RANET Radio and Internet for Communication of HydroMeteorological and Climate Related Information

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RANETRadio and Internet for Communication of
Hydro-Meteorological and Climate Related
Information

• Mr. Joshua G. Wairoto1 and Samuel Mwangi2
• Kenya Meteorological Department
• P. O. Box 30259 00100 NAIROBI
• Email 1joshua_wairoto_at_yahoo.co.uk
• 2smgathumbi_at_yahoo.com

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INTRODUCTION

• Started by African Centre of Meteorological
  Applications for Development (ACMAD) and
  University of Oklahoma.
• Supported by USAID through NOAA OFDA
• Many other partners
• Countries establishing their own RANET projects.
  Eg. Uganda, Zambia, Niger, Chad, Senegal etc.
• Asian countries joining RANET

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Genesis of RANET

• The RANET program began in Africa in 1998/9,
  following the experience of Seasonal Outlook
  Forums. It was recognized that benefits from
  advances in science and applications could only
  be realized if populations outside central cities
  could be reached.
• - Africa 1998/99/00 -gt present
• -Pacific 2003 -gt present
• - Asia 2005

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WHY RANET?

• To mitigate effects of extreme weather and
  climate events such as droughts, floods, frost
  etc. that may cause,
• population displacement,
• famine,
• proliferation of diseases,
• affect infrastructure etc
• Climate and weather play a vital role in many
  human activities such as agriculture, energy
  production, wildlife management, disaster
  mitigation, health etc.
• To disseminate other developmental information

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Population Displacement
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Flooding
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Damage to Infrastructure
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Urban Flooding

• Paved surfaces poor drainage exacerbate
  flooding in urban areas

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Drought
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What is RANET

• RANET is a cooperative effort of various
  national, regional, and international partners,
  who seek to
• Make weather and related environmental
  information more accessible and useful to rural
  and resource poor populations in order to aid
  day-to-day resource decisions and prepare against
  natural hazards.
• Improve the dissemination capacities of national
  hydro-meteorological and related national
  services, NGOs, and other information producers,
  thereby increasing the profile of and active
  value of these organizations to local
  populations.

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OBJECTIVES

• Capacity Building
• Building of partnerships
• Resource mobilization
• Multidisciplinary team of experts
• Dissemination partners
• Establishment of communication system
• RANET is gender sensitive

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Building Partnerships

• Partners
• USAID /NOAA
• ACMAD
• WorldSpace
• Freeplay Foundation
• Coca-Cola
• Vondafone/Safaricom

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Communication system

• Existing media infrastructure
• System consisting of-
• Internet
• WorldSpace Digital Receiver
• Computer
• Rural radio stations to install
• Wind-up radio

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RANET in Africa

• Algeria
• Congo-Brazza
• Congo-Kinshasa
• Ethiopia
• Guinea-Bissau
• Guinee-Conakry
• Kenya
• Madagascar
• Morocco
• Mozambique
• Niger
• Senegal
• Uganda
• Zambia

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WorldSpace multimedia technology
WORLDSPACE RADIO
AFRISTAR SATELLITE
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AfriStar/AsiaStar coverage
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Sample First Voice Int. Multimedia Content
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Sample Climate Weather Products
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The WANTOK Radio

• The WANTOK radio is a product of WANTOK
  ENTERPRSES LTD, CANADA. This is a complete Radio
  Broadcast Station contained in a single suitcase.
  
• It is an important component of the RANET Project
  process.
• Total cost of equipment listed, CIF________
  USUS5368.00

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THE WANTOK RADIO

• FEATURES.
• Fully Portable but can be installed as a
  permanent station
• The console portion of the system is ideal for
  community access to existing networks
• It readily accepts any audio source for
  re-broadcasting including satellite and/or
  off-air programming.
• Simple to use and inexpensive
• Has a reach of 25 Km radius
• Can be Solar powered

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A community Radio Station
WorldSpace digital radio receiver protected by
wooden box at low amplitude FM radio station in
Bankilare, Niger.
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THE RANET PROJET
Establishing mechanisms for dissemination of
value-added weather and climate prediction
products to rural areas of Africa.
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BayGen wind-up radio
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WORLDSPACE AFRICA LEARNING CHANNEL CONTENT Cont.

• News
• -IRIN (Integrated Regional Information Network)
  Weekly News Summary.
• Technology
• -VITA (Volunteers In Technical Assistance)
• Worldspace Foundation
• -Worldspace Formation Pages
• -Demo Areas

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Products Access

• Downloading web pages using WorldSpace radio or
  computer card- ALC
• or
• www.cip.ogp.noaa.gov/rcp/a/

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• Agriculture
• -Farm Radio
• Climate Information
• -RANET Climate Information
• Community Development
• -Arid Lands Information Network
• Environment
• -Forests
• -Climate Change
• Health
• -Satelife and African Health Partners Health
  Knowledge Network
• -Hellen Keller Institute

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RANET-KENYA MISSION

• To communicate weather and climate and other
  developmental information, predictions, Warnings
  and other public-good information to rural
  communities.

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Capacity Building

• RANET Launch Workshops
• Policy makers
• Farmers
• Herders
• Media
• Workshop on Community radio management 4 sites
• Many RANET Demonstrations
• Three team training sessions for operators

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Building Partnerships

• Multidisciplinary experts
• KARI
• Min. of Agriculture
• Min. of Health
• LEWS
• DMCN

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Building Partnerships

• Dissemination partners
• Media
• Ramogi FM-Luo Language, daily
• NGOs Others
• NALEP - 5
• ALIN-EA - 13
• KARI - 3
• KMD - 5
• World Vision - 1 (to add 5)

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Success stories

• Niger
• Over 150 community FM radio stations and 50
  community information centers
• Uganda and Kenya
• Successful involvement of NGOs
• Uganda has established cooperation with private
  FM radios

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Challenges

• Unfavorable legislation
• Example of duty problems
• Licensing of rural radios
• Permits and allocation of frequencies
• Resources
• Computers and other equipment

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Recommendations

• Policy change to facilitate acquisition of RANET
  equipment. Licensing, and duty issues.
• Adoption of RANET as a means of communicating
  Weather and Climate issues to the rural
  communities (include adaptive strategies to cope
  with climate change)

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THANK YOU