; Sociology; West Africa; Sahel; Africa; Rain; Food shortage; Ecological crisis; Prediction; Climate warming; Humanitarian aid; Resilience
• ISSN: 1758-678X; 1758-6798; 1758-6798
• DOI: 10.1038/nclimate1856

Access to timely climate information is critical for empowering proactive decision-making to absorb climate shocks that would otherwise lead to large-scale humanitarian crises. The value of Rainwatch — a prototype geographical information system designed to increase interactions between local climate information users, their providers and supporting groups — is illustrated in the case of the unfavourable West African 2011 monsoon. The present food shortages in the Horn of Africa and the West African Sahel are affecting 31 million people. Such continuing and future crises require that people in the region adapt to an increasing and potentially irreversible global sustainability challenge. Given this situation and that short-term weather and seasonal climate forecasting have limited skill for West Africa, the Rainwatch project illustrates the value of near real-time monitoring and improved communication for the unfavourable 2011 West African monsoon, the resulting severe drought-induced humanitarian impacts continuing into 2012, and their exacerbation by flooding in 2012. Rainwatch is now coupled with a boundary organization (Africa Climate Exchange, AfClix) with the aim of integrating the expertise and actions of relevant institutions, agencies and stakeholders to broker ground-based dialogue to promote resilience in the face of recurring crisis.