Your search found 25 records
1 Daron, J.; Soares, M. B.; Janes, T.; Colledge, F.; Srinivasan, G.; Agarwal, A.; Hewitt, C.; Richardson, K.; Nepal, Santosh; Shrestha, M. S.; Rasul, G.; Suckall, N.; Harrison, B.; Oakes, R. L.; Corbelli, D. 2022. Advancing climate services in South Asia. Climate Services, 26:100295. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cliser.2022.100295]
Climate services ; Partnerships ; Knowledge sharing ; Capacity development ; Climate change ; Risk reduction ; Weather forecasting ; Resilience ; Collaboration ; Development programmes ; Institutional development ; Stakeholders ; Decision making ; Investment ; Sustainability ; Socioeconomic aspects ; Coastal climate ; Sea level ; Hydropower / South Asia / Afghanistan / Bangladesh / Nepal / Pakistan
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051038)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405880722000139/pdfft?md5=31e69906f8e577f7ab197b3caec5eea2&pid=1-s2.0-S2405880722000139-main.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051038.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051038.pdf
(1.31 MB) (1.31 MB)
Many communities in South Asia are highly exposed and vulnerable to weather and climate hazards, and climate services play an important role in managing present and future climate risks. Here we take stock of ongoing climate service activities under the Asia Regional Resilience to a Changing Climate (ARRCC) Met Office Partnership programme. ARRCC aims to strengthen climate resilience in South Asia through co-producing weather and climate services, building institutional capacities, and enhancing coordination across the region and in focal countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan. We identify what is working well and challenges that remain in the provision and uptake of climate services, focusing on examples of applying seasonal forecasts, sea-level rise projections, and extreme rainfall information for hydropower decisions. We demonstrate the value of building equitable and sustainable partnerships, enhancing knowledge sharing, strengthening evaluation, and approaches that combine model information within a decision-centred framework. Based on experiences in ARRCC, we find that climate information alone is often insufficient to meet decision-maker needs, and discuss the role for new climate impact services that integrate climate information with knowledge and tools on climate impacts and vulnerabilities.
2 Jayawardena, I. M. S. P.; Punyawardena, B. V. R.; Karunarathne, M. D. R. K. 2022. Importance of integration of subseasonal predictions to improve climate services in Sri Lanka case study: southwest monsoon 2019. Climate Services, 26:100296. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cliser.2022.100296]
Climate services ; Forecasting ; Monsoons ; Case studies ; Rain ; Precipitation ; Water reservoirs ; Hydroelectric power generation ; Decision making / Sri Lanka
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051064)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405880722000140/pdfft?md5=ef9c00f2a20476f596bd3405d25519b7&pid=1-s2.0-S2405880722000140-main.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051064.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051064.pdf
(7.53 MB) (7.53 MB)
The climate outlook for the 2019 southwest monsoon (SWM) season was prepared through an expert assessment of the prevailing global climate conditions and forecasts from different climate models from around the world during the fourteenth session of the South Asian Climate Outlook Forum (SASCOF14). Above-normal rainfall was predicted over Sri Lanka for SWM 2019, and information was shared at the monsoon forum. Even though SWM 2019 seasonal rainfall wasslightly above average, highly uneven rainfall distribution with a deficit of rainfall at the beginning and a surplus of rainfall during the latter part of the season was observed. Unusual dry conditioned prevailed during the month of May 2019, which led to delay the onset of SWM by 2 weeks. Due to the delay of onset and rainfall deficit during the early part of 2019 SWM, late cultivation of paddy was observed. Hydro-catchment areas recorded large shortfalls in early part Southwest Monsoon rainfall reducing hydropower generation to 15–18%, from May to July.
The suppressed phase of Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO) (phase 6 to 8) with anomalous easterly winds over Sri Lanka was evident from 04th May to 25th May. As MJO being a major predictive source in subseasonal timescale and Sri Lanka being a country located in the heart of the MJO envelope, integration of subseasonal information into seasonal outlook provide much greater value to decision-makers in Agriculture and Energy sector.
The suppressed phase of Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO) (phase 6 to 8) with anomalous easterly winds over Sri Lanka was evident from 04th May to 25th May. As MJO being a major predictive source in subseasonal timescale and Sri Lanka being a country located in the heart of the MJO envelope, integration of subseasonal information into seasonal outlook provide much greater value to decision-makers in Agriculture and Energy sector.
3 Clarkson, G.; Dorward, P.; Poskitt, S.; Stern, R. D.; Nyirongo, D.; Fara, K.; Gathenya, J. M.; Staub, C. G.; Trotman, A.; Nsengiyumva, G.; Torgbor, F.; Giraldo, D. 2022. Stimulating small-scale farmer innovation and adaptation with Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA): lessons from successful implementation in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and South Asia. Climate Services, 26:100298. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cliser.2022.100298]
Climate services ; Participatory approaches ; Smallholders ; Farmers ; Innovation ; Empowerment ; Climate variability ; Climate change ; Decision making ; Livelihoods ; Institutions ; Agricultural extension ; Farming systems ; Households ; Rain ; Food security ; Livestock ; Sustainability ; Case studies / Africa / Latin America / Caribbean / South Asia
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051111)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405880722000164/pdfft?md5=24758ca57f0beb4146e44b2c92352489&pid=1-s2.0-S2405880722000164-main.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051111.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051111.pdf
(2.83 MB) (2.83 MB)
How to cope with climate variability and adapt to climate change are key challenges for smallholder farmers globally. In low-income countries, farmers have typically received little, if any locally relevant weather or climate information. Although climate services have contributed to increased availability and accessibility of climate information, this has rarely achieved the desired impacts for farmers’ decision-making, adaptation and resilience to climate variability and change. This has been attributed to a lack of engagement with intended users of climate information and a top-down approach to development and delivery of climate services that fails to adequately consider and account for farmers’ context-specific requirements. Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA) is an approach that was developed to support and empower farmers in their decision-making processes. More than 200,000 farmers have been trained in 23 countries and this paper presents evidence from evaluations in 7 countries including that most (87%; n = 4,299) have made beneficial changes in their crops, livestock and/or livelihood enterprises. The approach has strengthened key institutions that support farmers through deliberative scoping, tailoring, and capacity-building activities with extension and meteorological services. It has been well received by those that use it and is being integrated into policy and training curricula. Key reasons for the success of the approach include the importance of supporting farmers as decision makers and empowering them to relate relatively complex weather and climate information to their own contexts. Key considerations for the future include ensuring sustainability and further scaling as well as maintaining quality.
4 Grainger, S.; Dessai, S.; Daron, J.; Taylor, A.; Siu, Y. L. 2022. Using expert elicitation to strengthen future regional climate information for climate services. Climate Services, 26:100278. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cliser.2021.100278]
Climate services ; Climate change adaptation ; Assessment ; Climate models ; Forecasting ; Uncertainty ; Precipitation ; Temperature ; Estimation ; Decision making ; Policies ; Case studies / China / Yangtze River Basin
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051141)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405880721000662/pdfft?md5=130324d710cc308c98a52159da19e98f&pid=1-s2.0-S2405880721000662-main.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051141.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051141.pdf
(5.74 MB) (5.74 MB)
Climate change knowledge can inform regional and local adaptation decisions. However, estimates of future climate are uncertain and methods for assessing uncertainties typically rely on the results of climate model simulations, which are constrained by the quality of assumptions used in model experiments and the limitations of available models. To strengthen scientific knowledge for climate services and climate change adaptation decisions, we explore the use of structured expert elicitation to assess future regional climate change. Using the Lower Yangtze region in China as a case study, we elicit judgements from six experts on future changes in temperature and precipitation as well as uncertainty sources, and compare it with climate model outputs from the Couple Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5). We find high consensus amongst experts that the Lower Yangtze region will be warmer in the coming decades, albeit with differences in the magnitude of change. There is less consensus about the direction and magnitude of future precipitation change. Compared with CMIP5 climate model outputs, experts provide similar or narrower uncertainty ranges for temperature change and very different uncertainty ranges for precipitation. Experts considered additional factors (e.g. model credibility, observations, theory and paleo-climatic evidence) and uncertainties not usually represented in conventional modelling approaches. We argue that, in context of regional climate information provision, expert-elicited judgements can characterise less predictable, or less explored, elements of the climate system and expert-elicited reasoning provides additional information and knowledge that is absent from modelling approaches. We discuss the value in bringing together multiple lines of evidence, arguing that expert elicited information can complement model information to strengthen regional climate change knowledge and help in building dialogue between climate experts and regional stakeholders, as part of a more complete climate service.
5 Manteaw, B. O.; Amoah, A.-B.; Ayittah, B.; Enu, K. B. 2022. Climate-informed decision-making in data-poor environments: managing climate risk through citizen science networks. Frontiers in Climate, 4:835768. [doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2022.835768]
Climate change ; Decision making ; Climate services ; Risk management ; Citizen science ; Local communities ; Sustainable development ; Climatic data ; Adaptation ; Learning / Africa South of Sahara / Ghana
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051267)
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fclim.2022.835768/pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051267.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051267.pdf
(0.81 MB) (824 KB)
Climate change impacts have become a verifiable reality in most communities in Africa and have already shown its ruthlessness in derailing modest gains made toward sustainable development. While evidence of climate change impacts abounds, especially in key climate-sensitive sectors, not many people living in affected communities have the requisite knowledge, understanding and capacity to respond to emerging impacts. Most communities in Ghana and Africa, broadly, lack the requisite climate change knowledge resources to inform adaptation choices. Adaptation decision-making, in most cases, is reactive, speculative, and based on flawed assumptions and understandings of the climate change phenomenon. This is essentially because most countries lack the capacity to make climate-informed decisions which is also a function of the pervasive lack of efficient climate information services regime across Africa. The paucity of climate change knowledge and associated climate information services is undoubtedly an issue of institutional capacity; however, it is also a function of an enduring culture—a poor attitude toward data collection and application—in decision-making processes. Data-poor environment, or data-poverty, as implied in this work, therefore, broadly describes the absence of a data management culture in decision-making processes; however, specifically to climate change, it describes the lack of functional climate information services regime in local communities in Africa and how such omissions impede the ability of countries to make climate-informed decisions to support adaptation and resilience building. Focusing on Ghana, the paper problematizes the lack of climate information in local communities. The paper argues that Africa’s climate crisis is as much a knowledge and learning challenge which requires new and innovative learning approaches to build capacities to facilitate the making of data-driven and climate-informed adaptation decisions in local communities. The paper, therefore, foregrounds citizen-science networks as avenues for community-focused and community-based climate knowledge co-producing mechanisms.
6 Ngigi, M. W.; Muange, E. N. 2022. Access to climate information services and climate-smart agriculture in Kenya: a gender-based analysis. Climatic Change, 174(3-4):21. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-022-03445-5]
Climate-smart agriculture ; Climate services ; Information services ; Access to information ; Gender analysis ; Climate change adaptation ; Strategies ; Women ; Smallholders ; Farmers ; Social groups ; Weather forecasting ; Early warning systems ; Food security ; Agroforestry ; Models ; Econometrics / Kenya / Embu / Nakuru / Nyeri / Siaya
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051427)
(0.78 MB)
Climate change is a significant threat to agriculture-related livelihoods, and its impacts amplify prevailing gender inequalities. Climate information services (CIS) are crucial enablers in adapting to climate change and managing climate-related risks by smallholder farmers. Even though various gender groups have distinct preferences, understandings, and uses of CIS, which affect adaptation decisions differently, there is little research on gender perspectives of CIS. This study employs a novel intra-household survey of 156 married couples to evaluate the gender-differentiated effects of CIS access on the adoption of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) technologies in Kenya. The findings reveal gender differences in access to CIS, with husbands having significantly more access to early warning systems and advisory services on adaptation. In contrast, wives had better access to weather forecasts. About 38% of wives perceived that CIS meets their needs, compared to 30% of husbands. As for CIS dissemination pathways, husbands preferred extension officers, print media, television, and local leaders, whereas wives preferred radio and social groups. Recursive bivariate probit analysis shows that trust in CIS, a bundle of CIS dissemination pathways, access to credit, and membership in a mixed-gender social group, affected access to CIS for both genders. Access to early warning systems and advisory services positively affected decisions to adopt CSA by both genders. Still, access to seasonal forecasts influenced husbands’ decisions to adopt CSA but not wives. Besides, there were gender differences in how CIS affected each CSA technology based on gendered access to resources and roles and responsibilities in a household. It is necessary to disseminate CIS through gender-sensitive channels that can satisfy the needs and preferences of different gender groups to encourage the adoption of climate-smart technologies.
7 Mitheu, F.; Petty, C.; Tarnavsky, E.; Stephens, E.; Ciampi, L.; Butsatsa, J.; Cornforth, R. 2022. Identifying the barriers and opportunities in the provision and use of weather and climate information for flood risk preparedness: the case of Katakwi District, Uganda. Frontiers in Climate, 4:908662. [doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2022.908662]
Flooding ; Disaster preparedness ; Disaster risk management ; Weather data ; Climate services ; Information services ; Coping strategies ; Resilience ; Vulnerability ; Smallholders ; Farmers ; Communities ; Institutions / Uganda / Katakwi
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051460)
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fclim.2022.908662/pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051460.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051460.pdf
(1.73 MB) (1.73 MB)
The provision of weather and climate information (WCI) can help the most at-risk communities cope and adapt to the impacts of extreme events. While significant progress has been made in ensuring improved availability of WCI, there remain obstacles that hinder the accessibility and use of this information for adaptation planning. Attention has now focused on the “usability gap” to ensure useful and usable WCI informs practise. Less attention has however been directed on barriers to the active production and use of WCI. In this study, we combine two frameworks through a bottom-up approach to present a more coordinated institutional response that would be required to ensure a better flow of information from information providers to users at community level and vice versa. The bottom-up approach was designed in form of Farmers Agri-Met Village Advisory Clinics (FAMVACs) and Listening Groups (LG) and was initiated by Uganda Meteorological Authority (UNMA) as a way of ensuring connections between the information providers, the disseminators, and the communities to specifically give voice to the communities to provide feedback on the use of WCI in coping with flood risks. This approach is used to identify the barriers and opportunities in the production/provision and use of WCI for flood risk preparedness for a case study in Eastern Uganda. First, a use-case is developed for Katakwi District where smallholder farming communities have recorded their coping practises and barriers to the use of WCI in practise. Second, online interviews with practitioners from disaster management institutions are used to identify barriers to the production and provision of WCI to local farming communities. Findings show that for providers, barriers such as accessibility and completeness of data hinder the production of useful WCI. In situations where useful information is available, technical language used in the format and timeliness in dissemination hinder usability by local farmers. Useful and usable WCI may not be acted on in practise due to factors such as costs or market availability e.g., lack of access to improved seeds. Further, the study highlights possible solutions to bridge the identified gaps and they include capacity building, fostering data collaborations across sectors, data translation to simple advisories, among others. The study also presents the FAMVACs approach which shows the importance of a more coordinated response with a shift of focus from the users of information only, to a more inclusive understanding of the data and information gaps across the wider provider-user landscapes. We argue that this would contribute to more effective disaster management at both the national and local levels.
8 Warner, D.; Moonsammy, S.; Joseph, J. 2022. Factors that influence the use of climate information services for agriculture: a systematic review. Climate Services, 28:100336. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cliser.2022.100336]
Climate services ; Information services ; Climate change ; Agriculture ; Decision making ; Stakeholders ; Gender ; Women ; Participation ; Indigenous Peoples' knowledge ; Infrastructure ; Communities
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051564)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405880722000541/pdfft?md5=5acda5e63ee730ee44685a196151c14e&pid=1-s2.0-S2405880722000541-main.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051564.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051564.pdf
(0.99 MB) (0.99 MB)
The use of climate information services (CIS) is widely considered as a key adaptation strategy for the agriculture sector in dealing with the challenges posed by climate variability and climate change. Although there are several examples of CIS programs with varying degrees of success in promoting the use of CIS in the agriculture sector, barriers to its successful use by agricultural decision makers still exist. Through a systematic review structure, this paper synthesizes the wealth of recent literature on climate information services to identify the common factors that influence the use of CIS by farmers and agriculture practitioners. The synthesis identified 22 factors, which were discussed under three (3) thematic areas, socio-cultural and demographic issues; programming mechanism; and institutional support and resource allocation for communities. Participation and engagement were the most readily identified in the literature synthesis and was found to be a key enabler to the use of CIS for agriculture decision making. Other distinguishing factors were related to trust in and credibility of CIS and CIS providers; and multi-modal communication channels; timely delivery of CIS. Key barriers to the use of CIS included gender inequality; lack of resources and poor infrastructure; and lack of trust in CIS and CIS providers. The factors identified in this review can be used by climate information providers as a guide to ensure the successful utilization of CIS information products and programs by farmers and other agriculture practitioners.
9 Mapedza, Everisto; Huyer, S.; Chanana, N.; Rose, A.; Jacobs-Mata, Inga; Mudege, N. N.; Tui, S. H.-K.; Gbegbelegbe, S.; Nsengiyumva, G.; Mutenje, Munyaradzi; Nohayi, Ngowenani. 2023. Framework for incorporating Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) elements in Climate Information Services (CIS). Sustainability, 15(1):190. (Special issue: Gender and Socially-Inclusive Approaches to Technology for Climate Action) [doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010190]
Gender equality ; Social inclusion ; Frameworks ; Climate services ; Access to information ; Technology ; Climate change ; Climate variability ; Women ; Empowerment / Africa / Zambia
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051578)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/1/190/pdf?version=1672281240
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051578.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051578.pdf
(0.75 MB) (763 KB)
We advance a gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) framework for incorporating climate information services (CIS), which is now becoming central due to the ongoing climate change and climate variability. We understand gender as a social construct of who women and men are supposed to be. Gender inequalities seem to be enduring such that, despite innovations in agricultural and climate information technologies, unequal gender power dynamics will still emerge. As far back as the 1960s, the gendered inequalities in accessing technologies could be identified. Such a historical analysis clearly shows that the different technological solutions are clearly embedded within the society in which they evolve in. The paper uses a literature review methodological approach whilst informing the implementation of an ongoing Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) Project. The findings reveal that unless women are intentionally included in designing and developing agricultural technologies, specifically climate information systems, there is a danger that women will be excluded from the benefits. Conway’s law clearly stipulates that technological innovations are not neutral as they are a projection of the values of their creators. It is, therefore, central to grasp the values of creators of different technological solutions and innovations. The key findings are built around the espoused conceptual framework, which has five indicators, namely: (1) gender targeting by intentional design, (2) collection of sex-disaggregated data, (3) conduct an analysis of the sex-disaggregated data, (4) dissemination of the technological options and (5) conduct continuous monitoring of gender and ongoing empowerment evaluation. The five indicator domains are further complemented by their respective assumptions. Our GESI recommendations are on the five selected indicator domains. These domains must be used within the three focal development areas: agricultural data hub, climate information services training, and flood and drought indicators, which are all being implemented in Zambia. Other AICCRA Project countries are Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, and Senegal. This paper engages why CIS has not gained significant traction in Africa, as it has not genuinely incorporated the differential gender technological nuances.
10 Mirzabaev, A.; Kerr, R. B.; Hasegawa, T.; Pradhan, P.; Wreford, A.; von der Pahlen, M. C. T.; Gurney-Smith, H. 2023. Severe climate change risks to food security and nutrition. Climate Risk Management, 39:100473. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crm.2022.100473]
Climate change ; Risk ; Climate services ; Food security ; Food production ; Nutrition ; Food insecurity ; Food systems ; Food safety ; Socioeconomic aspects ; Livestock ; Fisheries ; Aquaculture ; Global warming ; Heat stress ; Drought ; Infrastructure ; Ecosystem services
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051609)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212096322000808/pdfft?md5=59e8f187f5e670c5b810379d475fd23d&pid=1-s2.0-S2212096322000808-main.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051609.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051609.pdf
(0.62 MB) (636 KB)
This paper discusses severe risks to food security and nutrition that are linked to ongoing and projected climate change, particularly climate and weather extremes in global warming, drought, flooding, and precipitation. We specifically consider the impacts on populations vulnerable to food insecurity and malnutrition due to lower income, lower access to nutritious food, or social discrimination. The paper defines climate-related “severe risk” in the context of food security and nutrition, using a combination of criteria, including the magnitude and likelihood of adverse consequences, the timing of the risk and the ability to reduce the risk. Severe climate change risks to food security and nutrition are those which result, with high likelihood, in pervasive and persistent food insecurity and malnutrition for millions of people, have the potential for cascading effects beyond the food systems, and against which we have limited ability to prevent or fully respond. The paper uses internationally agreed definitions of risks to food security and nutrition to describe the magnitude of adverse consequences. Moreover, the paper assesses the conditions under which climate change-induced risks to food security and nutrition could become severe based on findings in the literature using different climate change scenarios and shared socioeconomic pathways. Finally, the paper proposes adaptation options, including institutional management and governance actions, that could be taken now to prevent or reduce the severe climate risks to future human food security and nutrition.
11 Nkuba, M. R.; Chanda, R.; Mmopelwa, G.; Kato, E.; Mangheni, M. N.; Lesolle, D.; Adedoyin, A.; Mujuni, G. 2023. Factors associated with farmers’ use of indigenous and scientific climate forecasts in Rwenzori Region, Western Uganda. Regional Environmental Change, 23(1):4. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-022-01994-0]
Farmers associations ; Indigenous Peoples' knowledge ; Climate variability ; Climate change adaptation ; Risk ; Meteorological stations ; Vulnerability ; Households ; Climate services ; Agricultural extension ; Decision making ; Rural areas ; Stakeholders ; Drought stress ; Livelihoods / Uganda / Rwenzori
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051614)
(2.46 MB)
Although scientific climate forecast (SF) distribution by national climate services has improved over time, farmers seem not to make good use of climate forecasts, a likely contributing factor to vulnerability to climate change. This study investigated factors associated with farmers’ use of SFs and indigenous forecasts (IFs) for agricultural use in the Rwenzori region, western Uganda. Household survey gathered data on demographic characteristics, climate information use and livelihood choices from 580 farmers. Data was analysed using the probit model. Results showed that significant factors associated with using both IFs and SFs were farm size, education, age, reception of scientific forecasts in local languages, agricultural extension access, short-mature crop access, farmer-to-farmer network and accessing forecasts through radio. This study shows that IFs were used complementarily with SFs. On the other hand, significant factors associated with using IFs only were livelihood choices such as tuber and goat production, access to government interventions on climate change adaptations, agro-ecological zone and social capital. Climate risks and climate risk perceptions negatively influenced the use of scientific forecasts. Co-production of climate information, capacity-building and active engagement of stakeholders in dissemination mechanisms can improve climate forecast use. Investments in more weather stations in various districts will therefore be a key factor in obtaining more accurate scientific forecasts and could lead to increased use of scientific climate forecasts. Governments in developing countries, the private sector, global and regional development partners should support investments in weather stations and capacity building of national meteorological systems.
12 Awolala, D.; Mutemi, J.; Adefisan, E.; Antwi-Agyei, P.; Taylor, A.; Muita, R.; Bosire, E.; Mutai, B.; Nkiaka, E. 2023. Economic value and latent demand for agricultural drought forecast: emerging market for weather and climate information in Central-Southern Nigeria. Climate Risk Management, 39:100478. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crm.2023.100478]
Economic value ; Drought ; Weather forecasting ; Climate services ; Savannahs ; Households ; Farmers ; Willingness to pay ; Livelihoods ; Resilience ; Socioeconomic aspects ; Decision making ; Risk management ; Agricultural extension ; Policies / Nigeria
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051704)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212096323000049/pdfft?md5=0b33d5ff4429b1fd19bc171a50bf04ba&pid=1-s2.0-S2212096323000049-main.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051704.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051704.pdf
(1.61 MB) (1.61 MB)
Provision of weather and climate services are expected to improve the capacity for rural households’ preparedness and response plans to weather shocks. With increase in public investments in developing and communicating weather information on local scale in Nigeria, uncertainty in timescales that meet farmers’ needs and economic value of the information is still poorly understood. It is now a policy concern on whether farmers’ preferences and demands might increase its uptake. This study analyzed the economic value, latent demand, and emerging market of weather and climate information in Central-Southern Nigeria. Farm-level cross-sectional data reveals that 76% of the respondents were willing to pay for improved weather information and early warnings in taking climate smart decisions. Within farmers who showed positive responses, 86% would pay for sub-seasonal to seasonal weather information while 38% would pay for medium and short range weather information respectively. The economic value of sub-seasonal to seasonal weather information was estimated at N1600 ($3.60) per year per capita with total aggregated value of N1.3 billion ($2.9 m) yearly for the derived savannah area. Predictive total market value of N17.43billion ($39 m) would be obtained from improved weather information in Nigeria. Simulated results of 5% increase in the uptake with better dissemination channel through mobile phones in addition to robust farmers’ oriented features will generate additional annual market value at N86m ($193,360) for service providers. Large farm size, good farm-income, mobile phone dissemination channels, and location-specific information were drivers of farmers’ uptake decisions of weather information in the dry savannah area. The huge emerging market for improved weather information should be developed into a public–private market to efficiently facilitate uptake and use in Nigeria.
13 Cummings, S.; Koerner, J.; Schut, M.; Lubberink, R.; Minh, Thai; Spielman, D.; Vos, J.; Kropff, M. (Ed.); Leeuwis, C. (Ed.). 2022. Open for business: pathways to strengthen CGIAR's responsible engagement with the private sector. Montpellier, France: CGIAR System Organization; Utrecht, Netherlands: NL-CGIAR Strategic Partnership. 43p.
Private sector ; CGIAR ; Public-private partnerships ; Governance ; Risk management ; Multi-stakeholder processes ; Research programmes ; Innovation scaling ; Investment ; Institutions ; Policies ; Funding ; Climate services ; Sustainable Development Goals ; Farmers
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H052091)
https://www.nlfoodpartnership.com/documents/316/20220330_-_NL_CGIAR_Special_Report.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H052091.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H052091.pdf
(8.15 MB) (8.15 MB)
14 Agbehadji, I. E.; Mabhaudhi, Tafadzwanashe; Botai, J.; Masinde, M. 2023. A systematic review of existing early warning systems’ challenges and opportunities in cloud computing early warning systems. Climate, 11(9):188. [doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/cli11090188]
Early warning systems ; Systematic reviews ; Meta-analysis ; Climate services ; Climate prediction ; Techniques ; Modelling ; Frameworks ; Natural disasters
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H052179)
https://www.mdpi.com/2225-1154/11/9/188/pdf?version=1694397872
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H052179.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H052179.pdf
(1.23 MB) (1.23 MB)
This paper assessed existing EWS challenges and opportunities in cloud computing through the PSALSAR framework for systematic literature review and meta-analysis. The research used extant literature from Scopus and Web of Science, where a total of 2516 pieces of literature were extracted between 2004 and 2022, and through inclusion and exclusion criteria, the total was reduced to 98 for this systematic review. This review highlights the challenges and opportunities in transferring in-house early warning systems (that is, non-cloud) to the cloud computing infrastructure. The different techniques or approaches used in different kinds of EWSs to facilitate climate-related data processing and analytics were also highlighted. The findings indicate that very few EWSs (for example, flood, drought, etc.) utilize the cloud computing infrastructure. Many EWSs are not leveraging the capability of cloud computing but instead using online application systems that are not cloud-based. Secondly, a few EWSs have harnessed the computational techniques and tools available on a single platform for data processing. Thirdly, EWSs combine more than one fundamental tenet of the EWS framework to provide a holistic warning system. The findings suggest that reaching a global usage of climate-related EWS may be challenged if EWSs are not redesigned to fit the cloud computing service infrastructure.
15 Mume, I. D.; Mohammed, J. H.; Ogeto, M. A. 2023. Determinants of adoption of small-scale irrigation practices as adaptation strategies to climate change stresses in Kersa District, Eastern Oromia, Ethiopia. Discover Food, 3:6. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s44187-023-00047-7]
Small-scale irrigation ; Households ; Irrigation schemes ; Irrigation water ; Climate change ; Climate services ; Smallholders ; Farmers ; Resilience ; Climate-smart agriculture ; Climate variability ; Climate services ; Livestock ; Models ; Participation ; Livelihoods / Ethiopia / Oromia / Kersa
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H052146)
https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s44187-023-00047-7.pdf?pdf=button%20sticky
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H052146.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H052146.pdf
(0.72 MB) (732 KB)
This study was conducted to assess the factors influencing farmers’ decisions to adopt small-scale irrigation practices as an adaptation strategy to climate change in Kersa district, East Hararghe Zone, Oromia. The data were collected from a sample of 288 farm households (130 adopter and 158 non-adopters). Both qualitative and quantitative data were obtained from primary and secondary sources. A binary logistics regression model was used to identify the determinants of irrigation scheme adoption. The results indicate that the adoption of small-scale irrigation scheme was influenced by the age of the household head, dependency ratio, distance from water source, household size, frequency of extension contact, access to credit, livestock holding, off/nonfarm activities, membership in an agricultural cooperative, access to climate information, and perception of climate change, which had significant positive effects. Small-scale irrigation practices are a practical solution to lessen the effects of climate change stresses. Therefore, to improve rural farm productivity and lessen the effects of climate change stresses, the agricultural and natural resources office should focus scientific attention on the key factors that influence the adoption of small-scale irrigation.
16 Okem, Andrew Emmanuel; Osei-Amponsah, Charity; Quarmine, William. 2023. Climate resilience building among households in Northwest Ghana: changes and implications. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 8p. (Policy Insights Series 6)
Climate resilience ; Climate change adaptation ; Households ; Communities ; Women ; Smallholders ; Farmers ; Rainfall ; Social change ; Transformation ; Policies ; Fertilizers ; Climate services ; Stakeholders / Ghana
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H052305)
(3.12 MB)
17 Mugiyo, H.; Magadzire, T.; Choruma, D. J.; Chimonyo, V. G. P.; Manzou, R.; Jiri, O.; Mabhaudhi, Tafadzwanashe. 2023. El Niño’s effects on southern African agriculture in 2023/24 and anticipatory action strategies to reduce the impacts in Zimbabwe. Atmosphere, 14(11):1692. (Special issue: Joint Disasters of High Temperature and Drought) [doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14111692]
El Nino ; Early warning systems ; Strategies ; Disaster risk reduction ; Climate services ; Weather ; Rainfall ; Drought ; Heat stress ; Mitigation ; Crop production ; Crop yield ; Agricultural sector ; Farmers / Southern Africa / Zimbabwe
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H052405)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/14/11/1692/pdf?version=1700139089
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H052405.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H052405.pdf
(1.79 MB) (1.79 MB)
The frequency of El Niño occurrences in southern Africa surpasses the norm, resulting in erratic weather patterns that significantly impact food security, particularly in Zimbabwe. The effects of these weather patterns posit that El Niño occurrences have contributed to the diminished maize yields. The objective is to give guidelines to policymakers, researchers, and agricultural stakeholders for taking proactive actions to address the immediate and lasting impacts of El Niño and enhance the resilience of the agricultural industry. This brief paper provides prospective strategies for farmers to anticipate and counteract the El Niño-influenced dry season projected for 2023/24 and beyond. The coefficient of determination R2 between yield and ENSO was low; 11 of the 13 El Niño seasons had a negative detrended yield anomaly, indicating the strong association between El Nino’s effects and the reduced maize yields in Zimbabwe. The R2 between the Oceanic Nino Index (ONI) and rainfall (43%) and between rainfall and yield (39%) indirectly affects the association between ONI and yield. To safeguard farmers’ livelihoods and improve their preparedness for droughts in future agricultural seasons, this paper proposes a set of strategic, tactical, and operational decision-making guidelines that the agriculture industry should follow. The importance of equipping farmers with weather and climate information and guidance on drought and heat stress was underscored, encompassing strategies such as planting resilient crop varieties, choosing resilient livestock, and implementing adequate fire safety measures.
18 Aheeyar, Mohamed; Amarasinghe, Upali A.; Amarnath, Giriraj; Alahacoon, Niranga; Prasad, S.; Dissanayake, A. 2023. Assessment of farmers’ willingness to pay for bundled climate insurance solutions in Sri Lanka. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 37p. (IWMI Research Report 187) [doi: https://doi.org/10.5337/2023.222]
Weather index insurance ; Farmers' attitudes ; Willingness to pay ; Assessment ; Climate resilience ; Crop insurance ; Risk transfer ; Climate services ; Seed systems ; Agricultural risks ; Disaster risk management ; Strategies ; Intervention ; Climate change impacts ; Drought ; Flooding ; Crop damage ; Smallholders ; Socioeconomic aspects ; Land ownership ; Household income ; Insurance premiums ; Gender equality ; Social inclusion ; Awareness-raising ; Institutions ; Surveys / Sri Lanka / Anuradhapura / Gampaha / Hambantota / Kurunegala / Monaragala
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: IWMI Record No: H052415)
(1.68 MB)
With the increasing frequency and intensity of climate-related disasters, several social protection and livelihood resilience tools have been tested to reduce agricultural risks. The findings of this study are based on the initial bundled climate insurance solutions pilot conducted in five districts in Sri Lanka (Anuradhapura, Vavuniya, Monaragala, Kurunegala and Ampara) in 2021 with the support of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). The project intervention was designed to reduce production risks and enhance agricultural resilience through the roll-out of an index insurance product bundled with hybrid seeds and mobile-based weather and agronomic advisories. The research assessed farmers' willingness to pay (WTP) for weather index insurance (WII) solutions with bundled choices as a risk transfer tool with due consideration to the diversity and heterogeneity of the farming population. The report informs the scaling opportunities of bundled climate insurance choices, including product design and implementation among smallholder farmers and reduction of production risks in designing and implementing WII products. The study findings confirm the majority of farmers' perceptions of high climate risk, but the degree of risk is variable between areas and different segments of people. Farmers’ age, gender, farming experience, levels of education, land size operated, and household income form the major factors characterizing the diversity and risk exposures. Attention to gender and social equity issues is important in the design and delivery of insurance products so that the benefits of the interventions reach most of the farming population; this can ensure achievement of the larger development objectives of equity and fairness to disadvantaged people including women. Farmers are experiencing high or very high levels of variability in crop yield, input prices and output prices. However, the differences in willingness to experiment with innovations to minimize the risks and adopt risk-taking approaches to minimize production risks and strengthen livelihood resilience indicate the requirement for carefully designed insurance products. Awareness creation is a prerequisite for this intervention to be a sustainable one. About 80% of farmers are willing to enroll in crop insurance programs, but a major inhibiting factor is the lack of trust in insurers. The amount that farmers are willing to pay as an insurance premium is in the range of 1-2% of the sum insured for the majority of farmers. Bundling insurance with farm support services could be the primary strategy for transitioning insurance programs to be a financially viable and sustainable adaptation strategy, and for upscaling these programs.
19 Amarnath, Giriraj; Ghosh, Surajit; Alahacoon, Niranga. 2023. Afghanistan Drought Early Warning Decision Support (AF-DEWS) Tool. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 53p. (IWMI Research Report 188) [doi: https://doi.org/10.5337/2023.223]
Drought indices ; Early warning systems ; Decision support systems ; Monitoring ; Earth observation satellites ; Remote sensing ; Extreme weather events ; Weather forecasting ; Precipitation ; Rainfall ; Temperature ; Snow cover ; Weather patterns ; Indicators ; Climate change mitigation ; Risk management ; Climate services ; Decision making ; Disaster preparedness ; Spatial data ; Datasets ; Maps ; Seasonal variation ; Institutions ; Finance ; State intervention ; Surface water ; Irrigated farming ; Crop yield ; Food insecurity / Afghanistan
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: IWMI Record No: H052416)
(4.79 MB)
This report summarizes the development of the Afghanistan Drought Early Warning Decision Support (AF-DEWS) Tool, a cloud-based online platform with near real-time information on drought conditions, to provide decision-makers with maps and data to enable further analysis. The report provides an overview of how the AF-DEWS Tool was developed and how it can be used to systematically monitor, detect and forecast drought conditions in Afghanistan. The tool provides a wide range of indicators/indices to assess the severity of meteorological (rainfall anomaly, standardized precipitation index), hydrological (snow cover index, streamflow drought index, surface water supply index), and agricultural (vegetation health index, integrated drought severity index) droughts. The authors evaluated historical drought events, specifically the widespread drought event of 2018, to identify the precise impact of drought that has affected more than 13 million people across 22 of the 34 provinces in the severe to extreme drought category. Key drought indices were selected to undertake a detailed evaluation of the major drought events and their impacts on crop production. Satellite-derived (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer [MODIS]) Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) data and observed wheat production data provided by the National Statistics and Information Authority (NSIA) were used. This demonstrates the capabilities of the AF-DEWS Tool in supporting drought early warning and informing preparedness and risk reduction measures.
20 Amarnath, Giriraj; Taron, Avinandan; Alahacoon, Niranga; Ghosh, Surajit. 2023. Bundled climate-smart agricultural solutions for smallholder farmers in Sri Lanka. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 7:1145147. [doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2023.1145147]
Climate-smart agriculture ; Smallholders ; Farmers ; Weather index insurance ; Crop insurance ; Climate change ; Drought ; Agricultural extension ; Public-private partnerships ; Earth observation satellites ; Climate services ; Seed systems ; Climate resilience ; Advisory services ; Business models / Sri Lanka / Ampara / Anuradhapura / Monaragala / Kurunegala / Vavuniya
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H052475)
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2023.1145147/pdf?isPublishedV2=False
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H052475.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H052475.pdf
(1.34 MB) (1.34 MB)
Smallholder farmers are among the most vulnerable to climate shocks in Sri Lanka. Lack of education and technical skills, poverty, risks inherent to agricultural investments, limited assets, and financial capital are major reasons for low investments in enhancing adaptive capacity. The study explores the use of agricultural technologies in improving smallholder resilience to water-related disasters and their opportunities for recovery. We tested four bundled services to promote climate-smart agriculture practices namely weather index insurance (WII), agronomic advisories dissemination via SMS, weather services, and climate-resilient seeds of maize and rice. The integrated solutions are referred to as Bundled Solutions of Index Insurance with Climate Information and Seed Systems (BICSA) to manage agricultural risks in Sri Lanka. The study conducted the bundled solutions in three agroecological regions spread over five districts and covering more than 2,500 farmers in three cropping periods of Maha and Yala seasons. The results demonstrate that providing bundled solutions significantly protects smallholders against moderate drought events. The satellite-based weather index insurance can offset the long-term consequences of severe yield losses and mitigate the long-term drop in farm productivity. Our findings demonstrate the importance of bundled insurance to mitigate financial risks associated with extreme weather events and enhance resilience to climate change among vulnerable smallholders. It is evident from the study promoting a viable business model among seed companies, insurance companies, and technological partners, along with public institutions such as agricultural extension services can help production-level improvements and develop strategies at both the farm and policy levels that will support a transition to a more resilient farming system.
Powered by DB/Text WebPublisher, from
