Side Event at the FARA 7th AASW, 14 June 2016 Desire Kagabo and James Hansen

Transforming Agriculture sector with

improved climate information services

What do we mean by climate services?

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

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

What is the Rwanda Climate Services for Agriculture program?

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

What innovations will the program bring?

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

Outcome 1: Climate services for farmers PICSA

•  Understand historical climate §  Trends and variability

§  Derived seasonal quantities

§  Crop requirements and risks

Peter Dorward

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

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

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

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October-December rainfall, mm

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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

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

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Outcome 3: Climate information provision The challenge

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

SATELLITE

• Quickly reach all farmers wi th 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

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)

Thank you for the attention