An interactive near real-time early warning agricultural system for northern farmers in Namibia
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Date
2024
Authors
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Publisher
University of Namibia
Abstract
Preparedness is a vital aspect of disaster mitigation, management, and recovery,
especially in agriculture. However, it is quite challenging to prepare for unforeseeable
disasters without adequate information on the nature of the disasters, their probable
start, and their cessation. In the absence of sufficient disaster predictions and early
notices, a community’s readiness is at its lowest. This makes that community
extremely vulnerable to the losses associated with the disasters. Meanwhile,
agriculture is one of the sectors that has been exposed to different inevitable climatic
threats over the years in Namibia. Inconsistencies in broadcasting weather information
and early disaster warnings are some of the factors that hinder farmers’ preparedness
and mitigation of climatic disasters. Therefore, this study intended to explore the
development and use of an early warning agricultural system to contribute to resilience
and preparedness for hazards and threats by generating comprehensive and timely
warnings for farmers in northern Namibia. The study started with a review of existing
early warning agricultural systems in the northern regions of Namibia. Subsequently,
a mixed research method was employed to conduct a survey in Outapi and
Anamulenge constituencies to get 15 commercial and 73 communal farmers’ past
experiences with disasters, information sharing, their expectations, and readiness to
adopt the system in mitigating the impact of disasters. Lastly, area-specific historic
and near real-time data streams from Namibia Meteorological Service were obtained,
and a near real-time interactive early warning agricultural system was ultimately
developed using the prototype software development methodology. The study
revealed that the use of early warning agricultural systems among Namibian farmers
in mitigating agricultural losses is open for exploration, with a high possibility of
feasibility to a portion of farmers that has technical resources and skills to adopt the
system. However, it may come with limitations to the other portion of farmers with
limited access to resources and skills
Description
A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Information Technology
Keywords
Agriculture, Disasters, Early Warnings, Mitigation, Namibia, University of Namibia