Forging partnerships to improve climate agro-advisory services for Kenya’s farmers

Weather forecasting and reliable agricultural advisory services are an important part of rainfed agricultural systems, especially in developing economies. Increased weather variability and rising temperatures as a result of climate change are generating greater demand by farmers for better and more timely climate information.

In Kenya, the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) and the Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD) and partnering organizations provide agroclimatic advisory services and weather forecasts to farmers through multimedia platforms and a network of extension officers.

A recent workshop jointly hosted by the International Livestock Research Institute, KALRO and KMD under the Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) program focused on the potential synergies across their ongoing agro-advisory efforts to identify areas where the three organizations could collaborate to improve weather-based agro-advisory services to farmers.

AICCRA works to make existing climate information services and climate-smart agriculture more accessible to millions of smallholder farmers across Africa.