Sub-Saharan Africa tends to use rainfall data much less than anywhere else in spite of its high-dependence on rain fed agriculture, which ultimately dictates the region’s food security. This is due to the difficulty in accessing climate and weather information. Obtaining rainfall data is difficult with some of it not yet digitized. Rainwatch aims to close this gap by increasing the accessibility of usable climate information. Rainwatch provides users with simple local rainfall and temperature plots presented in a practical format that even those with little or no formal education can understand.

It operates across sub-Saharan Africa, providing near real-time monitoring of rainfall for improved communication and decision making by national governments, National Meteorological-Hydrological Services (NMHSs), NGOs, national research institutions, farmers, scientists and policy-makers.

The Rainwatch team has a common objective of fostering learning and creating dialogue among forecasters, researchers, practitioners, and decision makers. We believe in integrating the latest climate research for the effective up-scaling of climate information services in Africa. Overcome the threats posed by climate change in order to achieve ongoing adaptation and thereby food security, climate resilient livelihoods, reduced risks and improved environmental management