Water Wheel May/June 2026: Climate Resilience

Abstract

Forecasting the future: Free weather risk app empowers South African farmers “Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight; red sky in the morning, shepherd’s warning,” the saying goes. For areas where weather systems primarily move in from the west, this old folk proverb has some scientific credibility. Not so for another common one that claims cows lying down is a sign of impending rain! Fortunately, farmers of today have more accurate information at their fingertips. With a smartphone in their pocket and a good internet signal, they can check the weather forecast while out in their fields and prepare accordingly. Back in their home office, they can use their computer to peruse the seasonal outlook and recent rainfall records, or explore retrospective indicators derived from satellite imagery, such as the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) depicting vegetation health. Wellresourced farmers might even install weather instrumentation and soil probes for site-specific data, and pay subscription fees for advisory services tailor-made for their farm.

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