19 Mar 2015

The Botswana Institute for Technology Research and Innovation (BITRI) is undertaking a project that seeks to assess current dryland farming risks and also varying climate change scenarios risk to develop appropriate risk management strategies and decision support tools for climate proofing small scale dryland farmers.

A press release from BITRI stated the Barolong and Kgalagadi districts will be used as pilot sites for the project.  “The goal of this project is to develop decision support systems through participatory co-creation for dryland farmers and improve their risk management capacity”,the release states..

The release indicated that the adverse impact of climate change posed significant challenges to the already poverty stricken especially rural communities that relay on agriculture for their sustenance.

It also said food security and livelihoods of rural populations was dependent on agriculture, farming and forest products, hence this segment of society is most vulnerable to climate change related disasters. 

It stated that the mandate of the Botswana Institute for Technology Research and Innovation (BITRI) was to develop, adopt or enhance technologies for the benefit of Batswana in order to improve lives and provide equal opportunities. ENDS