The Small Earth Nepal (SEN) successfully conducted training workshops on agrometeorological information interpretation and the use of the “Hamro Mausam” mobile app for customized weather forecasts, followed by a stakeholder feedback and results dissemination workshops at Guthichaur Rural Municipality-05, Jumla and Rajapur Rural Municipality-04, Bardiya on 20-21 and 25-26 September, 2024 respectively under the project grant “Improving the Climate Services for Adaptation through Customized and Specific Location Weather Forecasts,” supported by USAID Biodiversity (Jal Jangal) through DAI Global LLC. The main objective of this project was to provide accessible, simple and user friendly weather forecast information to the local community and smallholder farmers of two specific locations; Jumla (Guthichaur) and Bardiya (Rajapur) using the data sources of High Impact Weather Assessment Toolkit (HIWAT) system developed by SERVIR-HKH program of International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).
In both project sites in Jumla and Bardiya, SEN followed the same program agenda and conducted workshops in the same manner. On the first day of the training workshop, the stakeholders were trained in understanding the customized weather forecasts using the “Hamro Mausam” mobile app and agro advisory bulletin. The training was attended by 32 participants (M 17; F 15) in Jumla and 24 participants (M 20; F 4) in Bardiya including representatives from the local government and ward offices, community-based organizations, media, teachers, local community members, and smallholder farmers. The first part of the training covered the basic understanding of weather, climate, weather forecast and its usability in agriculture and disaster prevention for the end users, facilitated by Mr. Mahesh Sharma, Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM), Synoptic Field Office. The second half of the training was on the use of “Hamro Mausam” mobile app and understanding forecast information, SMS weather forecasts along with the agro advisory bulletin. The sessions were facilitated by Mr. Tribikram Basnet, Research Assistant, SEN. The training also demonstrated the use of mobile app to the participants.
On the second day, a stakeholder feedback and result dissemination workshops shared project activities and key achievements of the project along with feedback and discussion sessions with the stakeholders. The workshops were attended by 32 participants (M 18; F 14) in Jumla and 33 participants (M 23; F 10) in Bardiya. The session was facilitated by Mr. Niranjan Bista, Program Coordinator, SEN. A mobile app and SMS service have been developed and activated to provide farmers and stakeholders with easy access to weather forecasts for rainfall, temperature, wind, lightning and hail. Four agro advisory bulletins were prepared and distributed, and training conducted to enhance community capacity in using the mobile app. Five stations of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology have been updated to Automatic Weather Stations (AWS): 3 in Karnali basin and 2 in Gandaki basin, and integrated with their central server system. The project encouraged local governments to integrate weather information services in their plans, supporting better agricultural decision-making and preparedness for climate change risks.
The participants were happy to get customized weather forecasts curated for their specific locations which they found useful. The weather forecasts and agro advisory bulletin will be helpful for them in their agriculture practices such as plantation and harvesting of fruit crops and cereal crops.
