When farmers start calling for the weather forecast: Rebuilding trust in climate information in Uganda
In Uganda’s bean-growing districts, the ECREA project is strengthening climate services by improving access, understanding, and use of weather forecasts, enabling farmers to make timely decisions and increasing trust in climate information.
- Climate Action
- farmers
When farmers start calling for the weather forecast: Rebuilding trust in climate information in Uganda
In Uganda’s bean-growing districts, the ECREA project is strengthening climate services by improving access, understanding, and use of weather forecasts, enabling farmers to make timely decisions and increasing trust in climate information.
Not long ago, weather forecasts were seen as distant announcements that were technical, abstract, and at times unreliable, a perception highlighted in global climate services assessments (World Meteorological Organization & CGIAR, 2020). Today, in Uganda’s bean growing districts, farmers call their extension officers, radio presenters and even district meteorological officials when a forecast is delayed. That shift tells the real story of transformation.
Trust in climate information did not change overnight. It evolved as access improved, understanding deepened, and forecasts began to consistently reflect local realities. In Hoima, Sandy Sam, a farmer and community leader, remembers how farming decisions were previously made.