Why do Farmers Need Climate Services?
Dr. Arame TallClimate Information Services- Scientist,
2 • 3/21/11Climate Services: Critical Input for improved farm-level risk
management
Climate information services build resilience by empowering farmers to anticipate and manage climate-related risks
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Empowering Farmers to anticipate climate-related risks
So that climate hazards, do not necessarily evolve into food crises that rock the livelihoods of farmers across the region…
Credit: Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre
4 • 3/21/11 Why Farmers are Not Getting Salient Climate
Services
We need to work together to overcome these
tenacious challenges to Climate Service delivery
Credit: Arame Tall, CCAFS
Successful Pilot Experiences since 2009 demonstrate that Delivering Climate
Information Services to Farmers is Mission Possible
Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia 2009-2012
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• Opening Spaces for iterative dialogue, interaction and Co-production of climate service
• PAR > key to involve communities, capture innovation– Community diaries of climate
impacts, forecast bulletin boards
Co-production of Climate services
• Preliminary Results of Kaffrine end project assessment – Increase in access, from handful in
2011 to 100% by 2012– Demonstrated Usefulness of
received information, for all products across timescales
– Added value to traditional forecasts
1) Giving Famers an Effective Voice
in the design of Climate Services
Top: CCAFS Research site of Kaffrine, arid center Senegal, where principle of Co-Producing Climate Services was experimented with. Below: Community members approving video of project activities they designed, before onset of project activities. Credit: A. Tall
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• Place specificity of farmers’ climate information needs
• Salient communication channels identified to reach the most vulnerable: Community relays/boundary
organizations (red cross volunteers, World vision staff)
SMS in local language Forecast bulletin boards in
strategic outposts across village At village mosque At water boreholes (women)
Climate Information Needs of farmers in Malem Thierign (above) different from those in Dioly (below). Credit: Arame Tall,
CCAFS
2) Leveraging ICTs to ‘reach the last mile’
• Need to Focus on Equity: reaching women and other underserved groups
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Credit: Mariane Diop-Kane, ANACIM
The shorter the time range,
the more precise the forecast
Credit: Red Cross/PetLab
Bringing forecasters and end-users to work together to put climate knowledge in the hands of communities
at risk from HMDs
3) Using Innovative tools to Communicate forecasting uncertainty
- Didactic Games
9 • 3/21/11Communicating probabilistic downscaled seasonal climate information to farmers
> The PDF
Farmers discussing what 1mm of rain means…
Credit: Dr. Ousmane Ndiaye, ANACIM
Credit: J. Hansen, CCAFS Ousmane Ndiaye, ANACIM
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Credit: J. Hansen, IRI/CCAFSKPC Rao, ICRISAT
….To Wote, Eastern Kenya: Research into Use
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• Tailored to User needs– Content (hazard, geographic coverage)– Timing: Alarm threshold– Message format & language
• Suite of Seemless forecasting products
– Seasonal– Dekadal– 72h– 48h– 3h- nowcasting Key to help farmers manage uncertainties
inherent in climate/weather forecasting, with confirmation of risk throughout season
Credit: UK Met Office
4) Developing suite of SEEMLESS forecast products
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12
5) Promoting a coordinated Framework for CSs, from
global to local levels Fig. 2: Outcome of pilot GFCS national Workshops in Burkina, Niger and Mali (July-Sep. 2012)
A Best practice model of the Cycle of Climate Service Production
Global
Regional
National
13 • 3/21/11 Everyone has a role to Play in Linking Information to
Action
Credit: Arame Tall, CCAFS
Fig.: Different Roles in the Chain of Climate Information Production and Communication
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1. Identifying Good practice2. Upscaling Climate Services to millions of
farmers– Incentivizing Legal and Institutional Frameworks for
Climate Services at National level– Leveraging strong partnerships between NHMS, Agricultural research and extension services to produce integrated agro-climate advisories– Role of boundary organizations and media for wide
communication
3. Minimum Standards for Assessing Livelihood Impact - making the case for Climate Services
CCAFS Strategy to Scale up Climate Services for Farmers
2013-15
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• Examples surveyed by CCAFS prove that it is today Mission Possible to reach millions of farmers with salient and downscaled climate information and advisory services relevant to support their decision-making under an uncertain climate.
• It is time to Scale Up this approach for many other farmers to have access and benefit from available climate information and advisory services.
• The time is Right for Climate Services.
Reaching Farmers with Climate Services at Scale > Mission Possible
Photo: Farmer in Ouelessebougou village, happy beneficiary of Mali’s 30year old Agromet advisory program. Credit: A. Tall
For more information, contact:Arame Tall, [email protected]