Breaking barriers: Making climate information accessible to every farmer

Breaking barriers: Making climate information accessible to every farmer

Climate services across Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda are being scaled through the ECREA project by strengthening local advisory institutions, training extension officers and farmers, and expanding communication channels like radio, SMS platforms, and community groups.

Through linking meteorological services with agricultural experts, media partners, and farmer organizations, the project delivers localized, inclusive climate advisories that help smallholder farmers adapt to increasing climate variability and make informed agricultural decisions.

Climate variability is increasingly disrupting agricultural production across East Africa. Delayed rainfall, shifting planting seasons, and prolonged dry spells are making traditional farming calendars less reliable. For smallholder farmers, the difference between a successful harvest and crop failure increasingly depends on timely access to reliable weather and climate information.

But providing climate information at scale requires more than producing accurate forecasts. It requires systems that can interpret climate data, translate it into practical agricultural advice, and deliver that information through communication channels that farmers trust.

Scaling climate services, therefore, depends on strengthening the institutional and communication systems that connect national climate forecasts with farmers’ day-to-day decision-making.

A key factor in expanding climate services across the region has been strengthening local advisory systems that connect national climate forecasts with farmer decision-making. 

View original article