Nineteenth Southern Africa Regional Climate Outlook Forum

The Nineteenth Southern Africa Regional Climate Outlook Forum was held in Kinshasa, DRC from 26 to 28 August 2015 to present a consensus outlook for the 2015/2016 rainfall season over the SADC region. The Forum formulated information products including the six month regional seasonal climate outlook forecast.

SARCOF-19 seasonal forecast showed that the SADC region was likely to receive normal to below-normal rainfall for the period October to December 2015 and the January to March 2016.

It was, however, noted that most Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) northern Angola, southern part of Tanzania, north-eastern Zambia, northern Malawi, northern Mozambique, Seychelles and eastern Madagascar, are more likely to receive normal to above-normal rainfall. “Only the northern-most Tanzania is more likely to receive above-normal to normal rainfall in October-November-December,”  it was reported.

The Forum held under the theme “Advancing Climate Information Services for Health Resilience Development in Southern Africa Region” included weather and climate prediction experts from the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) of the SADC Region, climate scientists from universities and research institutions, regional and international organisations engaged in climate modeling and prediction, user community, decision-makers and the media.

In crafting the theme for the Forum, SADC Climate Service Centre (CSC) and other partners realised that some diseases are intrinsically linked climate patterns therefore signaling that public health, weather and climate play a significant role in people's health and also that changes in temperature, precipitation patterns, and extreme events could enhance the spread of some diseases. It was also noted that these impacts compromise food security and threaten human health through malnutrition, spread of infectious diseases and that the worst of these effects are projected among vulnerable populations. Hence the involvement of other sectors such as the health and other development partners.

The Forum was organised by SADC CSC, METTELSAT and other SADC NMHSs. It was funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB), Framework of Institutional Support to African Climate Institutions Project (ISACIP) under management by African Centre of Meteorological Application for Development (ACMAD). Additional support has also been made available by UN family.