Transforming climate science into usable services: The effectiveness of co-production in promoting uptake of climate information by smallholder farmers in Senegal

Does the provision of weather and climate information services (WCIS) enhance farmer’s use of forecasts in informing farm decisions? This paper assesses the effectiveness of the Multi-disciplinary Working Group (MWG) – a WCIS co-production initiative in Senegal in influencing farmers uptake of weather and climate information (WCI). WCIS are increasingly gaining importance and widely touted as critical in helping farmers adapt to climate variability. While there have been various WCIS initiatives producing and translating climate data into tailored information and knowledge in different parts of the world, there is hardly any rigorous evidence assessing their effectiveness in improving uptake. In this assessment, we use innovative survey methods and apply rigorous analytical approaches that control for self-selection bias to establish causal linkages between the MWG and use of WCIS. Our findings indicate that MWGs are positively associated with farmers’ awareness, access and uptake of WCI resulting in farm management responses depending on the type of information used. The presence of MWGs generally increases farmer’s awareness of WCI by 18%, access by 12% and uptake by 10%. Furthermore, use of seasonal forecasts is generally associated with a higher proportion of farmers using improved seed, fertilizers and manure, but negatively with crop diversification within MWG locations. This suggests that participatory approaches in the provision of tailored climate information and advisory services can lead to higher uptake and use among farmers in informing farm management responses for better adaptation to climate change. We highlight lessons for improved evaluations of WCIS in future

Enhancing climate services design and implementation through gender-responsive evaluation

Assessing and responding to gender inequalities, and promoting women’s empowerment, can be critical to achieving the goals of climate services, such as improved climate resilience, productivity, food security and livelihoods. To this end, our paper seeks to provide guidance to rural climate service researchers, implementing organizations, and funders on gender-responsive evaluation of climate services, including key questions to be asked and appropriate methodology. We draw on case studies of rural climate services in Mali, Rwanda and Southeast Asia to illustrate how gender-responsive evaluations have framed and attempted to answer questions about climate information needs, access to information and support through group processes, and contribution of climate services to empowerment. Evaluation of how group participatory processes can enable women’s and men’s demand for weather and climate information can help close knowledge gaps on gender equity in access to climate services. Quantitative methods can rigorously identify changes in demand associated with varying interventions, but qualitative approaches may be necessary to help assess the nuances of participatory communication processes. Furthermore, evaluation of how women’s and men’s information needs differ according to their roles and responsibilities in distinct climate-sensitive decisions can help assess gender inequities in climate services use. Evaluation that critically considers the local normative and institutional environment influencing empowerment can help identify pathways for climate services to contribute to women’s empowerment. Qualitative and mixed method methodologies can be helpful for assessing the normative and institutional changes upon which empowerment depends. Although evaluations are often conducted too late to inform the design of time-bound projects, they can contribute to improvements to climate services if results are shared widely, if implementers and funders consistently factor evidence and insights from prior evaluations into the design of new initiatives, and if ongoing climate service initiatives conduct preliminary evaluations regularly to support mid-course adjustments

Comprendre la diversité des systèmes de subsistance basé sur les zones humides dans le bassin du fleuve Limpopo

International audienceWetlands provide a wide range of ecosystem services that support livelihoods of many rural communities in Southern Africa. In the Limpopo River Basin, which is characterized by a semi-arid climate and scarce water resources, rural people use wetlands for agricultural production thanks to their rich soils and permanent supply of water. However, agricultural production has the potential of altering the pristine state of wetlands and consequently jeopardizing the provision of future ecosystem services. As part of an effort to improve management of wetlands, the present study assessed the socio-economic determinants of household use of wetlands in two sites in the Limpopo River basin. A stratified random sampling technique was used to select 143 and 131 households respectively in the two sites. Using the sustainable livelihood framework, information was collected from households on their assets and use of wetlands. Multivariate analysis was used to categorize households according to their wetland uses. Multinomial logit models were then used to examine the factors that influence household choices on use of wetland resources. The results highlighted the diversity of wetland uses, their relationships with other assets endowment and their contribution to livelihoods. Generally, households in Intunjambili were more frequently engaged in wetland activities than in Ga-Mampa and therefore more reliant on its resources. The nature of household use of wetlands, strongly differentiated across households, appeared to be site-specific and highly influenced by socio-economic factors. At one site wealthier households were more likely to engage in wetland cropping than poor households, while the opposite was observed in the other site. In both sites poor households were more likely to engage in extraction of natural wetland products (reeds, sedges, edible plants) than wealthier households. The first policy implication is that any program that seeks to mitigate the impacts of agricultural use of wetland on the provision of other ecosystem services should take into account the role of wetlands in their users' livelihood strategies. The second implication is that wetland management policies should include support to alternative income generating activities

Central Africa Humid Tropics Transect Sentinel Landscape (CAFHUT): A stocktaking pilot study

This publication is part of the Sentinel Landscape network initiative established in eight sites around the world representative of widely different biophysical and socioeconomic contexts. Here we present and summarize the results of the research and baseline studies carried out in the Central Africa Humid Tropics Transect sentinel landscape, four sites in Cameroon indicative of the African humid forest ecological zone