Search

BackgroundClimate change leads to more frequent and severe extreme weather events including floods, heatwaves, heavy rainfalls, and droughts. In contrast to the majority of research on weather extremes in sub-Saharan Africa, which focus primarily on how a lack of rainfall causes droughts, this paper aims to elucidate the effect of flooding on harvest failure in rural Burkina Faso.MethodsWe conducted a case study in north-western Nouna, Burkina Faso, between August and December 2021 covering a study population of n = 180 participants. The study comprised four components: (i) interviews with farmers (n = 180) on whether any of their fields had been inundated and if so, on harvest loss on these fields; (ii) determining the feasibility of using Sentinel-2 satellite images to validate study participants reports of floods; (iii) characterizing short-term weather including frequency and duration, of extreme rainfall events within the study area, as well as comparing cumulative rainfall (long-term) over the past 50 years; and (v), estimating both the food energy and economic loss of harvest failure due to flooding.Results49% of interviewed farmers (n = 88) reported that floods had damaged at least one of their fields. Some fields (n = 13, 7%) had no harvest due to flooding, while some farmers (n = 14, 8%) had lost part of their harvest. Images from the Sentinel-2-Satellite indicated that reported and remotely observed flooding were consistent. According to time series of data from the local weather station, there has been an increase irregular rainfall distribution and at the same time of cumulative annual rainfall in Nouna. Furthermore, a first illustrative calculation allowed us to estimate the amount of energy lost when one hectare of a common crop is flooded.ConclusionThis case study demonstrated that flood-related harvest failures leading to crop losses in sub-Saharan Africa, exemplified by Burkina Faso, are likely to be substantial. This study serves as a proof-of-principle for flooding effects on food security. This could provide more detail for agricultural adaptation and mitigation strategies. Inundation-vulnerable fields need alternative and novel management practices, which may only be effectively implemented if agricultural institutions and national policy-making bodies receive evidence of flooding e.g., from remote sensing.

BackgroundClimate change significantly impacts health in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs), exacerbating vulnerabilities. Comprehensive data for evidence-based research and decision-making is crucial but scarce. Health and Demographic Surveillance Sites (HDSSs) in Africa and Asia provide a robust infrastructure with longitudinal population cohort data, yet they lack climate-health specific data. Acquiring this information is essential for understanding the burden of climate-sensitive diseases on populations and guiding targeted policies and interventions in LMICs to enhance mitigation and adaptation capacities.ObjectiveThe objective of this research is to develop and implement the Change and Health Evaluation and Response System (CHEERS) as a methodological framework, designed to facilitate the generation and ongoing monitoring of climate change and health-related data within existing Health and Demographic Surveillance Sites (HDSSs) and comparable research infrastructures.MethodsCHEERS uses a multi-tiered approach to assess health and environmental exposures at the individual, household, and community levels, utilizing digital tools such as wearable devices, indoor temperature and humidity measurements, remotely sensed satellite data, and 3D-printed weather stations. The CHEERS framework utilizes a graph database to efficiently manage and analyze diverse data types, leveraging graph algorithms to understand the complex interplay between health and environmental exposures.ResultsThe Nouna CHEERS site, established in 2022, has yielded significant preliminary findings. By using remotely-sensed data, the site has been able to predict crop yield at a household level in Nouna and explore the relationships between yield, socioeconomic factors, and health outcomes. The feasibility and acceptability of wearable technology have been confirmed in rural Burkina Faso for obtaining individual-level data, despite the presence of technical challenges. The use of wearables to study the impact of extreme weather on health has shown significant effects of heat exposure on sleep and daily activity, highlighting the urgent need for interventions to mitigate adverse health consequences.ConclusionImplementing the CHEERS in research infrastructures can advance climate change and health research, as large and longitudinal datasets have been scarce for LMICs. This data can inform health priorities, guide resource allocation to address climate change and health exposures, and protect vulnerable communities in LMICs from these exposures.