Climate information services (CIS) form the backbone of climate-smart agriculture. Whether it is a farmer needing to make key agricultural decisions for a season, a humanitarian worker who needs to anticipate and respond to climate extremes like droughts and floods, or a policymaker who must plan and arrange for agricultural inputs and investments, climate information services are a crucial part of building resilience.  

AICCRA’s thematic team for CIS, referred to internally as ‘Theme 4’, works across our focus countries and regions connecting those who generate climate data and information products including Africa’s national and regional meteorological centers, those who tailor it such as national and local research institutes, and those who are on the frontlines interfacing with agricultural communities to advance the tools, capacity building approaches, and policies that meet the needs of those whom they are intended to serve.

Some of our key outcomes have been capacitating meteorological services to harness real-time weather data for decision-making in agriculture, spearheading new foundational curricula for higher education and agricultural extension to manage climate risk, and bringing to partners and data together advance innovative AgData Hubs, CIS frameworks, and grassroots approaches underpinning climate services.