SMHI was a cooperation partner to Oxfam in this initiative with the role to work with Zimbabwe hydro-meteorological institutions for capacity development. The partners, including SMHI, worked towards more relevant weather and climate information to users. The overall goal of the CARL Phase 1 project was to improve the well-being of Zimbabwe’s rural population and reduce poverty and food insecurity in the face of climate change.
The underlying development objective was to improve the climate resilience of agricultural production and rural livelihoods for 6000 households in three rural districts: Buhera, Gutu and Bulilima.This was aimed to be achieved through three interrelated outcomes:
- Targeted vulnerable communities increase adoption of climate resilient livelihoods and agricultural production systems;
- Rural women and youth in targeted vulnerable districts increase their income and economic power in sustainable agriculture value chains, and
- Support institutions have strengthened technical capacities to address mitigation and adaptation concerns of rural livelihoods.
SMHI activities are aimed at developing capacity to better provide climate and weather information to affected communities. Stepwise improvements to managing and analysing climate data, and producing more informative weather forecasts, including warnings, contribute to reaching this outcome.
CARL Phase 1 finished in 2022 and Phase 2 followed in 2023.