8 November 2010: The World Food Programme (WFP) has donated 50 weather stations to the Government of Ethiopia. The weather stations aim to enhance national risk and disaster management capacities.

Data from the stations will be transmitted to the National Meteorological Agency and will support weather insurance schemes for farmers, as well as provide key information for early warning systems. Felix Gomez, WFP Ethiopia Acting Country Director, underscored that the stations will help identify climate risks at an early stage, thereby providing better protection to vulnerable, food insecure people in rural areas through innovative projects such as the weather risk insurance. The initiative is part of the efforts that the WFP’s Ethiopia Country Office, with support from the Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction Office at WFP headquarters. [WFP Press Release]