Improved Drought Early Warning and FORecasting to strengthen preparedness and adaptation to droughts in Africa

The principal aim of the DEWFORA project was to develop a framework for the provision of early  warning and response to mitigate the impact of droughts in Africa. Four Comparative case studies (Limpopo, Niger, Nil and Oum er Rbia)  were used to implement, assess and refine the improved methodologies developed within the project. In Morocco, the lack of effectiveness of public policy towards drought management is in part a consequence of the poor understanding of drought vulnerability at the rural community level, which prevents the development of efficient mitigation actions and adaptation strategies, tailored to the needs and specificities of each rural community. Thus, in the framework of the Dewfora project, the aim of this initiative is to assess and map drought vulnerability at the rural commune level in the Oum Er-Rbia basin which is a very heterogeneous basin, showing a big variability of climates, landscapes, cropping systems and social habits. The produced Drought vulnerability maps can allow detecting the differences in vulnerability in the different rural communes providing, therefore, a tool for more effective drought management practices