ACROSS the African continent, projects aimed at helping rural farmers adapt to the effects of climate change are springing up.

One such project gives farmers early warning as to when the rain will come, how much it will be and how long it will last. This will help them to choose when to plant their crops to avoid floods or droughts.

While Namibia is vulnerable to climate change because of its dry environment and frequent droughts and over-dependence on rain-fed agriculture, Government says not much is being done to give information and early warnings to rural farmers.

"The information and early-warning systems for our farmers to make informed decisions are inadequate. Where information exists, it is not in the language that they understand," says Prime Minister Nahas Angula.

A few years ago, the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, with funds from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), produced a booklet titled 'Climate Change and Namibia', which was later translated into several local languages.

Learning to live with the effects of climate change is more relevant for developing countries with growing economies.

In May 2008, Japan and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) established a partnership called Japan-UNDP Joint Framework for Building Partnership to address Climate Change in Africa.

The Japanese government gave US$92,1 million towards the implementation of the Africa Adaptation Programme, to help some 21 African countries build foundations for national approach to climate change adaptation.

Namibia is amongst these countries.

At Ondangwa last Friday, Angula launched a workshop for the country's project for climate change adaptation under the theme 'Building the Foundation for National Approach to Climate Change Adaptation in Namibia'.

Globally, climate change is considered as one of the serious threats to sustainable development, with adverse impacts expected on the environment, human health, food security and physical infrastructure.

Climate does vary naturally, but scientists agree that rising concentrations of human-produced greenhouse gases in the earth's atmosphere are leading to changes in the climate.

According to the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), effects of climate change have already been observed and scientific findings indicate that precautionary and prompt action is needed.

Angula said frequent droughts, floods and unreliable rainfall patterns are some of the symptoms of climate change in Namibia. This, he said, means that rural communities should adjust their planting patterns.

"Therefore, it would be best if could improve and strengthen the information sharing and early warning systems, so that communities can be prepared well in advance," said Angula.

Like in other African countries, rural Namibians will be more affected by the effects of climate change because rain-fed agriculture is their livelihood.

At the same gathering, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative Lobogang Motlana said recent research has indicated that the impact of climate change on Namibia's natural resources could cost the country's economy between 1 and 6 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product annually over the next 20 years.

Motlana said as part of the UNDP assistance to Namibia, they have embarked on a climate change adaptation project in the Omusati Region which focuses on the use of climate-resilient crops and livestock.