Zimbabwe’s meteorological services department receives support from Chinese

By Wallace Mawire [caption id="attachment_30638" align="alignleft" width="300"] HARARE, June 10, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe Huang Ping (L, front) and Zimbabwe's Environment, Water and Climate Minister Oppah Muchinguri (R, front) exchange documents during a handover ceremony in Harare, Zimbabwe, June 9, 2016. Zimbabwe's state weather forecast department has tuned in to signals emitted from polar-orbiting Chinese satellites in a technological makeover aimed to improve the meteorological services of a country which relies on agriculture but has struggled to cope with irrationally changing weather patterns in recent years. (Xinhua/Xu Lingui)[/caption] Zimbabwe's meteorological services department has received state of the art equipment valued to the tune of $2 million to enhance weather and climate information dissemination services especially targeting farmers and remote rural communities. According to Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, Minister of Environment, Water and Climate under which the meteorological services department falls, Zimbabwe is one of the first few countries in Africa to receive such kind of aid where equipment is installed, handed over and at the same time commissioned. Kashiri said that the equipment has been donated under the China-Africa initiative to capacitate the under resourced meteorological services department. "The donation comes at a time when the demand for weather and climate information has become unprecedented due to rapidly changing weather and climate.Our weather has become more extreme, with dry spells becoming droughts and rainy events turning into floods," Kashiri said. The meteorological services department provides vital information which farmers can use for agricultural planning. Kashiri said that the information should be readily available at ward level and includes information on rainfall patterns and early warning on floods. Kashiri said that the equipment will enhance the quality of the services being offered by the department. Two automatic weather stations have been installed at the Agriculture Extension Services department (AGRITEX) offices at Neshuro growth point in Masvingo province and in Rushinga district of the country. She said that this demonstrates the close link between weather and agriculture and the partnership between the meteorological services department and the ministry of Agriculture. Some of the equipment received by the department include a polar-orbiting satellite receiving system which is reported to be the first of its kind in Africa.The system is reported to receive its images from a chinese satellite that is orbiting the earth from pole to pole. Other equipment include a weather virtual TV studio.The FY-3 polar orbiting satellite receiving and processing system is an advanced system that receives all weather and high precision data from polar orbiting earth observation satellites for medium and long range numerical weather forecasts, climatic prediction and natural disaster monitoring for drought, fire,vegetation and water,150 automatic weather stations, meteorological early warning radio system and 1 600 radios for rural communities and a Meteorological Information Comprehensive Analysing and Processing System (MICAPS).