Translating Weather Forecasts into Local Languages
When farmers in northern Burkina Faso speak about the direction of the wind, they refer to the direction it is blowing in. Burkina Faso's meteorological agency, however, classifies wind by the direction it comes from.
That means that when state forecasters warn of a strong west wind, farmers find an east wind comes gusting along, flattening their faith in forecasts.
But a new guide aims to solve that problem – and help farmers build better resilience to climate change – by translating the French and English words commonly used in weather forecasts not just into northern Burkina Faso's local languages but also its culture.
The guide, for instance, translates the French and English word "eclipse" – the total or partial disappearance of the sun or moon – into the much more colourful term Burkinabe farmers would use for the phenomenon, said Malick Victor, a journalist from Chad who led development of the translation guide.
Rachel Strohm