1. Background Approximately 70 percent of Africans rely on farming for their livelihood, or close to 700 million people, and over 95 percent of Africa's agriculture depends on rainfall. (http://iaald.blogspot.com/2009/06/weather-info-for-all-mobile.html)http://iaald.blogspot.com/2009/06/weather-info-for-all-mobile.html Agriculture and Energy seem to be two of the largest challenges that African countries are facing and weather ties into both of those categories.(http://www.fao.org/waicent/faoinfo/sustdev/EGdirect/EGan0002.htm)http://www.fao.org/waicent/faoinfo/sustdev/EGdirect/EGan0002.htm Agricultural yield in some areas is expected to fall by 50 percent as early as 2020. (http://allafrica.com/stories/200907090763.html) Taking weather data seems to be crucial for African countries to since it can and will have an affects on their life.

2. In Africa Rapid growth since 2006 (http://www.scidev.net/en/news/africas-weather-stations-need-major- effort.html)http://www.scidev.net/en/news/africas-weather-stations-need-major- effort.html “Weather Info for All” - The 5,000 automatic weather stations will be installed at new and existing mobile network sites throughout Africa over the coming years, aiming to increase dissemination of weather information via mobile phones that can reach the continent’s most remote communities. (http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=31193&Cr=weather&Cr1)http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=31193&Cr=weather&Cr1 This program led by the UN is a major undertaking and many companies are involved.

3. Current programs in America Middle schools partnered with WeatherBug ~ $6500 (http://weather.weatherbug.com/about-us.html) Middle schools independently buying equipment/ partnering with local stations ~ $400-$1200 (http://www.ambientweather.com/west4.html)

4. Possible solutions for Bomet, Kenya Independent weather station WeatherBug Partnering with the UN initiative

5. Independent weather station Example of independent weather instrument. Cheap Not plug and play Connects to computer with software Limited support

6. WeatherBug What does the tracking station include? Wind Sensor [ view ] - Records wind speed, wind direction, average wind speed, and highest gust for the day.view Sensor [ view ] - Records 18 weather parameters, including temperature, relative humidity, heat index, barometric pressure, dew point and more.view Rain Gauge [ view ] - Records five weather parameters, including daily, monthly and yearly rain measurements and amounts of rain per hour.view HD Cam (with HD Package) [ view ] - Takes new images of the local weather conditions every five minutes in beautiful 1280 x 720.view Motion Cam (with Motion Package) [ view ] - Takes images of local weather conditions and up to eight other subjects every five minutes, with the ability to pan, tilt and zoom with controls from your desktop.view BlueBugBox [ view ] - An advanced Internet appliance that processes, transmits and stores weather data, with automatic rebooting capability if there are power outages and data recall so you station stays up through vacations, etc.

7. WeatherBug “…installs professional-grade weather stations at schools then networks them together. The data from these stations allows teachers to apply real- world weather conditions when teaching math, science and geography.” Should be very easy to use Lifetime support Plug and play

8. WeatherBug Current cities in Kenya with WeatherBug. 20 miles west of Bomet

9. Partnering with UN Collaboration with public and private sector. Money is secured? Partners- UN, Earth Institute, Ericsson Installing 5000 automated weather stations.