The County Government of Homa Bay has unveiled a Climate Information Center.
The centre will be used in collating, analyzing, packaging up, and distributing climate data on variables such as temperature, rainfall, wind, soil moisture, lake conditions, and extreme weather indicators.
While presiding over the function at the departmental offices of Energy, Forestry, and Climate Change, Governor Gladys Wanga said this data will be crucial to farmers in the County to make the right decisions for their farming activities and also to decision-makers and policymakers in the County.
The center will also have other capabilities including serving as a call center for disaster risk management.
“The agro-weather information we shall be disseminating to our farmers and our fishermen will be crucial for them in enabling their proper planning and execution of their farm activities,” the Governor said.
The Homa Bay County Climate Change Policy, 2022 recommends the use of appropriate technology for reliable data collection, analysis, and dissemination of climate information.
This has been planned for in the Homa Bay County Climate Change Action Plan 2023-2027 and has now been implemented in the form of the Homa Bay County Climate Information Center.
The technology infrastructure has been provided by Tomorrow Now, a climate tech service provider while the county government will be partnering with Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) in providing information to the farmers’ on-farm practices and policies based on the climate and weather information generated by the Call Center.
The farmers and the general public can use the Toll-Free Number 0800000870 to reach the call centre.