An Assessment of the Effectiveness ofWeather Information Dissemination among Farmers and Policy Makers
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Date
2022
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Sustainability
Abstract
The changing environment, climate, and the increasing manifestation of disasters, has
generated an increased demand for accurate and timely weather information. This information
is provided by the National meteorological authorities (NMAs) through different dissemination
channels e.g., using radios, Televisions, emails among others. The use of ICTs to provide weather
information is recently gaining popularity. A study was conducted in three countries, namely Nigeria,
Uganda, and South Sudan to assess the efficiency of an ICT tool, known as “Weather Information
Dissemination System”. The study involved 254 participants (Uganda: 71; South Sudan: 133; and
Nigeria: 50). The collected primary data were first quality controlled and organized thematically
for detailed analysis. Descriptive statistics was used to provide quantitative analysis as well as
content scrutinized for qualitative analysis. The results showed that there is a need for timely weather
information to plan farming activities such as planting and application of fertilizers and pesticides as
well as to manage flood and drought by the water sector and disaster management. Results further
showed that the majority of the respondents have access to the technology needed to access weather
and climate information. The respondents who received weather information from NMAs noted
that the forecast was good. However, they further noted that there is more room for improvement
especially with making the forecasts location-specific, ensuring mobile access is adequate in all
regions, provision of weather information by SMS (in countries where this service is currently
unavailable) and improved timing of the weather information. Finally, uncertainty about the accuracy of weather information and the weather information not meeting specific needs are key barriers to
people’s willingness to pay for it (Uganda: 33.3%; South Sudan: 46.1%; and Nigeria: 33.3%). Improved
collaborations between the NMAs, ICT service providers, policymakers and farmers will facilitate
an effective approach to weather information access and dissemination. Innovative sensitization
approaches through the media houses will enable better understanding of weather products and
utilization, and access to enabling ICTs would increase access to weather forecasts
Description
Keywords
Weather information dissemination, Weather information impact, Mobile information access, Weather information accuracy, Location-specific information
Citation
Sansa-Otim, J.; Nsabagwa, M.; Mwesigwa, A.; Faith, B.; Owoseni, M.; Osuolale, O.; Mboma, D.; Khemis, B.; Albino, P.; Ansah, S.O.; et al. An Assessment of the Effectiveness ofWeather Information Dissemination among Farmers and Policy Makers. Sustainability 2022, 14, 3870. https://doi.org/10.3390/ su14073870