Excerpt from reliefweb.int
One of the most striking features upon descent into Comoros’ Moroni Airport is the breathtaking view of the magnificent ocean. The beauty of the grey beaches is intense, juxtaposed with the effects of cooled lava, carcasses of used cars and uncollected waste — a reminder of the underlying development challenges that lay ahead. From the airport, we set off to visit a government-led initiative on livelihoods and economic empowerment in the agriculture sector supported by UNDP. En route, we see groups of women waiting to fetch water with their jerrycans. Plastic waste strewn by the roadside, a feature of the road that hugs the shoreline.
However, when we arrived at the Centre Rural de Development Economique (Rural Centre for Economic Development – CRDE) in Diboini, we saw firsthand how some of the challenges just observed can be turned into opportunities, bringing transformative change for the people.
An automatic weather station system (also covering other parts of the island) deployed through financing from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) for the Reinforcement of Comoros’ Resilience to Climate-Related Hazards and Climate Change (Renforcement de la résilience des Comores aux risques de catastrophes liées au changement et à la variabilité climatique) has strengthened data collection and improved weather and climate forecasting. This data, key to inform decision-making in the face of climate-induced risks, is relayed to the Technical Department of Meteorology (Direction Technique de la Météorologie), where technicians, trained with resources from the GEF and other partners, issue regular forecasts to smallholder farmers. In short, with this critical investment, communities –mostly women– are better positioned to plan agriculture activities, and can therefore expect better yields, in spite of a range of climate- and weather-induced risks.
To increase agricultural productivity, promote food security and generate more lucrative earnings for farmers, the Government of Comoros and UNDP, with partners’ support, are developing improved varieties of bananas, cassava, sweet potatoes and ginger; training para-veterinarians; increasing the availability of veterinary medicines and improving animal husbandry practices. These efforts have already borne fruit, such as the production of improved breeds of milch cattle, dramatically changing stakes for the benefit of the people.
