The Finance for Climate Change Innovation Fund (FICCF), recently held a two-day conference in Nairobi to share achievements under the Climate Smart Agriculture pilot. RCMRD was represented by SERVIR E&SA Science and Data Lead Anastasia Wahome; SERVIR E&SA Agriculture and Food Security Thematic Lead Lilian Ndungu and RCMRD Business Development and Marketing Officer Mr. Byron Anangwe and Resource Mobilization Officer William Ogallo.

FICCF is promoting the transition to climate-smart agriculture in Kenya through support to microfinance institutions partnering with agribusiness aggregators and smallholder farmers to adopt a range of tools and practices to de-risk production and build resilience to increasingly variable climate. The conference saw 165 participants representing microfinance institutions, insurance and climate information services partners, agribusiness aggregators, project implementers, research and development partners, government institutions as well as cassava, sorghum and dairy farmers from counties.

It featured five sessions covering the key layers of the FICCF climate-smart agriculture pilot: Finance, Climate Information Services, Insurance, Technical Services, and Partnerships. During the breakout session, participants discussed the opportunities to adapt and scale up the climate-smart agriculture model capable to attract external investors. In addition, 15 exhibition booths were on display for participants to meet agribusinesses, insurance, and technical service providers engaged in the various commodities.

RCMRD made a presentation during the second session on climate information services with Anastasia Wahome giving a key note speech titled: From Space to Village: Getting climate information to the users. She emphasized the need for credible information about the past climate, recent trends and changes, likely future trajectories, and associated impacts are key to climate risk management. She talked about how the SERVIR-ESA project is helping people in RCMRD’s member states to access and use satellite imagery and climate and weather information to make better decisions about development.

Wahome showcased how applications developed using climate information for agriculture and food security had been used in decision making and how others such as frost forecasting and monitoring and cropland mapping could be used to determine crop insurance indices, demonstrating how RCMRD is leveraging on earth observation and geospatial information for decision making.

Wahome said the SERVIR project is a collaboration between USAID and NASA and has established hubs in Eastern and Southern Africa, West Africa, Hindu Kush-Himalaya, and Lower Mekong regions by partnering with regional technical institutions. SERVIR is helping to integrate science into useful products and tools that support better decisions about livelihoods, disasters, and economic development.

Content for this article compiled by Dorah Nesoba and provided by Lillian Ndungu and Anastasia Wahome and (RCMRD/SERVIR E&SA)