Defining Drought for Insurance

Documenting Needs

Documenting Needs

Kickoff Workshop

The following workshop report is a summary for the TAMSAT-ALERT and SatWIN-ALERT workshop held at the IRI from the 17th -18th  July 2018.

TAMSAT-ALERT and SatWIN-ALERT are closely linked research and applications projects. Led by the University of Reading TAMSAT group, and the FIST team at the IRI, these projects aim to support agricultural livelihoods in Africa through utilizing climate and forecasting information.

TAMSAT-ALERT is a decision support tool which uses daily satellite rainfall estimates over Africa, translating data which can then be used by governmental and nongovernmental organizations for planning decision support. SatWIN-ALERT works to address the needs of insurance sectors by communicating information and answering identified research questions.

The workshop was organized to bring together partners and interested parties of the two projects to discuss outcomes for SatWIN-ALERT, and document insurance research questions. It provided a space for fostering discussion on basis risk research questions, and exploring fundamental environmental and socio-economic questions concerning the use of environmental data to support agricultural livelihoods in Africa.

Participants were requested to consider the challenges associated with using meteorological data. Responses were collated and clustered into different themes, which included strengthening tools and skills, agricultural guidance, and product design. Members were able learn more about the two projects, identify key partner concerns, and brainstorm solutions for addressing these concerns.

Read the full workshop report below.