Zimbabwe is among four countries chosen to pilot an online climate change knowledge hub that seeks to promote national and regional sharing of information on activities on climate action being undertaken in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the regional bloc announced on Wednesday.
According to the COMESA Secretariat, the pilot phase of the COMESA Climate Change Programme Virtual Knowledge Management Portal, which was activated on July 14, is being implemented in eSwatini, Madagascar, Seychelles and Zimbabwe.
“The portal is expected to increase understanding of critical issues around climate change, while providing a broad knowledge-hub to strengthen cooperation between technical organisations and member states,” the body said.
It responds to the Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) pilot programmes coordinated by COMESA involving the five countries and is “part of an initiative to organise key information in one place and enable the region to access and share knowledge with ease.”
The portal was developed by the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) and would be populated with content by member states.
The majority of COMESA’s 21 member states are highly vulnerable to climate-induced risks, including crop failure and livestock losses due to prolonged drought and more frequent and severe floods.
JN/APA