Presentation during the CCAFS Side Event on Strengthening Climate Services at the 7TH Africa Agriculture Science Week, Kigali Rwanda

1. Side Event at the FARA 7th AASW, 14 June 2016
Desire Kagabo and James Hansen
Transforming Agriculture
sector with
improved climate information
services

2. What do we mean by climate services?

3. From weather to
climate services
• Needs depend on decisions
• With increasing lead time:
§ Decisions more context-
and farmer-specific
§ Information more
uncertain, complex
§ Therefore scope of
services needed increases
• Climate services need more
than just new information

4. What will it take for climate services to
empower farmers to manage risk and
adapt to change – at scale?
• Capacity to communicate,
understand, act on climate
information
• Capacity to provide
actionable information
• Balance services at scale
with context-specific
needs, particularly for
women, marginalized,
vulnerable
• Institutional arrangements
for sustained co-
development of services

5. What is the Rwanda Climate Services for
Agriculture program?

6. What will the program do for Rwanda?
Aims to benefit nearly one
million farmers by 2019, and
transform Rwanda’s rural
farming communities and
national economy through
climate services and improved
climate risk management

7. What will the program do for Rwanda?
Outcome 1
Climate
Services for
Farmers
Outcome 2
Climate
Services for
Government
Planning
Outcome 3
Climate
Information
Provision
Outcome 4 National Climate Services
Governance

8. What will the program do for Rwanda?
Outcome 1
Climate
Services for
Farmers
Outcome 2
Climate
Services for
Government
Planning
Outcome 3
Climate
Information
Provision
Outcome 4 National Climate Services
Governance
Agricultural extension and
other intermediaries
provide farmers across
Rwanda’s 30 districts with
decision-relevant
operational climate
information and advisory
services, and empower
and guide them to use the
information to better
manage risk.

9. What will the program do for Rwanda?
Outcome 1
Climate
Services for
Farmers
Outcome 2
Climate
Services for
Government
Planning
Outcome 3
Climate
Information
Provision
Outcome 4
National Climate Services Governance
Agricultural and food
security decision-makers in
the Ministry of Agriculture,
and in other relevant
government agencies and
institutions, are using
climate information to
respond more effectively to
climate-related risks and to
inform decisions that build
the resilience of farmers.

10. What will the program do for Rwanda?
Outcome 1
Climate
Services for
Farmers
Outcome 2
Climate
Services for
Government
Planning
Outcome 3
Climate
Information
Provision
Outcome 4
National Climate Services Governance
Meteo-Rwanda is
designing, delivering,
incorporating user
feedback into a growing
suite of weather and
climate information
products and services
tailored to the needs of
agricultural and food
security decision-makers.

11. What will the program do for Rwanda?
Outcome 1
Climate
Services for
Farmers
Outcome 2
Climate
Services for
Government
Planning
Outcome 3
Climate
Information
Provision
Outcome 4
National Climate Services Governance
A national climate services
governance structure
ensures sustained co-
production, assessment
and improvement of
climate service for
agriculture and food
security; and facilitates a
formal interface and
effective dialog between
the key agencies involved.

12. What innovations will the program bring?

13. Outcome 1: Climate services for farmers
PICSA
Participatory Integrated Climate
Services for Agriculture
• Developed by University of
Reading, with CCAFS and IRI
• Piloted in Kenya, Senegal, Ghana,
Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Malawi
• Makes extensive use of local
historic data and forecasts
• Mainstream into agricultural
extension, operations of other
intermediaries, through training

14. Outcome 1: Climate services for farmers
PICSA
• Understand historical climate
§ Trends and variability
§ Derived seasonal quantities
§ Crop requirements and risks
Peter Dorward

15. Outcome 1: Climate services for farmers
PICSA
• Understand historical climate
§ Trends and variability
§ Derived seasonal quantities
§ Crop requirements and risks
• Participatory planning
§ Current livelihood system
Peter Dorward
Peter Dorward
Peter Dorward

16. Outcome 1: Climate services for farmers
PICSA
• Understand historical climate
§ Trends and variability
§ Derived seasonal quantities
§ Crop requirements and risks
• Participatory planning
§ Current livelihood system
§ Promising options

17. Outcome 1: Climate services for farmers
PICSA
• Understand historical climate
• Participatory planning
• Downscaled, probabilistic
seasonal forecasts
§ Adapt IRI approach into PICSA
§ Explain probability formats,
starting with historic time series
• El Niño illustrates forecast as
a shifted distribution to introduce
new formats
• Training during fallow period,
then planning just before season
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
0 200 400 600 800
October-December rainfall, mm
Chanceofatleast
thismuchrain
?

18. Outcome 1: Climate services for farmers
Interactive rural radio
• Radio and mobile phones complement
group interaction with trained intermediaries
• Interactivity by combining radio and
mobile phones
§ Bulk SMS
§ Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
§ “Beep-4-...” services
• Programming: Call-in shows, panel
discussions, village dialogues, dramas
• Listener groups
• Gender-sensitive programming

19. Outcome 3: Climate information provision
The challenge
• Gap between what farmers need, and the types and scale
of information that they can access.
IDRC http://www.idrc.ca/EN/PublishingImages/Kenyan-Farmer-uses-rain-gauge.jpg
?

20. Outcome 3: Climate information provision
The challenge

21. Outcome 3: Climate information provision
ENACTS
ENACTS (Enhancing National Climate
Services):
• Satellite + station, ~5 km grid, >30-50
year complete record
• Production and dissemination of
derived products through online
“maprooms”
• What it means for climate services for
farmers
• Expanding ENACTS
STATION
BLENDED
SATELLIT
E

22. • Quickly reach all farmers
with basic extension
m e s s a g e s t h r o u g h
m o b i l i s a t i o n a n d
demonstration plots in
each village.
• Gradually reaching all
farmers with in depth
knowledge by offering an
experimental learning
experience in the Farmer
Field School (FFS) plot.
Strategy of reaching 1,000,000 People

23. Agricultural Extension and advisory services
provision on climate services
• Using the available network of 14,200 farmer promoters
and 2,500 FFS Facilitators training farmers through
TWIGIRE MUHINZI
• SMS through climate services information to FPs, FFS facilitator,
Agronomists and other extension workers.
• Hotline Toll free numbers:
• MINAGRI /CICA: 4127
• RAB: 4675 and 4676 (Twigire Muhinzi Hotline)

24. Thank you for the attention