Countries in the horn of Africa are set to predict and mitigate disasters through a new facility in Ngong.
The state-of-the-art Igad Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC) was officially opened by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta last week.
It will provide climate services and multi-hazard early warnings to Eastern Africa.
As part of the centre's launch, a Disaster Operations Centre was established, with a situation room that will monitor major hazards and provide regional early warnings for drought, floods, extreme rainfall, food insecurity or pests like the desert locust.
The opening of the situation room follows the launch of East Africa Hazards Watch in July, a system developed by Icpac to meet the growing need for public and cross-border risk information due to increasing climate extremes.
The system, the first of its kind in Africa, allows tracking climate hazards increasing in frequency and intensity due to climate change.
The centre is a designated regional climate centre by the World Meteorological Organisation to provide climate services and early warnings to 11 East African countries.
Uhuru said climate change poses an existential threat not only to the African continent but also to the world.
“We live in uncertain times, increasing temperatures and sea levels, changing precipitation patterns and more extreme weather is threatening human health and safety, food and water security and socio-economic development in Africa,” Uhuru said in a recorded video.
The President said the African region is set to be hit hard by the impacts of climate change. He said the centre will go a long way in generating big data that will inform decision-making.
He hailed the new facility as a giant step in the fight against climate change, which he said is complex and cannot be tackled by one country.
Environment CS Keriako Tobiko said Kenya’s key economic drivers are vulnerable to climate change and thanked Icpac for the important role it is playing in supporting vulnerable communities to adapt to the phenomenon.
“Increasing temperatures and recurrent droughts contribute to severe crop and livestock losses, leading to famine, displacement and other threats to human health and comfort. Climate change in Kenya is, therefore, increasingly impacting the lives of citizens and the environment," Tobiko said.
Workneh Gebeyehu, the Igad executive secretary, said climate change has emerged as one of the most topical and simultaneously, the most divisive issues of our time.
He said economies and livelihoods in the Igad region are highly sensitive to climate variability and change. This is because as a people, we are highly dependent on rain-fed agriculture, pastoralism and other forms of eco-dependency.
Dr Ahmed Amdihun, the programme coordinator for Igad Disaster Risk Management Programme, said the East Africa region is affected by so many disasters, including droughts, floods, landslides, desert locusts.
“On top of this, we are dealing with climate change crisis. The centre will provide timely early warnings so that the governments can take early action,” he said.
Amdihun said the facility will also be a centre of excellence for capacity building for the member countries mainly on earth observation technologies, hazard monitoring and risk assessment.
The centre will have duty officers to monitor hazards and issue early warnings to save lives and livelihoods.
Droughts are not only affecting livelihoods but also development gains.
“We will be starting with droughts, desert locusts, floods and food security,” he said.
Amdihun said data generated will inform policy measures, contingency plans and early action in anticipation of an impending disaster.
With support from the Italian government and partnership with other organisations, the centre cost around Sh25 million (US$250,000) to establish.
Three duty officers have been trained but are set to be cascaded to other member states.
Source: The Star