DARAJA: The Inclusive City-Community Forecasting and Early Warning Service
March 21, 2024
The Developing Risk Awareness through Joint Action (DARAJA) project is a collaborative initiative aimed at enhancing weather and climate information services (WCIS) for urban communities, with a particular focus on vulnerable populations residing in informal settlements. ‘Daraja’, meaning ‘bridge’ in Swahili, brings together the residents of informal settlements, national meteorological forecasters, city authorities and other actors to facilitate hazard awareness and improve climate resilience of vulnerable populations in informal settlements.
Since its launch in September 2018, DARAJA has provided nearly 1 million people in Kenya and Tanzania with improved weather information. Supported by the UK FCDO through the Weather and Climate Information Services (WISER) programme led by the UK Met Office, DARAJA is expanding across East Africa to Sudan, Uganda, Ethiopia, as well as continuing its services in Tanzania and Kenya. Additionally, DARAJA receives support from the World Risk Poll and Lloyd’s Register Foundation. It is also being adapted for use in small island states like Jamaica, addressing their unique challenges posed by rising sea levels and extreme weather events.
By adopting a systems-wide approach, DARAJA builds ‘bridges’ and operational partnerships between the actors critical to the co-design of the products, dissemination channels and feedback loops for weather forecasts and extreme weather alerts.
To learn more about the project and its impact, explore the following resources and case studies: