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ZIMBABWE / EL NINO
STORY: ZIMBABWE / EL NIÑO
TRT: 02:45
SOURCE: WFP / EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / SHONA / NATS
DATELINE: 17 MAY 2016, ROME, ITALY / 22 APRIL 2016, MWENZI, ZIMBABWE / FILE
FILE - EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY - UNDATED
1. Various shots, animation showing Sentinel-2 satellite over earth
FILE - EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY - 9 DECEMBER 2015, MWENZI, ZIMBABWE
2. Various shots, satellite images from Sentinel-2 showing a drought affected field
22 APRIL 2016, MWENZI, ZIMBABWE
3. Various shots, failed crop
17 MAY 2016, ROME, ITALY
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Rogerio Bonifacio, Climate Analyst, World Food Programme (WFP):
“As a result of the current El Nino, Zimbabwe suffered one of the driest seasons in the past 35 years, probably as bad as the 91/92 season, the season, the last season with a very significant drought and we expect very significant impacts on crop production and water availability and pasture resources.”
22 APRIL 2016, MWENZI, ZIMBABWE
5. Various shots, failed crop
6. Various shots, empty grain market
7. Various shots, vegetable market
8. Various shots, good millet and sorghum crops as result of WFP food secure project.
17 MAY 2016, ROME, ITALY
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Rogerio Bonifacio, Climate Analyst, World Food Programme (WFP):
“Sentinel-2 is a brand new satellite that provides very high resolution data with a very high frequency of observation. And what this does is to allow us to better estimate the impacts of El Niño on crop production planted areas and likely agricultural outcomes for all countries. In particular, where WFP has a project named “Food Secure”, with interventions at farm level; it will allow us to evaluate better what the result of that intervention will be.”
22 APRIL 2016, MWENZI, ZIMBABWE
10. Various shots, farmer checking his crops
11. SOUNDBITE (Shona) Chigopho, Farmer:
“Food secure programme is helpful to us; it will assist us in reducing hunger. If you compare the field I used conservation agriculture and the one I did not there is big difference. The one I used conservation agriculture shows that I will harvest far much better than the one I did without. Even a smallholder farmer without draft power can use conservation farming and harvest more than the one who has. So for me this is a good programme.”
12. Various shots, good millet and sorghum crops
In partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA), The World Food Programme (WFP) is using data from the Sentinel-2 satellite to monitor the effects of climatic changes in agricultural and pastoral areas.
This will help WFP plan and respond to climatic events and conditions that can cause poor harvests and hunger.
Zimbabwe is one of a number of countries in southern Africa that has declared a drought disaster this year due to the impact of a strong El Niño weather event which meant reduced rainfall for much of southern Africa late last year and during the early months of this year - the same period as the growing season in the region.
SOUNDBITE (English) Rogerio Bonifacio, Climate Analyst, World Food Programme (WFP):
“As a result of the current El Nino, Zimbabwe suffered one of the driest seasons in the past 35 years, probably as bad as the 91/92 season, the season, the last season with a very significant drought and we expect very significant impacts on crop production and water availability and pasture resources.”
Designed as a two-satellite mission, Sentinel-2 is providing imagery on a five-day revisit cycle. Sentinel-2 is a polar-orbiting, multispectral high-resolution imaging mission for land monitoring to provide, for example, imagery of vegetation, soil and water cover, inland waterways and coastal areas. Its camera sensor has been designed to detect very specific wavelengths of light that detail the health of plants.
SOUNDBITE (English) Rogerio Bonifacio, Climate Analyst, World Food Programme (WFP):
“Sentinel-2 is a brand new satellite that provides very high resolution data with a very high frequency of observation. And what this does is to allow us to better estimate the impacts of El Niño on crop production planted areas and likely agricultural outcomes for all countries. In particular, where WFP has a project named “Food Secure”, with interventions at farm level; it will allow us to evaluate better what the result of that intervention will be.”
Food Secure Climate Resilience (FoodSECuRE) is a weather-based funding mechanism launched late last year in partnership with the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation. This supports some 550 smallholder farmers in small grains production. Participants received drought-tolerant seeds and training in climate-smart agriculture. Initial evidence shows positive yields despite limited rains during much of the growing season.
SOUNDBITE (Shona) Chigopho, Farmer:
“Food secure programme is helpful to us; it will assist us in reducing hunger. If you compare the field I used conservation agriculture and the one I did not there is big difference. The one I used conservation agriculture shows that I will harvest far much better than the one I did without. Even a smallholder farmer without draught power can use conservation farming and harvest more than the one who has. So for me this is a good programme.”
An estimated 2.8 million people are food insecure in Zimbabwe as a result of drought last year and another year of drought during the most recent growing season. The current harvest, assessed as “poor” or “a failure” in much of the southern part of the country, will offer only limited temporary relief. An ongoing food security assessment will provide updated data on food insecure numbers in coming months.
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