1 • 3/21/11 Climate Services to Support Farmer Decision-Making Under a Changing Climate Knowledge Capture and Transfer

Successful initiatives in Africa and South Asia demonstrate benefits of delivering seasonal and shorter-term information at the village scale. CCAFS is supporting studies of these initiatives to capture and transfer good practice, including: 1. Dialogue between climate and agricultural experts: In Mali this enabled meteorological service staff, agricultural researchers and others to create a weather-based advisory system usable by farmers. 2. Partnerships with boundary organizations: Networks of civil society organizations served as trusted brokers of climate information for farmers in remote areas. 3. Focus on equity: A concerted effort to reach women and other underserved groups ensures that all can benefit from climate services.

The Challenge Challenges of providing farmers with decision-relevant climate information services include gaps in: •  Knowledge of farmer needs, and farmer

input into design of services •  Information delivery infrastructure •  Information timing, content, scale, format •  Equitable access to communication

technologies •  Farmers’ understanding and trust •  Data coverage or appropriateness

Cell phones are a common way to access agro-met information in many parts of India. Credit: F. Fiondella

Climate Services at Scale: Mission Possible CCAFS case studies show that it is possible to reach millions of farmers with climate services that support decision-making under a changing climate. The approaches can be scaled up to enable many other farmers to benefit from climate information and advisories. The time is right for climate services.

Farmer in Ouelessebougou village, a beneficiary of Mali’s 30 year old agro-met advisory program. Credit: A. Tall

A woman fielding calls from farmers in Andhra Pradesh, part of agro-met advisory services by the state agriculture university. Credit: F. Fiondella

For more information, contact: Arame Tall, a.tall@cgiar.org