Forecasting for early action in eastern Africa: the first Anticipation Hub community conversation
Forecasts are an essential element of anticipatory action. They tell us when, where and even how a natural hazard will affect people, informing the triggers that release funds for anticipatory actions.
In the first in a new series of online ‘Community conversations’, Ahmed Amdihun from the IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC) talked to Jemimah Wakini Maina from the Kenya Red Cross about ICPAC’s work in this field, how it plans to scale up anticipatory action in eastern Africa - and the challenges to achieving this.
ICPAC, which recently became a partner of the Anticipation Hub, provides climate information services to 11 countries in eastern Africa. These services include seasonal forecasts and hazard alerts - everything from floods and droughts to pests. It is also part of the Greater Horn of Africa climate outlook forum. This role allows ICPAC to work with partners from different sectors, both across its 11 member states and internationally. In this role, ICPAC can inform decision-makers and collaborate with partners to anticipate forecast hazards.
Following Ahmed’s presentation, the audience asked questions about ICPAC’s role in anticipatory action initiatives, and also shared their own experiences working in this field, such as the challenge of getting stakeholders to engage with the anticipatory action approach.
You can watch a recording of the event on our YouTube channel. The presentation from the event can be downloaded here.
Anticipation Hub community conversations
This webinar was the first in a series that will enable continuous connectivity, interaction and exchange between the Anticipation Hub’s partners and the wider community of anticipatory action actors. The objectives are to:
- create a structured space to nurture and connect the anticipatory action community, to exchange opportunities, and to inspire new ideas and innovations
- bridge connections between practitioners, scientists and policy-makers / government actors, especially between the global, regional, national and local levels
- facilitate opportunities for peer-to-peer learning and exchange between the actors who champion anticipatory action, especially with governments at the national level
- meet the changing needs, priorities and interests of partners through a flexible and adaptive approach, one that encourages open, honest and critical discussion
- help the community to grow by creating a welcoming, inclusive space for new people interested in anticipatory action.
The community conversations complement our ongoing exchange activities, such as working groups, webinars, mingles and the dialogue platforms. They are co-organized with Anticipation Hub partners. The next community conversation will be on 4 March 2022, where Erin Coughlan de Perez will talk to Pablo Suarez about the climate science in the recent IPCC report - and what it means for anticipatory action.