The 39th Greater Horn of Africa Climate Outlook Forum Opens in Nairobi

Dr Richard Lesiyampe addressing the Forum

Nairobi, 23-02-2015: The IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Center (ICPAC) in conjunction with the Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD) this morning inaugurated its 39th Greater Horn of Africa Climate Outlook Forum (GHACOF 39) in Nairobi with Dr Richard Lesiyampe, Principal Secretary State Department of Environment and Natural Resources of Kenya, as Guest of Honour, and in the presence of , Mr Mohamed Moussa, Director-Agriculture and Environment Division-IGAD, Mr John Mungai, Representative of the East African Community (EAC), Dr JUNG Hong-Sang, Vice-Administrator-Korean Meteorological Administration, Dr Guleid Artan, ICPAC Director, and Mr James Kongoti, Director of Kenya Meteorological Department.

This Forum, which is to close on February 25th, is aimed at formulating a regional consensus climate outlook for the March-May 2015 rainfall season over the Greater Horn of Africa region; which the Guest of Honour highlighted in his opening remarks. He added that the forum was also the opportunity to provide a regional interaction platform for the policy makers, climate scientists, as well as the users of climate information from various sectors (…)”. Before officially opening the forum, Dr Richard Lesiyampe that the region was looking forward to the “forecast that will guide in putting in place the appropriate plans for the future”.

Mr Mohamed Moussa, speaking for the Executive Secretary of IGAD, noted that the participants have been drawn from various socio-economic sectors from the region and other continents such as Asia, Europe and America. “This is indeed a proof of the wide and important mandate of this forum” he affirmed. He thanked ICPAC for the work done “in collaboration with the Kenya Meteorological Services to disseminate downscaled climate prediction products to farmers for adaptation to climate variability (…)”.

Mr John Mungai took the opportunity to announce that in order to solidify and cement the partnership between ICPAC and the EAC, the two institutions will “be seeking to conclude an expanded memorandum of Understanding during the course of the forum”.

Users of climate information who are participating in GHACOF 39 are drawn from health, disaster management, agriculture and food security, water resources and media sectors as well as non-governmental organisations and development partners. During this three-day Forum, participants are to provide sector specific assessment of the skill and usefulness of the previous regional consensus climate outlooks. and thus formulate mitigation strategies for specific sectors based on the consensus regional climate outlook for the season ahead.

The GHA region comprises Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

This three-day forum is sponsored by the World Bank.