Ghanaian farmers introduced to new weather forecast service

Ghanaian farmers are being introduced to the world’s first highly accurate tropical weather forecast.

Known as ISKA Weather, the forecast enables farmers to make informed decisions on when to carry out weather dependent activities, such as planting, fertilizing, chemical spraying, and harvesting.

The forecasts are specific to farm location, which means two neighbouring farmers might receive different forecasts.  The accuracy rate of ISKA Weather is up to 84% compared to other weather services, which average about 40% in the West African region.

Mobile telecommunication operator, MTN Ghana, is partnering high-tech firm, Ignitia Ghana Limited, to expose local farmers to the technology.

Subscribers to the ISKA weather service will receive five text messages per week during the rainy season after dialing a code to activate the service.

Chief Marketing Officer of MTN, Rahul De, indicated that the company is focused on using mobile technology to offer services that creates convenience for its customers.

“The ISKA weather service provides MTN an opportunity to support agricultural development in the country, especially because local farming activities are highly dependent on the weather condition on a particular day,” he said.

Using indigenous knowledge for the planting season is no longer reliable for local farmers because of the changing climate – the rains come when least expected and periods of drought and flooding are unpredictable.

“Consolidating the potential for agriculture, using climate information services, will have a multiplier effect in catering for our youth, shared prosperity, and providing food, water and energy security,” says Dr. Fatima Denton, Coordinator of the ClimDev-Africa Programme.

The Climate for Development in Africa (ClimDev-Africa) programme is jointly implemented by the African Union Commission, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the African Development Bank to improve climate information services in support of African development agenda.

“With the ISKA weather service, farmers can undertake activities such as sowing, using fertilizers, and spraying pesticides without the risk of having it all washed off by heavy rain, which will ultimately contribute to increased yields by a significant margin, help in crop loss prevention and also effectively save cost on inputs as farmers will be able to plan well ahead of time”, stated Mr. De.

 

The service is also targeted at the general public who need highly accurate information about the weather to plan their daily activities.

It will also help business people to improve in planning their activities and events.