Jargon is the summed up definition of most of the words used in the subject of climate change; yet it cuts across all spheres of life.

No wonder stakeholders were treated to a dramatic interaction in a workshop from the morning until late afternoon this past Tuesday at Gaborone International Conference Centre (GICC). 

The event was dramatic from introduction, where participants - young and old - had to choose which animal they would wish to be if they were to be one, and why they chose to be such.

Immediately thereafter, the Agricultural Model Inter-comparison and Improvement Project (AgMIIP)     theatre group dramatically introduced what AgMIIP really is which is “a global initiative with an effort to link the climate, crop and economic modeling communities with cutting-edge information technology to produce improved crop and economic models and the next generation of climate impact projections for the agricultural sector.”

The South African theatre group narrated in a five-scene format details of what AgMIIP does. Hlami Ngweya, the lady behind the concept explained that: The first scene is an introductory message of what the AgMIIP is.  It explains how it incorporates state-of-the-art climate products as well as crop and agricultural trade model improvements in coordinated regional and global assessments for future climate impacts.”

The scene it described how science people needed collaboration with others regionally and internationally. The second scene was on the impacts of climate change in agriculture generally while the third scene is about reflection on the situation of small farmers. 

The scene depicted a discussion by a small farmer (mother) with a literate son. The mother is concerned about poor rains that come late. She attributes the hardships brought about by foreigners - especially those from overseas. The son assures her that the situation is the same the world over. 

He informs the mother how scientists can deal with the situation by developing crops from computers. The old lady says indigenous knowledge is better because they as the elders know better. The son says indigenous knowledge is fine but should be backed by scence evidence. The son ultimately advises the mother to go and participate in a stakeholder’s workshop.

 “The fourth and fifth scenes integrate theatre and research pertaining to key messages generated from research, as well as to advise policy makers on key processes of research finding,” said Ngwenya.