The two institutions met on October 07, 2024, in Yaoundé.
The meeting room of the Support Service for Local Development Initiatives (SAILD) was the setting for exchanges between representatives of the organization and those of the Ministry of Transport through its National Meteorology Office (MINT-DMN). The aim was to assess the degree of collaboration between the two structures in terms of exchanging and exploiting agrometeorological information. Some ten representatives of the two structures took part. Foremost among them were SAILD Secretary General Hozier Nana Chimi and MINT-DMN Agrometeorological Department Head Maeva Ngo Mbii.
The day was marked by a presentation of agro-meteorological information statistics published on SAILD platforms (website and Facebook pages). The presentation provided an assessment of the actions the organization has taken to popularize this information. “The SAILD websites are quite accessible. On the Facebook page ”The Farmer’s Voice”, we recorded for the 2 posts of September 2024, 2692 views and 2631 people reached”, said Magloire Biwolé Ondoua, journalist at The Farmer’s Voice.
Nearly 3,000 people reached
The Head of the Agro-Meteorological Department at MINT-DMN was quick to express her appreciation of these satisfactory results. “I salute SAILD for the work they have done. The condensed version of the texts provides the information farmers are looking for in a nutshell. The simplified information provided in a common writing style makes it easy for any user to understand the message conveyed”, confided Maeva Ngo. She added: “I also appreciate the fact that the alerts are highlighted so that agropastoral users can know exactly what problems are coming up in their area, and prepare themselves as best they can.”
Discussions at the meeting were fruitful for both parties. SAILD undertook to continue disseminating timely meteorological information, which is highly perishable; and suggested simplifying meteorological terms for better understanding of climatic analyses at farmer level.
The expectations of the National Meteorology Office were also clearly defined. “SAILD has 50 agricultural advisors spread across certain regions of Cameroon. We see this as an opportunity for us to work with these advisors to provide close meteorological assistance to agro-pastoral users. We want the organization to facilitate this, especially at the level of field visits, so that we can talk directly to farmers and raise their awareness of the positive impact that weather forecasts can have on agricultural yields”, explained Maeva Ngo.
Compliance with these recommendations will enable SAILD and MINT-DMN to apply themselves more effectively to the dissemination of agrometeorological information.
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