1) The document discusses the role of climate services and climate information products in Malawi's National Adaptation Plan (NAP) process. 2) It identifies key needs for climate services to support the NAP process, including improving historical climate data and climate projections, downscaling models, and tailoring information to users. 3) Gaps in knowledge and capacity are also discussed, such as understanding rainfall variability and improving drought and flood predictions, with calls to address these gaps to better support the NAP process.

1. GFCS and NAPs
Climate information Products in the NAP process in
Malawi
Fred Kossam
Head of Climate Change and Research Services
Technical Lead for NAPs in Malawi
Department of Climate Change and Meteorological
Services

2. Climate Services
• A climate product is the result of a process of synthesizing climate
data and information.
• Noting that climate services depend critically on predictions of time-
evolving regional climate on timescales from seasonal-to-interannual,
multi-decadal, century and beyond, it is necessary that climate
prediction science must be accorded an important part in organizing
beneficial climate services
• To improve the delivery of tailored climate information products and
services, it is imperative that an inventory of the users and providers
of climate information is made for future collaboration and
partnership.

3. Assessment of Climate Services
• Institutions involved should be open to clients, flexible enough to adjust or
develop requirement based new services and adopt advanced quality
management systems including new procedures, standards and best practices.
• the users request for timely dissemination of climate information for effective
planning.
• Meteorological observing network is poor and there is need for rehabilitation of
surface and upper-air stations, installation of Automatic Weather Stations and
Radar to improve weather and climate forecasting and severe storm tracking.
• Inadequate observational network is an impediment to provision of climate
information products and services especially where some localized information is
needed.
• The performance of meteorology depends on the collaboration with national,
regional and international organizations to facilitate data exchange, Research and
Development and also share meteorological prediction products and lessons
learnt from various users of climate data and information

4. Key Need for Climate Services
• There are several categories and types of climate
information products and services existing in the countries
for agriculture and food security. These include Daily
Weather Forecasts; Dekadal Agrometeorological Bulletins;
Monthly Climate Outlooks; Seasonal Climate Outlooks;
Climate Alerts; observed climate Impacts; and Tailored
information for users (farmers) including various types of
climate mean maps on different parameters
• A major theme for climate services is the
establishment of a physical basis for understanding,
observing, and modelling climate and global change
for various applications

5. GFCS and NAPS
• At a country level the GFCS would be implemented
through development of a national climate service.
• This would consist of three main pillars;
– (1) observations and monitoring vs Historical and
current climate services for base line data and V&A
– (2) research modelling and prediction vs Medium and
long term adaptation options
– (3) a user interface platform for communication and
interaction between stakeholders vs user needs and
tailored climate products

6. D. Reporting, Monitoring
and Review
1. Monitoring the NAP process
2. Reviewing the NAP process to assess progress,
effectiveness and gaps
3. Iteratively updating the national adaptation plans
4. Outreach on the NAP process and reporting on progress
and effectiveness
A. Laying the groundwork
and addressing gaps
1. Initiating and launching of the NAP process
2. Stocktaking: identifying available information on
climate change impacts, vulnerability and adaptation
and assessing gaps and needs of the enabling
environment for the NAP process
3. Addressing capacity gaps and weaknesses in
undertaking the NAP process
4. Comprehensively and iteratively assessing
development needs and climate vulnerabilities
C. Implementation Strategy
1. Prioritizing climate change adaptation in national
planning
2. Developing a (long-term) national adaptation
implementation strategy
3. Enhancing capacity for planning and implementing
adaptation
4. Promoting coordination and synergy at the regional
level and with other multilateral environmental
agreements
B. Preparatory Elements
1. Analysing current climate and future climate change
scenarios
2. Assessing climate vulnerabilities and identifying
adaptation options at the sector, subnational, national
and other appropriate levels
3. Reviewing and appraising adaptation options
4. Compiling and communicating national adaptation
plans
5. Integrating climate change adaptation into national
and subnational development and sectoral planning

7. Element B of the NAP Technical
Guidelines
Objective: Develop and integrate national adaptation plans
Expected outputs
1. Report on current climate and future
climate scenarios
2. Ranked CC vulnerabilities
3. Ranked adaptation options
4. Adaptation knowledge base
5. National adaptation plans
6. Communication/ education strategy
Activities
1. Analyze current climate and future
climate scenarios
2. Assess and rank climate
vulnerabilities
3. Identify, appraise and prioritize
adaptation options
4. Compile national adaptation plan
documents and integrate them with
other ongoing development and
sectoral planning processes
Outcome
• Clear understanding of interplay between climate changes, vulnerabilities
and development
• Overview of adaptation needs and options considering synergies with other
development and sectoral planning
Climate
Services
Key for
Element B

8. Climate Products for NAPs
Related to V&A
• Improving historical climate data bases. In terms of meteorological
records, investing in data may include efforts at data recovery,
digitalization, and cleaning in order to assure that countries are
forecasting and monitoring
• Improve data accessibility
• Weather and climate risks based on the best available historic datasets
• capacity to analyse historical and current climatic data
• Application of impacts on various sectors
• Climate is changing , better data and fine scale models are needed
Related to Medium and Long Term Scenario Building
• Climate Projection and associated impacts
• Availability of tools and models for downscaling
• Uncertainty analysis
• Potential links with regional climate service centres

9. Knowledge gaps
• The onset and cessation of the rains and its
inter-annual variability,
• Improvement of our understanding of rainfall
mechanisms, prediction and verifications,
Calibration, use of climate indices to Predict
Droughts and Floods and Validation of Satellite-
Derived Data and Products for improved
environmental monitoring for sustainable
development
• Integration of indigenous knowledge into the NAP
process

10. END