Water for Food project makes Bengali farmers more resilient to climate change

Water & Agrifood Water for Food Programme

Weather Schools provide training and capacity building to farmers on the usage and interpretation of the information

Contact

Roy Agterbos

Project Manager Events and Business Development

+31 70 304 3700

r.agterbos@nwp.nl

How can climate information services help Bengali farmers achieve climate-proof food production? And are the farmers willing to purchase a detailed daily weather forecast app to help make agricultural production decisions? These were the key questions for Weather Impact, New Amsterdam Consult, and their local partner Delta Research Initiative, who have joined forces in a consortium. They won the Water for Food proposal about a year ago, which meant that they received financial support for their project from the Water for Food Programme, which is initiated by the Netherlands Water Partnership (NWP) and financed by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature, and Food Quality. The Programme stimulates and facilitates the Dutch water sector and agrifood partners to develop high-potential, sustainable, and bankable business cases in the water-agrifood nexus to improve food security.

Climate change and salinisation have severe impacts on agricultural production in Bangladesh. In particular, the Lower Ganges Delta in the southern part of the country is a vulnerable area due to increased climate variability. Farmers in the Delta would be helped if they could make data-driven decisions about their farming business. That’s where the Dutch consortium comes in. Their goal is to provide daily weather forecasts combined with agricultural management advice, monsoon onset alerts and monthly seasonal outlooks to farmers in this vulnerable region. This enables the farmers to make substantiated decisions about water management, irrigation, the planting calendar, and extreme weather mitigation, resulting in improved resilience to climate change.

Training and capacity building

The consortium partners strengthen each other through their knowledge and experience in different areas. Weather Impact brought meteorological experience and successful results from comparable projects in Africa (e.g. Kenya, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia). New Amsterdam Consult supports the project in terms of business development, research, monitoring and evaluation, while local partner Delta Research Initiative connects the agri-weather advisories to the end-user through Weather Schools that provide training and capacity building to farmers on the usage and interpretation of the information. Dr Stefan Ligtenberg, Managing Director of Weather Impact BV states that “Receiving daily user-friendly text messages with high-resolution weather advice is rare for Bangladesh's farmers, so training and capacity building are essential.’’

Receiving daily user-friendly text messages with high-resolution weather advice is rare amongst Bangladesh's farmers, so training and capacity building are essential.

Dr. Stefan Ligtenberg

Managing Director of Weather Impact BV

From design to introduction training

The first step at the start of the project was to design and develop agri-weather forecasts that include the desired parameters, visualisation, and frequency. Based on advice from local partner Delta Research Initiative and results from a field survey to assess the baseline, farmers’ needs and wishes were documented. Data was received at the end of February, and the meteorological team was able to quickly set up the algorithm for Bangladesh and configure the Weather4Farmers app.

The app is now fully operational in Bangladesh, both in English and Bengali. It provides location-specific daily weather forecasts (on temperature, precipitation, wind speed, and cloud coverage) every six hours. It also includes alerts concerning the onset and status of the monsoon, extreme weather, and advice on the suitability of the weather for certain activities (e.g. spraying pesticides, fertilising, and weeding). The consortium then organised an introduction to the app for Bengali farmers at 10 Weather Schools in five districts. The training reached about 200-250 farmers.

Training with Bengali farmers

Commercialising the service

A survey conducted among Bengali farmers has shown that there is a great willingness to purchase an app that allows them to receive weather information to help in taking agricultural production decisions. The majority of the surveyed farmers (95%) are willing to pay in the range of EUR 0.21-EUR 0.51 per month to receive detailed agri-weather information. Although there are other private providers of weather information, this app offers a unique combination of weather and agri information tailored to individual farmers.

To support the business case, the consortium organised a business seminar inviting relevant Bangladeshi partners to explore ways of collaboration to commercialise their service. The meeting has led to insightful ideas and suggestions about their business model from various partners. The consortium has also established contacts with relevant authorities, primarily the local Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE). “The best model is to take up business cases in collaboration with the Government so that there is institutional embedding,” Ligtenberg notes.

Introduction training at Weather Schools in Bangladesh

Rolling out to large numbers

Currently, over 1,000 farmers are connected. The project aims to expand the number of connected farmers in the region to at least 2,000 and scale up to other areas in cooperation with DAE. To this end, a follow-up phase and growth model is in operation to connect 2,000 farmers to this service within a year. During this period it is partly being subsidised by Bengali investors, companies, and the consortium, who are hoping to eventually connect 6,000 farmers in four years’ time. The long-term goal is to roll out the app to large numbers of farmers.

The best model is to take up business cases in collaboration with the government so that there is institutional embedding

Dr. Stefan Ligtenberg

Managing Director of Weather Impact BV

Catalyse the development of water-related business cases

The multi-year Water for Food Programme seeks to catalyse the development of water-related business cases in the agri-food sector through the cooperation of Dutch water sector players in consortia that focus on potential business cases in specific local markets internationally. This illustrates that business models can be achieved through adopting an integrated nexus approach and by focusing on the aspect of business cases. The longer-term objective is to establish a sustainable Water and Food hub that connects players in the water and agrifood sector to explore business opportunities and to bring successful pilots to the next stage of scaling up, replication, or adaptation to other regions. The Programme’s long-term objective is improved food security, sustainable water use, and protection of ecosystems and biodiversity. The multi-year Water for Food Programme was initiated by the Netherlands Water Partnership (NWP) and financed by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature, and Food Quality.