Staff Writer
Minister of Environment, Climate and Wildlife, Sithembiso Nyoni, has called for the urgent need for improved climate forecasts within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.
Addressing the 29th Southern Africa Regional Climate Outlook Forum (SARCOF 29), Nyoni highlighted the devastating impacts of climate variability and change on the region’s ecosystems, food security, and socio-economic stability.
“The effects of climate variability and change is a major concern for us as SADC member states. We have witnessed first-hand the devastating effects of extreme weather events, erratic rainfall patterns and prolonged droughts. These threaten our ecosystems, food security and socio-economic stability,” Nyoni said.
“It is incumbent upon us to enhance our capacity in terms of coming up with more accurate and finer forecasts. These should include more parameters such as start of season, end of season and expected cumulative dry days or dry spells, as we call them in Zimbabwe. Our countries will be able to respond with determination and foresight using the scientific information provided by our National Meteorological and Hydrological Services.”
She said the Southern African Regional Climate Outlook Forum and the Climate Experts Meeting represent pivotal moments for collaboration and knowledge-sharing among nations within the region.
“These platforms allow us to collectively learn from each other, come up with weather and climate projections, share best practices and present these to the different sectors,” Nyoni said.
The forum is held under the theme “At the frontline of climate action towards improved climate services in the SADC region.”
The Regional Seasonal Rainfall forecast is a document that is used to inform SADC member states to make informed decisions that cut across almost all economic sectors.
During the 44th SADC Summit, heads of states and governments emphasised the role of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services.
Nyoni urged regional counterparts to ensure that the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services are well-resourced to enable them to monitor the weather and climate as well as to deliver reliable weather and climate forecasts.
She highlighted that Zimbabwe has already started equipping the Meteorological Services Department with state-of-the-art weather observing equipment such as automatic weather stations and weather radars in line with the Early Warning for All initiative.
