The Centre for Resilient Agri-Food Systems (CRAFS), in partnership with the Forecasting for Social Good (F4SG) initiative, a division of the International Institute of Forecasters (IIF), recently hosted a short course on Tidy Time Series Analysis and Forecasting using R. This course was designed to advance knowledge and research in the essential area of resilient agri-food systems. 

The course was delivered in two parts by distinguished experts. Part A, held from September 21 to 25, 2023, was conducted by Dr. Elias Mwakilama, Deputy Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator at CRAFS. Part B, from December 4 to 8, 2023, was led by Dr. Bahman Rostami-Tabar of Cardiff University, a prominent leader in the F4SG initiative.

Part A was offered online and attracted 105 participants from across Africa, including countries such as Malawi, Nigeria, Zambia, Kenya, Uganda, Benin, Mozambique, Tanzania, South Africa, Cameroon, Ethiopia, and Rwanda. The course addressed the challenges faced by both the public and private sectors in handling large volumes of data, mainly when existing tools fall short of managing the scale, frequency, and complexity of this data.

Participants acquired practical skills in advanced analytical methods and packages for time series data. They were trained to manage time series data with tidy tools, compute features, visualize extensive datasets, and select appropriate forecasting algorithms. At the end of the course, attendees were awarded certificates of attendance, recognising their newly gained expertise.