OUR SERVICES
Flood Early Warning Systems(FEWS)
Africa is the only continent where the number of flood victims has increased since 1990. Comprehensive flood protection through dikes is only possible in a very limited number of cases. Flood Early Warning Systems (FEWS) is seen as a very cost-efficient mitigation measure.
FEWS are typically a public good, and in most countries, only government agencies are allowed to give off warnings. We work closely with the meteorological agencies in the region with TEMBO Africa member KMD (Kenya Meteorological Department) taking the lead both in FEWS development and scaling up to other countries through sister organizations. It is expected that the scaling up of our solution can be achieved through donor investments and that the relatively minor operational costs can be carried by national and local governments.
We have developed a set of very cost-efficient alternatives for the most costly elements, such as radar and stream gauges. By standardizing these elements, we can now rapidly build FEWS with minor investments. Keys are the cost-efficient innovative weather sensors and discharge measurement techniques, combined with models and satellite data.
Dam reservoir Management
Hydropower development in Africa is undergoing a surge, with parallel investments in windmills and solar plants. The uneven production of solar power can be buffered by extra or reduced water releases. Although the technology for this exists, it is not yet being applied in Africa due to a lack of appropriate information and monitoring systems. One step further would be “pumped storage” in which excess solar power collected during the day is used to pump water into a reservoir from where it can be released in times of shortage at night.
Reservoirs also provide household and irrigation water and can play a role in flood attenuation. The Reservoir Management service will provide reliable estimates of river inflows. The large areas draining into the reservoirs make short-term hydrological inflow forecasts based on upstream flow measurements and hydraulic routing robust, as the system will react relatively slowly to changes in inputs. Such optimizations are technically far from trivial but consortium partner TUD has been at the forefront of developing robust optimization algorithms for the Water-Energy-Food nexus for a long time.
Germination Insurance
Agriculture is the single largest employment sector in Africa. Food growing capacity has to double the coming generation to feed the world`s increasing urban population. According to the FAO, smallholder farmers, who run the bulk of Africa`s farms, face many hurdles when it comes to accessing improved seeds and agro-chemicals needed to boost yields.
The introduction of such cultivars can be accel¬erated when at least the investment in the seed is covered by micro-insurance.In TEMBO Africa, thanks to partner GAIP, we will offer not just insured seed but also information about the upcoming start of the rainy season and (in-kind) credit, together with follow-up advice throughout the growing season, and marketing support. This allows for a low-risk introduction of new cultivars that greatly improve farm income. Whether there is sufficient rainfall for germination will be determined by the rainfall and soil moisture maps produced in the technical clusters. Soil moisture maps can be made in greater detail than rainfall maps, which is relevant for generally small farms (1ha).
