By Lillian Ntshwarisang

Department of Meteorological Services

Phone: +267 3612200

Email: lntshwarisang@gov.bw/

lntshwarisang@gmail.com

Introduction

Mandate of DMS

Function of the Department

Services to specific sectors

Climate Services provide

Information dissemination

Stakeholder collaboration

Rainfall in the country is highly variable in space and time.

Drought is the most frequent extreme weather event. Drought

adversely affects the already fragile food and agricultural

situation and seriously impairs the rural economy and socio-

cultural structures. About 70% of the rural households derive

part of their livelihoods from agriculture and crop production

is mainly based on rain-fed farming. (DCMS, Botswana 2014)

The IPCC assessment report has indicated that parts

of sub-regions in Africa are among the most

vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate

variability and change coupled with extreme weather

events. Botswana also vulnerable

Climate information, products and services is

therefore vital for application in agriculture and food

security as well as other climate sensitive sectors.

The Department of Meteorological Services (DMS) is

to provide quality meteorological information and

advisory services for the protection of life and property

and for sustainable development.

Providing critical information services to users in sectors

including Agriculture, Aviation, Construction, Health,

Military, Academic Research Institutions, Insurance and

Recreation and the general public .

Playing a pivotal role in providing relevant information and

advisory services to alleviate the impact of natural and man-

induced disasters.

National Framework for Climate Services (NFCS) is not yet

established in Botswana

Provides accurate and reliable weather forecasts for the public and issue special weather forecasts and warnings as and when necessary.

Exclusively responsible for providing meteorological services, including weather forecasts, to civil aviation industry and the military

Issues meteorological data and advice for use in water resource monitoring, planning and management.

Provides accurate and reliable weather forecasts for the public and issue special weather forecasts and warnings as and when necessary.

Supplies climate data for use in the infrastructure design,

construction, renewable energy and other sectors of the

economy, and in the identification and selection of

climate sensitive technologies.

Provides climate data for environmental protection and

assessment applications.

Issues meteorological data and advice for use in water

resource monitoring, planning and management.

Provides climate data for environmental protection and

assessment applications.

Provides observed and future climate change scenarios.

SERVICES TO SPECIFIC SECTORS

The agriculture industry in Botswana is rain-fed.

It relies on elements such as seasonal rainfall, mean

and extreme temperatures to determine drought

vulnerability, the length of the growing season to and

improve planning and decision-making in crops types

and yielding.

The information assists in maintaining a sustainable

level of food production.

The construction industry is reliant on understanding

the potential risk of inclement weather and climate

conditions, when planning project completion

timelines.

Weather and climate data creates value for energy

companies, as they make decisions to generate, buy or

sell energy across regional power grids BPC/Eskom

and other players in the Southern Africa Power Pooling

(SAP)

Environmental consultants, private companies, and

academic scientists often use weather and climate data

for variety of applications.

◦ Environmental Impact Plan

◦ Environmental Impact Assessment

◦ Energy resource mapping for Botswana

◦ Urban Development Plan

◦ For inclusion in the National Spatial Plan report

The short and long-term status of weather and climate

must be considered in designing, planning and

executing a variety of construction projects

Long term predictions allow agencies to better

anticipate fire fighting needs and improve fire

preparedness.

Insurance industry regularly use meteorological

information to measure the risk associated with natural

or man-made catastrophes.

Professionals in the legal industry make use of weather

and climate data, to assist with proving or disproving if

environmental conditions may have influenced any

circumstances surrounding a judicial case.

Many forms of transportation rely on weather for safe

and efficient travel.

The air transport sector is particularly vulnerable to

weather induced traffic delays and safety due to bad

weather

Many local and regional tourist destinations offer

certain activities based upon the local climate

Information given assists water resource managers to

respond to high temperatures, high evaporation rates

,drought and floods challenges.

Climate Services/Products

Provided

Daily Forecasts-Issued to the general public and agricultural communities. Contains forecast for the following data for all districts. The forecast include cloud cover, temperature and rainfall.

Five days Forecast- For agricultural communities and general public. Contains forecast for the next five days.

Information on the impact of the forecast provided and some advice on how to minimize the impact.

Contains observed climate statistics on monthly basis.

Weather Summary –Rainfall situation and Temperature

Weather and Climate Outlook

Drought Monitoring –Vegetation condition (VCI)

Drought Risk map

Advice-Extreme hot temperatures, the public is advised to avoid prolong stay under the sun

Impacts of the-e.g Poor vegetation condition, animal feeding is therefore necessary

Describes the expected rainfall outlook. Given to the farmers and general public during the rainfall season

Presented in three monthly overlapping periods; October to December (OND), November to January (NDJ), December to February (DJF), and January to March (JFM)

Contains information on the performance of the previous season, seasonal rainfall distribution

used for early warning, contingency planning, policy and decision in the climate sensitive sectors

for socio-economic benefit.

The information is provided on request. Major clients for the information include Farmers, Government Departments, Statistics Botswana, NGOS ,Research institutions, tertiary, environmental consultants).

The information requested include Climatological summaries, rainfall trend, climate statistics for specified areas and time. Rainfall and temperature maps; temperature and rainfall statistics mostly used by research Institution in undertaking research in climate change. Future rainfall and temperature projection.

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1970/71

1973/74

1976/77

1979/80

1982/83

1985/86

1988/89

1991/92

1994/95

1997/98

2000/01

2003/04

2006/07

2009/10

2012/13

An

om

alies

Gaborone Annual Rainfall (July-June)

Anomalies Linear (Anomalies)

Special Alert for informing stakeholders on potential risks ◦ Heat waves

Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) -An international standard format for emergency alerting and public warning-Implemented in October 2015 ◦ Public Weather Services (PWS)

Some stakeholders also trained on CAP at the department; officers from Department of Water Affairs (DWA), National Disaster Management Office (NDMO), Botswana RedCross Society and Media (Sunday Standard).

Presentations at Kgotla

Presentations at District council meetings

Stakeholder workshops

Radio and Radio call in programme

Talk show (Television)

Press Release

Email

Provided to Agriculture Ministry for Extension Services

Social media-Facebook

Botswana has a strong network of stakeholders and

organizations dealing with drought monitoring and mitigation

that include;

National Early Warning Technical Committee (EWTC),

Inter-Ministerial Drought Committee and Rural

Development Council. Institutions that monitor drought

comprise of Ministry of Agriculture; Ministry of Health;

Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development;

Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Tourism;

and Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources.

The EWTC makes planned trips round the country to assess

the impact of weather and climate on crops, rangeland,

animals, and water resources as well as the impact of pests and

diseases on the crop. This information is used to advice the

Inter-Ministerial Drought Committee (IMDC) on food

situation.

BDMS is a member of the IMDC, which discusses reports

from the EWTC

THANK YOU