Agilan: Early Warning Rain and Typhoon Forecasts in an Amulet

Low-cost and culture-adaptive early warning device in a form of an amulet, enabling Filipino farmers to reduce risks of crop damages, save them from extreme poverty and help them adapt to climate change.

Long Description

“Agriculture is one of the most important economic sectors in many poor countries and unfortunately, it is also one of the most sensitive to climate change” according to a World Bank report.

“Is it going to rain this week? Will there be typhoons ahead of us?”, these are the questions Filipino farmers often ask when they have to make critical decisions. Crop damages and loss of capital are some of the crucial effects to farmers if they aren’t informed of the coming calamity. According to the Department of Agriculture in the Philippines, Php30 billion worth of agricultural products were lost in the aftermath of Typhoon Bopha (Pablo) in 2012 alone. Farmers need to be weather savvy in order to adapt to the unpredictable weather patterns caused by climate change.

Agilan is a real-time, 10-day early warning device in a form of a traditional amulet. Once turned ON, it automatically identifies user location, connects to a mobile data network, downloads and parses weather information from a weather service provider. The blue LEDs on a circular arrangement represents 10-days of chances of incoming rain or typhoon conveyed through blinking. The frequent the blinks are, the more likely it would rain on that day. The fastest blink would indicate a possibility of an incoming typhoon or heavy rain. Providing climate smart, early warning has never been easier, cheaper and culture-adaptive to local Filipinos.

Agilan could greatly help as well as fishermen, livestock farmers, foresters and other weather-dependent, low-income roles across different cultures that have been affected by climate change.