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Developing a methodology for the communication of

climate services at scale through intermediaries for

farmer communities in Africa and South Asia

White paper for CCAFS Expert Workshop

12-14 June 2013

Nairobi, Kenya

Sumiko May, Arame Tall

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Accronyms

ANACIM - Agence nationale de l'aviation civile et de la météorologie du Sénégal

ARRIN - Agriculture, Research and Rural Information Network

CCAFS - Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security

CC - Climate Change

CFS - Climate Field Schools

CELAC - Collecting and exchange of local agricultural content

CGIAR - Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research

CKW - Community Knowledge Worker

CSP - Climate Services Partnership

DfID - Department for International Development

GFCS - Global Framework for Climate Services

HFP - Humanitarian Futures Programme

ICT - Information and Communication Technology

IMD - India Meteorology Department

SFS - Science Field Shops

ToT - Training of Trainers

NARS - National Agricultural Research System

WMO - World Meteorological Organisation

RCCC - Red Cross Climate Centre

RIS - Rural Information Support

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1. Introduction

This paper attempts to review and synthesize good practice methods, tools and approaches

in training intermediaries to effectively communicate climate and weather forecasts,

advisories and early warning messages to vulnerable communities at scale, as well as to

support communities to make informed agricultural and livelihood decisions that will

increase their resilience to the impacts of climate variability and related changes.

The paper draws on lessons learnt from past and present experiences using a range of tools,

methods and approaches to train intermediaries to play the role of the ‘missing link’ in the

application and communication of climate forecasts. Examples of more ‘successful’

methodologies and tools - those that have managed to support intermediaries to co-design

and communicate climate services that meet the needs of the users - will be discussed

alongside less-successful examples of case studies that have been seen to ‘fail’. The findings

of this paper will provide a solid foundation of evidence on which to base workshop

discussions.

The Nairobi expert workshop on Climate Services Communication

CGIAR’s research programme on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS),

under its Theme “Adaptation through Managing Climate Risks”, has identified the need for

better integration of climate information services into decision-making at the local level.

One meaningful conduit to achieve better-tailored and widely communicated climate

services for farmers is by working though intermediaries - public extension services, media

professionals, rural radios and community-based organizations. The use of intermediaries

has been identified as key to effectively conveying advanced climate information and

services at scale to prepare and empower smallholder farmers to anticipate and cope with

climate shocks and manage climate-related risks throughout the season. The development

of appropriate tools to strengthen the capacity and train these intermediaries to effectively

communicate climate information and advisory services is crucial.

Towards development of good training tools for intermediaries on climate services

communication, a group of experts have been invited to participate in a CCAFS Expert

Workshop in Nairobi, June 2013, to draw on past experiences and best practice for the

development of materials to train intermediaries to communicate actionable climate

advisory services.

The workshop seeks to identify:

Who make the best intermediaries- extension workers, NGO field staff, farmer’s

group leaders, community leaders etc?

What is the best approach for communicating delivering a range of climate advisory

services to ensure that information; content, scale and format meet farmer-level

decision-making needs? How to effectively train intermediaries to ensure the timely

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communication of information and to understand which communication channels

are best for specific at risk user groups;

What are the best tools to train intermediaries to understand both climate

information and appreciate a range of user information requirements;

How to train intermediaries to communicate and facilitate a two-way

communication process between farmers and other specific livelihood user groups

with those who generate and communicate scientific information, making sure the

information provision, aims, methods and schedule are informed by local needs;

How can intermediaries be trained to address gender and equity considerations in

the communication of climate services for farmers;

How to train intermediaries to convey understanding of the probabilistic nature of

forecasts, and build resilience within at risk communities for taking decisions in

situations of uncertainty?

The overall objective is to develop skeleton training modules that can be implemented and

piloted in newly emerging climate service provision projects in CGIAR CCAFS’ benchmark

research sites across Africa and South Asia and by partner organisations and stakeholders

involved in the Nairobi expert workshop.

To inform workshop discussions, the present white paper scopes experiences in training and

developing the capacity of intermediaries to communicate climate services at scale, by

building ‘human infrastructure’ for the effective communication of climate services to at risk

communities.

2. Background

Rationale of Nairobi Workshop

Emerging data projects a global increase in the frequency and impact of climate related

natural disasters (DFID, 2011; Pelling, 2003; IPCC, 2012); a trend that is likely to continue as

climate change increases the threat of disasters, such as droughts and floods (IPCC, 2012).

This includes the multitude of everyday events that are generated by varied local conditions

interacting with seasonal and other variability. Such extensive risk has been attributed with

the majority of people affected by disasters (ISDR 2009, 2011), yet falls outside the remit of

big science modelling and large policy approaches to disaster risk management. It is

important in this context that farmers are empowered to meet the uncertainty they have to

manage everyday, and that is likely to grow with a changing climate, uncertainty that can

manifest in everyday as well as catastrophic events.

It is important, therefore, to build communities’ capacities so that they are less vulnerable,

more resilient, and better able to manage rising climate risks, and indeed to enhance

development opportunities through better planning. Many parts of the world are already

experiencing changes in seasonal patterns and timing, and in particular the intensity of

rainfall (CARE 2012). With an estimated 70 percent of the world’s poor thought to be reliant

on agriculture as their primary source of food (Selvaraj, 2012) increasingly unpredictable

climatic conditions are impacting livelihoods and food security of millions of people who rely

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on the land to sustain themselves and their families. Furthermore, indigenous knowledge

and traditional coping practices based on the events of the past can no longer be solely

relied upon due to new dimensions and parameters associated with increasing climate

uncertainty and variability, further exacerbating farmer’s vulnerabilities. As such climate

services are increasingly being recognised as an important part of the global adaptation

agenda and that the effective adaption to climate variability and climate change is

dependent on access to climate information (CARE, 2012 and Ambenje et al. 2012).

Vulnerable communities need to be able to access relevant, actionable climate information

and advisory services and understand how to use these services to inform their decision-

making so that they are able to effectively manage their risk and enhance their adaptive

capacity (Walker et al. 2001 and Lucio, 2012). The Global Framework for Climate Services

(GFCS) has recognised the importance of “needs-based climate services [as an effective

means of] realising socio-economic benefits by enabling communities, businesses,

organisations and governments to adapt through informed choices in managing the

associated risks and opportunities” (Grimes, 2012, p.5).

However, many challenges arise when trying to communicate climate information and

services and their possible application to vulnerable smallholder farmer communities.

Difficulties in dissemination and access to information, as well as the inappropriate

presentation of information in formats that are difficult for farmers to understand and

interpret are examples of just a few such challenges (Tall et al. 2012, Hansen et al. 2011,

Boer et al. 2010). The traditional model of communicating climate and weather information

is for television or radio presenters to read the forecast at the end of the news. However,

rarely does this effectively communicate uncertainties and information, and it is often not

local or relevant enough for farmers to use. This results in misunderstanding of forecast

information and loss in trust with forecast services. Locally the misinterpretation of

information can lead to maladaptation and when local observations do not match received

understanding of forecasts, a loss of confidence in scientific information.

One way in which many of these challenges can be addressed is through the use of

intermediaries. Intermediaries are individuals specifically trained to communicate climate

information and provide recommendations on how information can be used to inform

decision-making (Boer et al. 2010). They may be organized through dedicated agencies or as

part of wider scientific information provision services (agricultural extension for example). It

is important to ensure that intermediaries are trained to an appropriate standard to build

confidence and an effective dialogue between the scientists and the farmers and so ensure

the sustainability and efficiency of programmes (Stigter, and Winarto, 2013 and Boer et al.

2010).

Recognising the important role that intermediaries play CGIAR’s CCAFS programme aims to

develop materials to train intermediaries so that they can effectively and efficiently

disseminate and relay practical climate information and services in a way that is taken-up

and applied and blended with local knowledge and practices.

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This builds on early work that culminated in a December 2012 CCAFS workshop in Senegal

on Scaling-Up of Climate Services for Farmers in Africa and South Asia (more at

www.scalingup.iri.edu). This workshop was aimed at identifying gaps in the design, delivery

and effective use of climate information and services. The objective was to identify linkages

that could be made to close these gaps. During this workshop five key challenges were

identified:

1. Salience – ensuring that the information; content, scale and format, match what is

needed for farmer-level decision-making.

2. Access – timely access to remote communities.

3. Legitimacy – ensuring farmers own climate services and shape their design and

delivery.

4. Equity – inclusion of women, the poor and socially marginalised.

5. Integration – using climate information as part of a larger package of agricultural

support to facilitate the understanding and use of the information so that farmers

can act on it (Tall et al. 2013).

Discussions at this workshop identified the use of intermediaries as an effective means of

addressing many of these issues and reaching marginalized communities at scale with

climate information and advisory services. How to support intermediaries, frontline workers

and boundary organisations to effectively play this role is the next question and the aim of

upcoming Nairobi workshop to be held in June 2013.

Nairobi Workshop Objectives and Anticipated Outcomes: Based on learning from past and present examples, the Nairobi workshop (writeshop) hopes

to achieve:

The consensual identification of best practice tools, approaches and methods to train

intermediaries, frontline workers and boundary organisations to enable them to serve as

the ‘missing link’ between at risk communities and climate forecasters.

The objective is to work towards the development of a template - a best practice training

tool kit to be used to train carefully selected intermediaries. These desired Training-of-

Trainers (ToT) materials will act as guidelines with tools and methods to be used by

intermediaries to:

Understand available climate forecasting;

Interpret the practical application of the information for farmers and

Communicate this information to the respective communities they serve.

It is important that training materials clearly advocate a two-way communication so that

climate scientists are able to learn about traditional practices and knowledge. This exchange

is important to ensure that the information produced takes into consideration local climate

variability (eg micro-climates) and helps scientist to tailor the type and format of

information that they produce so that it is relevant to the people they aim to serve. As such

a blending of both scientific and indigenous knowledge is crucial. The ultimate hope is that

by producing such training materials intermediaries will have the knowledge and skills

required to communicate information that will improve farmer access to available climate

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advisory services and early warning messages, and strengthen their capacity to use the

information to make informed decisions that will help increase their resilience by reducing

their risk and the impact of climate variability / change. This requires intermediaries to

reconsider their roles. It is a shift from working to provide information based on an

assumption of farmer ignorance to working with farmers to better appreciate the existing

information systems they work with, and to see how best scientific knowledge can fit within

or alongside these systems. The aim is to move farmers and intermediaries perspective on

scientific information from a position of its being external and superior to local knowledge to

its being an integral part of local knowledge systems. This broadens considerably the range

of personal and professional skills required of intermediaries who will have to consider a

range of approaches in individual contexts from directive information dissemination to thick

co-production. Underpinning this requires awareness of and the kinds of relationships

intermediaries need to build and maintain with farmers. It highlights the importance of

farmers as equal partners and indeed as active champions in this process of climate

information and action co-production.

3. Methodology

A clear understanding of how to effectively train intermediaries to communicate climate

information / science to farmers groups was investigated by carrying out a series of

interviews and surveys, alongside a review of exiting literature.

Literature review - An initial review of the literature was carried out in order to form a basis

for the research. The review identified key case studies of projects and programmes that

were involved in training and building the capacity of intermediaries to communicate

climate services to communities in a two-way process. In preparation for this paper a roster

of these projects and case studies was created (see Appendix 1).

Interviews - Following the literature review eleven key informant interviews were carried

out with specialists identified from the roster of case studies. Interviews were informal,

semi-structured and used open questions. The majority were conducted via Skype using an

interview guide (Appendix 2). The interview guide was created based on existing literature

and research in order to ensure that key issues were addressed in each interview. The

questions were specifically aimed at understanding the detailed methodologies and tools

that scoped projects used to train and develop capacity of frontline workers to understand

and in turn communicate climate advisories and early warning messages to vulnerable

communities.

Survey questionnaire to scope case studies - In addition to the interviews a survey

questionnaire template (Appendix 3) was designed to collect additional data on specific

methodologies. This template aimed to collect precise methodological data to help inform

the workshop and was circulated via e-mail. Participants were identified by Emma Visman

(HFP) and added to by James Hansen and Arame Tall. A snowballing technique to identify

additional contacts was also used.

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It is important to note that the assessment of these methodologies is primarily and in many

cases solely by self-assessment and there are few opportunities to substantiate the claims of

those that have designed and implemented the methodologies.

4. Defining a Methodology to communicate climate services at scale to farmer

communities through intermediaries in Africa and South Asia

Summary of lessons learnt:

Initial findings suggest that it is not practical to use a single methodology or tool when

training intermediaries, as decision-making processes can be extremely complex and vary

widely between regions, countries and even within communities. Many respondents argued

that rigid tools or methodologies could lead to an environment not conducive to learning or

building trust. As such it would be more appropriate to establish a set of guidelines and

considerations that should be referred to, rather than strict training tools to be adhered

to. Interviews also highlighted the importance of two-way communication, careful selection

of intermediaries and the participatory exchange of knowledge and practices.

Based on the research Figure 1 proposes an approach that can be referred to when training

intermediaries. The following section then outlines a set of considerations for each stage of

the suggested approach to training intermediaries.

Figure 1. Suggested approach to training intermediaries

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Identification of intermediaries:

As illustrated in the proposed approach outlined in Figure 1 the identification of appropriate

intermediaries was acknowledged as a key factor in the successful training of intermediaries.

Figure 2. Considerations in identification of intermediaries

Throughout the research, when respondents were asked to explain reasons behind selecting

particular intermediaries for their programmes and whom they considered would make the

most effective intermediary, the majority of respondents felt that it was difficult and not

helpful to select one particular person. Instead it was more important to consider the

attributes that they must have (see Figure 2). Based on these particular attributes and

considering the culturally specific context of each programme an effective intermediary can

then be identified. One respondent illustrated this point perfectly by offering an example of

a project in Benin where the selection of intermediaries was being discussed with the

community. Instead of lead farmers or agricultural extension workers, farmers proposed the

use of singers as the most effective intermediary to facilitate communication, due to the

important role they play in Benin culture. In Benin singers are highly respected and trusted

and their status / fame means that they are able to access a wide audience, traditionally

songs are important in the transmission of knowledge. In another example high-ranking

government officials were proposed, as culturally locals respected and trusted authority and

an official status represented an authority that they felt was there to look after them.

Obviously this particular example is not appropriate in all contexts, especially in politically

volatile countries. These examples illustrate the importance of including the community and

considering the cultural context of each programme in the selection of intermediaries.

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It should be noted that the majority of case studies did not use just one type of

intermediary, but instead trained a diverse range of intermediaries, ranging from extension

workers, NGO field staff, farmers group leaders, officials from government ministries etc.

Using a diverse set of intermediaries can ensure that climate services and advisories can be

communicated through a number of different channels at different scales.

In the cases where respondents identified a specific group of people who they felt would

make suitable intermediaries the reasons behind their choices nevertheless related to the

characteristics or attributes outlined in Figure 2. One respondent identified extension

workers as effective intermediaries. They found that extension workers were usually already

highly trained, having been trained when extension services in Africa had better resources

and funding - a number of respondents mentioned the unfortunate scaling back of extension

services across Africa. Ex-extension workers are also often older members of the community

who have earned a great deal of respect and trust due to their activities in the communities.

Crucially they are often more settled and less likely to leave and take away their knowledge

and training. Their experiences have enabled them to develop an understanding of the type

of climate information most useful to farmers and in what format this information can be

most successfully communicated and operationalised.

NGO field staff were also identified as effective intermediaries due to their relatively high

level of understanding of the local context. However, there were issues of trust, continuity

and agenda. Many field staff were not involved in the long-term strategies of programmes

and were part of an organisation that often had their own agendas.

A component of the training should be to encourage intermediaries to reflect on their

motivations as well as their positionality within the farmer communities they work. For

example are the motivations of the intermediaries to achieve a higher social status that

comes from being a teacher or a leader. A clear understanding of their personal motivations

and how their social-position and presentation impacts the effectiveness of their role as an

intermediary - what barriers and opportunities their current self-image and perceived

position may have and how this shapes their work. They need to be able to think critically on

what their assumptions are about this role and to understand where they are positioned on

a continuum between teachers and learners. While sometimes it is appropriate for

intermediaries to present themselves as teachers, more often it is more productive if they

communicate as equals by adopting a co-production approach. As an intermediary they

need to acknowledge the different approaches that can be used to better engage with

farmers. There is often an assumption that more traditional didactic or teaching roles are

best. However, a co-production approach can improve conversations on both sides and

facilitate a blending of scientific and locally produced knowledge for a common objective. By

encouraging intermediaries and farmers to self-reflect and leave aside their assumptions of

hierarchy and prejudice it is possible to engage in more open and productive discussions and

exchanges. Therefore, it is important to recognise the value in finding intermediaries who

understand an advantage in being able to flexibly shift from being teachers to co-producers

of information based on what is appropriate in the specific context.

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Once suitable intermediaries have been identified they need to be trained. A high level of

training was widely recognised as essential in ensuring the correct interpretation and

operationalisation of the climate information received. Intermediaries need to understand

scientific climate information and how it affects vulnerable farmers at the local level. They

must be able to effectively communicate this information, ideally in the local language, to

farmers and be able to explain how this information can be used to inform decision-making

to help manage risk. Crucially intermediaries must also be able to facilitate a two-way

exchange of information and communicate local knowledge, practices and information

requirements to the climate scientist.

Participatory training workshops:

Participatory training workshops and exchanges were consistently acknowledged as the

most effective approach for training intermediaries. Meteorological and agricultural

specialists, farmers and selected intermediaries are invited to an often informal exchange of

information and ideas. During these workshops intermediaries learn how best to

communicate between the different groups. Such participatory exchanges were seen as a

way to build continuity and trust and enhance collaborations. Furthermore, such an

approach is able to facilitate the aforementioned co-production and blending of

information, in a way that identifies and responds to farmer needs in climate services above

and beyond traditional sources of forecast information. Figure 3 illustrates a number of tools

that have been used to train intermediaries within the aforementioned exchanges.

Figure 3. Participatory tools used within the framework of a participatory exchange workshop.

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Topics and activities that have been incorporated into training activities for intermediaries

include:

Understanding uncertainty and probability,

Communicating uncertainty and probability,

Training in different tools / games to communicate climate information,

Understanding and interpreting climate science,

Translating climate science,

Understanding and knowledge of traditional practices and information,

Understanding the information needs of farmers - what time scales and in what

formats information should be provided,

Application of climate science to inform decision-making processes of farmers to

reduce risk,

Facilitating and encouraging a two-way exchange and blending of both scientific and

traditional knowledge,

Equity – training should be provided in the importance of equity so that services do

not discriminate against marginalised groups. It should be ensured that women, the

poor, elderly etc. have equal access to and understanding of climate information

and services,

Training on appropriate information dissemination and communication channels

should also be provided.

The Early Warning > Early Action workshops conducted in Africa from 2009-2012 (see Tall et al., forthcoming) provide a prime example of participatory training workshops that have brought together vulnerable communities, national technical departments from climate sensitive sectors, communication intermediaries and forecasters, in a national dialogue to identify end user needs in climate services and co-design services that respond to these needs. The aim of these workshops was to bridge the gap between the various communities of practice (climate forecasters, agricultural researchers, communicators and communities at risk) and bring them to identify their common missions in the national chain for linking information with action.

As part of these Early Warning > Early Action workshops, participatory or scenario games and experiential learning tools have been designed as pedagogical strategies to engage workshop participants, break ice between different communities of practice and aid the gap bridging endeavour. The games aim to encourage communities and experts to work together to identify possible solutions and means of supporting end users in managing climate risk. These games are also used to train intermediaries who can continue employing them in vulnerable communities to facilitate the translation of complex, often technical climate information into a format that can be easily understood and applied by vulnerable farmers and policy planners. Skilled intermediaries play a key role in generating an environment of openness and trust to ensure that all participants are comfortable and feel secure enough to share and explore each other’s experiences. This is particularly important as intermediaries often work in communities and environments where discrimination against gender, religion, class and status creates significant challenges.

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Box 1: Training modules dispensed in small groups of climate scientists-users during Bridging Early Warning > Early Action workshops. Source: Tall et al, forthcoming.

Examples of participatory games that aim to achieve this training includes the ‘early-warning to early-action game,’ designed by Parsons School of Design in collaboration with the Red Cross / Red Crescent Climate Centre1. In partnership with the Humanitarian Futures Program, the RCCC, CGIAR- CCAFS, CDNK, University of Sussex, University of Liverpool, ANACIM and the Met Office this game has been piloted in a number of workshops exchanges, for example in Senegal, Kenya and eight other countries across Africa. This decision-making game is intended to introduce different forecasts and scenarios to encourage people to think about what actions they would take based on the information that they have just received. The game starts by presenting a plausible forecast. Participants are then encouraged to select an appropriate response from a pre-designed set of action cards or to propose their own action. This process makes the participant think about their own experiences and decide what actions they would take, considering their own unique circumstances and capacities. In the example of Senegal over 300 new action cards were designed and shared by participants (Suarez et al. 2012). This game can be played around a table with 5 or 6 participants selecting and proposing their own actions or even at a community level, with members of the community discussing and voting on what actions are best to take. It has been employed at a range of decision-making levels, HFP have used it to effect at both national and community level.

1 These games can be found here: http://petlab.parsons.edu/redCrossSite/

EW>EA Workshop / Modules List and Training Curriculum:

1) Climate Change: what is it? Causes and consequences, CC projections for country 2) The anatomy of a seasonal forecast: uses, applications and limitations 3) Probabilities 101 and uncertainties in forecasting 4) The anatomy of mid- and short-range weather forecasts (24h up to 10days): uses,

applications and limitations 5) Agro-meteorological advisories: uses, applications and limitations 6) Monitoring & Forecasting of river basin floods: uses, applications and limitations 7) Vulnerability mapping using remote sensing: uses, applications and limitations

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Fig 4: In the early warning > early action game, participants take turns to play the role of a decision-maker having to select an early action based on a received early warning. Source:

Pet Lab & Red Cross / Red Crescent Climate Center.

In 2012, the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS) commissioned three pilot national workshops for climate services in West Africa. The aim of these three experiences was to attempt to build the GFCS user interface platform (UIP) where such platforms are most critically needed: at the national level.

Thus, the three Meteorological Offices of Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali were supported to carry out their own stakeholder mapping at the national level and reach out to key stakeholders across all climate-sensitive sectors in the country (health, agriculture & food security, disaster management, water, infrastructure, transport and energy), potential users of their climate and weather products. A National Workshop on Climate Services in each pilot country followed to launch the dialogue between national providers and users of climate services, and discuss the appropriate institutional mechanisms for establishing a perennial National Framework for Climate Services.

The national workshops of Burkina, Niger and Mali brought together national Met service staff and climate researchers with over fifty representatives from climate-sensitive sectors in each country, as well as vulnerable community spokespersons and representatives from boundary organizations (communicators, rural radios, farmer platforms, community-based organizations, and so forth), adept community relays of climate and weather advisories and alerts.

What came of these interactions were clear user-devised roadmaps to build National Frameworks for Climate Services, and establish an national chain of services that would link available climate science and early warning information with technical services of all climate-sensitive sectors, and then in turn with farmers, herders and the most vulnerable communities, with built-in channels for feedback and end-user input into climate service development. It is the hope that these National frame-works, rooted in appropriate institutional setups at the national level and resting on multidisciplinary collaboration and cross-ministerial partnerships for the production and communication of salient climate services in the country, will at last overcome the obstacles to climate information access and use by the most vulnerable communities in West Africa, and beyond. The GFCS ambitions to replicable the West Africa pilots in a number of demanding countries in years to come.

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All the above experiences underscore the necessity of face-to-face dialogue, in order to bridge the gap between forecasters and other sector specific staff, whom in many countries still do not work together towards achieving their often-similar missions of building national/local resilience to predictable climate-related risks.

However the bridging the gap process will not happen in a vacuum; it needs to be mediated, and pro-actively inserted into emerging efforts to develop climate services for end users.

Another tool used to translate climate science into a useful format that can be used to

inform decision-making is the production of Crop Calendars. This is a participatory process

that involves climate and agricultural experts working together alongside vulnerable

communities and farmers. The crop calendars are created by using and translating climate

and agricultural science such as rainfall and temperature forecasts to plan appropriate

measures and activities, such as when to plant crops and what types of seeds to use. The

process trains farmers and intermediaries to understand how to interpret, and

operationalise climate information / advice. Experts simply start by explaining what various

forecasts mean and the uncertain nature of the information. During this stage,

intermediaries and farmers are able to ask questions and start a dialogue. Following this

explanation, participants explore, together, possible actions that can be taken based on the

predictions that they have received. These actions are then plotted on a crop calendar that

includes information on when to sow crops, what kind of crops and seeds are best, when to

harvest, when possible dry spells are to dry crops for storage etc. Often the most important

information for farmers being the date to plant, to ensure that they do not waste seeds and

they know which types of seeds to buy. This information is most useful when combined with

sub-seasonal information allowing farmers to make relevant agricultural decisions over the

course of the season, as well as the crucial seed selection at the start of the season.

The above examples are games that can be adapted and played according to the context of

the different programmes. This flexibility has been identified as a key component to the

success of participatory tools. Furthermore the two-way exchange that is being facilitated

during these dialogues is essential in effective communication. A list and description of some

of these games can be found in Appendix 4.

Climate Field Schools - Although this paper has identified the participatory exchange

approach as the most effective means of training intermediaries, another approach worth

briefly discussing is the use of Climate Field Schools (CFS).

The aim of CFS is to improve farmer’s knowledge and understanding of seasonal forecasts

and extreme climate events, helping them to apply this information to support their farming

activities. Intermediaries have been identified as the most effective way of achieving this. As

such the first stage of this approach is to train the intermediaries (field officers and

extension workers).

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As with the exchange approach, training is provided through the medium of games and

simulations, intended to train participants through engagement in experiences. It is a

continuous process that ensures intermediaries are constantly learning through their actions

and experiences. Intermediaries are trained in the concepts of probability and how to

understand the terminology and the implications of the forecasts on farming practices.

Following their initial training intermediaries are then charged with developing and testing

CFS modules to train farmers.

Although evaluations have claimed that the CFS approach has been effective in increasing

climate knowledge and understanding it is not without its critics. One respondent stated

that they had abandoned the use of CFS in their projects in Indonesia, because farmers do

not like the particular dynamic of being taught in a classroom environment in, often,

traditional lecture style seminars. Furthermore, there was much criticism regarding the poor

level of training that intermediaries received, resulting in participants losing confidence in

the intermediaries / extension workers. The key challenge that was noted in this particular

case study was how to more effectively train intermediaries and facilitators. It was felt that

little progress could be made until the training gap was addressed. Since abandoning CFS,

Science Field Shops (SFS) have been developed which more closely align with the

aforementioned exchange approach. Currently SFS do not train or use intermediaries and

instead there is a direct exchange between farmers and scholars. However, the potential to

train intermediaries in the SFS has been noted. It has been suggested that intermediaries

could attend and receive training at the SFS and then return to the CFS as highly trained

extension workers (Stigter, and Winarto, 2013 and Boer et al. 2010).

Information communication channels:

Once intermediaries have been identified and trained continued dissemination, access to

and operationalisation of climate information and services needs to be ensured. One critical

first distinction to make in this endeavour is between information dissemination and

communication. Indeed, the aim has to be on establishing a process of using intermediaries

to facilitate 2-way information communication, and not simply dissemination (see box

below). Figure 5 illustrates the most commonly identified channels of information

communication identified.

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Figure 5. Information communication channels.

Respondents suggested that although exchange workshops are effective they can be limited

in reach. As such, additional less resource intense options such as radio broadcasts and SMS

should accompany the workshops. However, the purpose of this paper is not to discuss the

different delivery models that can be used for communicating climate information. Instead

Figure 4 aims to simply illustrate the different communication tools that intermediaries must

be familiar with. For more information on communication channels refer to CGIAR’s working

paper number 41 (Jost, 2013).

Figure 6. Participatory exchange; collecting information to feedback into the process.

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Participatory feedback:

Figure 6 illustrates a feedback process aimed at encouraging continued collaboration,

communication and learning. An understanding of the type of climate science that has been

operationalised, how it has been applied and how this information has been blended with

local knowledge and practices is important. This enables the vulnerable communities,

farmers and climate scientist to continue to learn from each other. It also acts as continued

training for intermediaries, illustrating how climate information has been received and

applied so that they can continue to refine their role. The same dialogue exchange and

participatory games illustrated in Figure 3 can be used to facilitate this learning process.

It should be noted that continuous monitoring should be encouraged throughout the entire

approach to ensure that projects are being implemented as efficiently and effectively as

possible.

18

Box 2: From Information Dissemination to Communication

From Dissemination to 2-way Communication: Communicating to Reach ‘the Last Mile’

Following the development, tailoring and packaging of climate information and services it is

vital to ensure that the final product is efficiently and effectively communicated. This requires

not only that the product is disseminated widely, but that it reaches everyone who needs it.

This means that it should equally serve women, lower caste and other marginalised groups.

By conducting a pre-assessment of salient delivery channels at the outset of a project it is

possible for farmers to request and therefore receive tailored climate support services through

the specific communication channels that are effective to reach them.

Through a review of good practice a number of examples of effective salient channels - able to

reach the most vulnerable - have been identified. These channels include rural radio, SMS,

voice recording, agromet bulletin boards posted across strategic locations, etc. all presented in

a format suitable to their needs. For example, radio alerts at a time when they are not in the

field, SMS in local, regional languages, voice recording at timing appropriate to inform farm

operations, etc.

Through CCAFS’ review of good practice experiences, the following two mechanisms have

emerged as important channels through which to ensure farmers are accessed at scale:

• Leveraging the power of ICTs to reach the most vulnerable through SMS, rural radio and

voice messages, and to build ICT-enabled platforms for two-way communication between

farmers and experts

• Building partnerships with professional communicators, boundary organizations (NGOs,

CBOs, etc.), media and community relays to serve as the “missing link” between communities

at risk and forecasters.

One such example is the Grameen project in Uganda. This project reached farmers on

program-provided cell phones to community knowledge workers who enable farmers to query

agricultural experts and forecasters at the Uganda national met service. It displays a potent

way forward in building two-way communication platforms that capture farmer feedback on

received information, for permanent integration of farmer inputs into the production process.

Examples surveyed by Jost et al. also confirm that dissemination platforms with provisions for

farmer feedback on received information are the most effective platforms for climate

information communication (Jost 2013).

19

6. Summary of Challenges Identified

This section discusses challenges that persist when attempting to train intermediaries to

serve as communicators of climate forecasts, advisories and early warning messages to at

risk communities.

During the research a number of challenges to the successful communication of climate

information and advisory services were identified. The most frequently cited of these are

illustrated in Table 1 along with proposed solutions.

Table 1.

Challenge Issue Solution

Trust It is vital that intermediaries gain the trust

of both the scientist and the farmers that

they aim to work with. However, many

respondents felt that his was often very

difficult, as a lot of time is required to

sufficiently earn trust.

- Identification of the right intermediary,

- High level of training – to build confidence,

- Time – to build up trust and confidence through

experience and evidence,

- Continuity – involvement of the intermediary from

the start of the project,

- Building trust by linking scientific, climate

information with indigenous knowledge and concepts

that are familiar to smallholder farmers,

- Community selection of the intermediary,

- Respect – intermediaries hold a position of respect

(context specific),

- Extending measurements to local groups (eg rain

gauges),

- Communication of probability so that farmers are

able to understand uncertainties and not lose faith in

forecasts,

- Participatory downscaling to decrease scepticism.

Stability As with trust stability is important in

building confidence and to maintaining a

high level of training. However, respondents

noted that in many cases, once

intermediaries were trained they would

leave (often to the cities) to find work or

they would be poached by a different

organisation.

- Selection of intermediaries who are already

establishes and highly respected within the

community,

- Selection of older community leaders, ex-extension

workers, farmer’s leaders, people who are less likely

to move to the cities,

- Incentives for intermediaries to stay? - (requires

funding).

Communicating

uncertainty

In order to build confidence and continued

collaboration it is essential that uncertainty

and probability are successfully

communicated and understood. If

uncertainty is not communicated efficiently

then farmer may make ill-informed

decisions, leading to maladaptation leading

to lose confidence in forecasts.

- Intermediaries can be effectively trained to

communicate uncertainty trough the use of tools

such as the aforementioned participatory games,

- Climate information should be provided in

probabilistic, not deterministic terms,

-Lobbying meteorologist to communicate uncertainty,

- Packaging and communicating information should

be in a format that makes sense to farmers in the

context of their day-to-day lives,

- Facilitators (ie intermediaries) are made available to

help farmers use the forecast info,

- Blending of scientific information with local

experiences to understand probability.

Two-way

communication

Frequently cited as one of the main

challenges. However, is it essential in

ensuring the correct type and format of

information is produced and communicated

-Training intermediaries to be able to facilitate

exchanges and when appropriate participatory games

helps to encourage dialogue and thus a two-way

exchange,

20

to facilitate blending of local and scientific

knowledge. – one example that highlights

the importance of such blending is in a

community where the surrounding

topography created a unique microclimate

that only became evident through a

participatory exchange of information

between locals and scientists.

- Two-way SMS,

- Radio panel discussions where farmers can call in

with questions for climate and agri experts,

- Climate / extension centres where intermediaries

are available to assist and advise farmers.

Equity - Servicing women, lower caste and other under served sub-groups within the community with salient climate services can prove extremely challenging, How to reach everyone and ensure equal access to climate information and advice is thus an important consideration, - How to ensure everyone’s information

needs are met

- Participatory downscaling – process should be

extended down to a community level to be able to

actively identify and target marginalised groups,

- The use of carefully selected intermediaries trained

in different communication methods,

- The purposeful inclusion of marginalised groups,

- Separate exchanges for men and women,

- The use of a divers range of communication

channels,

- The use of PVCA (Participatory vulnerability and

capacity assessments) tools to ensure equity

Up-scaling - How to scale up beyond initial pilot

studies,

- How to ensure long-term sustainable,

- Everything is piloted to a great expense

but when they try and upscale there is no

money/ resources.

- Funding for resources and training,

- High level of training of intermediaries,

- Make sure enough intermediaries are trained to

cover all communities in the target area.

Funding Limited funding can effect options for up-

scaling programmes. As it may cause

limitations in training and resources for

intermediaries.

- One suggestion was the use if the UN adaptation

fund to help open climate centres, which can not only

carry out measurements, but also act as advisory

centres with fully trained intermediaries that work

with locals and climate scientist to apply climate

information. Such centres can also provide

information on market prices and seed types, as well

as space where simple exchanges can take places.

Access to and

dissemination

of information

- Climate scientists are scarce. The ratio of

climate and agricultural experts to

communities and farmers are very high. This

limits the amount of face-to-face contact

between scientists and farmers,

- Poor Infrastructure also presents

challenges.

- Trained intermediaries can actively visit

communities and engage with farmers directly,

- There are not enough climate scientist in general to

facilitate face-to- face communication, therefore,

there is a need for less labour intensive techniques

and the use of a range of different communication

channels and ICTs eg phones, radio, announcements

at mosques / churches,

- Encourage people to spread the information, by

word of mouth, for example to their neighbours or

friends in the market, peer-to-peer.

Forgetting

training

Many intermediaries are reported to simply

forget their training.

- Participatory training and experiential learning.

Relating information to experiences and existing

knowledge makes it easier to understand and

remember information,

- Frequent application of lessons learnt,

- Continued training.

Power

relations

Participatory approaches can miss social

dynamics of power.

- Ensuring communities are involved in selecting

intermediaries,

- Training of more than one intermediary.

21

8. What next?

What more is needed to effectively leverage intermediaries to communicate climate services

at scale to vulnerable communities?

This was a difficult question for respondents to answer. Many felt that they were yet to

carry out sufficient evaluations of their projects, which would be required before they could

think about trying to up-scale. Furthermore, suggestions that were made related to the up-

scaling of projects to communicate climate information and not specifically to train

intermediaries. Nevertheless, examples of suggestions made include:

1. Evaluation of existing pilot studies;

2. Money from the UN adaptation fund could be used to re-instate extension services

and re-train intermediaries / extension workers to work in new climate / resource

centres and run client prioritised services in their catchment area. These proposed

climate centres would not just be measuring points, but would act as resources with

extension personnel available to provide information and advice. These centres

could also provide market information, create links between farmers and run

participatory exchange workshops;

3. Next steps could be to increase the capacity of communities so that they are able to

react to the information and advice that they receive from the intermediaries;

4. Privatisation - Kenya is promoting community lead privatisation where someone

would charge for a consultant’s time and advice (fees for service). This would

prevent intermediaries / advisors leaving once they are trained as they could receive

money for their services. – BUT this approach does not promote equity and would

exclude the poor. Larger private climate science advisories are also being

established, but this brings up issues of agenda.

5. Encouraging and strengthening of collaborations between extension workers, as

each has their own area of expertise.

22

7. Limitations to this research

The scope of this paper was limited by a number of factors, most notably by the absence of

methodological evaluation of programmes. Considering the relatively innovative nature of

the research available information along with time constraints were key-limiting factors.

Few programmes have reached a stage where they are able to carry out detailed

evaluations. As such, it is unclear how successful or unsuccessful they have been.

Furthermore, in cases where evaluations have been carried out the focus was not on the

training of intermediaries, but on the communication and application of information. This

has made it difficult to identify best practice training materials, tools and guidelines, what

role the training of intermediaries may have played and how they may have contributed to

the success of the programme.

In addition, it was also challenging to identify specific training tools and materials, since few

programmes had formally documented methods used to train intermediaries - as this was

rarely the main focus. In the majority of cases reviewed intermediaries were trained

alongside farmers and scientists / experts in the aforementioned participatory exchanges.

9. Conclusion

Increasingly communication of and access to climate information and advisory services is

being recognised as a an important component in our collective agenda of ensuring effective

adaption to climate variability and change, enabling communities to make informed

decisions for their future. The role of intermediaries has been acknowledged as key to

facilitating the sharing, communication and interpretation of climate forecasts between

climate scientists and vulnerable communities. In order for intermediaries to be able to

successfully play this role they require a high level of training. Nevertheless, few

programmes are yet to make the training of intermediaries a focus of their programmes,

making the research for this paper and the work that CCAFS is carrying out both challenging

and significant.

Looking at specific methods and tools to effectively train intermediaries was challenging.

Despite explicit attention on training methodologies and tools there were few examples of

documented training materials. Best practice was difficult to define as respondents noted

that successful training should be tailored to the specific context and scale of each

programme. Many expressed that any guidelines produced should ensure a high-level of

flexibility, as rigid tools were not considered to be helpful mechanisms of training. As such

this paper instead proposes the need to define a broad approach and set of considerations

that can be referred to when training intermediaries. This process includes the identification

of appropriate intermediaries, which should consider issues such as trust and continuity.

23

In conclusion this paper proposes a dynamic approach to training intermediaries, one that is

centred on a two-way participatory training workshop for exchange of information,

knowledge and ideas. These exchanges should primarily be between climate and agricultural

specialists and vulnerable smallholder farmer communities, and bridge the gap between

these communities of practice. They are most effective when a learning-through-doing

approach is adopted. As such, this paper recommends the use of training workshops and

participatory games within them so that intermediaries can engage with, observe and learn,

alongside scientists and farmers, how to interpret terminology and uncertainties of climate

information and how to advisory services will be applied in decision-making processes of

farmers to manage risk. A two-way communication and sharing of knowledge is facilitated at

these exchanges as farmers, scientists and intermediaries learn from each other. By using

participatory games it is possible to facilitate learning through exploring climate scenarios /

forecasts and draw on past experiences to plan activities to manage risks against the impacts

of climate variability. Intermediaries learn how to interpret the climate information and

how to communicate it to inform agricultural decision-making. Conversely, they also learn

what types of climate services are most useful to farmers and communicate this to the

scientist. Finally, intermediaries should be trained to facilitate the essential blending of

scientific and traditional data through such participatory games. It is thus important that

training workshops are facilitated in an open and participatory manner so as to facilitate

experiential learning, discussion and open exchange.

The research also identified a number of practical challenges that need to be addressed to

ensure the successful training of intermediaries - in particular the facilitation of a two-way

communication, issues of trust and determining an appropriate intermediary and problems

of funding to providing training and resources and to ensure continuity.

Notwithstanding these challenges this paper concludes that that the successful training of

intermediaries to communicate climate services at scale for farmers across Africa and South

Asia is possible, building on pre-requisite participatory exchange platforms of information

between climate forecasters, agricultural experts and farmer communities. Guidelines

derived from good practice and key considerations in achieving such interactive

communication platforms are outlined in this white paper, and should be referred to

throughout the process of designing appropriate didactic materials to train intermediaries to

serve as the “missing link” between farmers and scientists.

24

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27

Appendix 1. - Roster of case studies

Interview Responses in blue

Questionnaire responses in orange

Roster of case studies & Workshop Working Groups

Case study Intermediaries trained [and

why] Training approaches Lessons learnt / challenges identified

WORKING GROUP #1: Identifying good practice in training media intermediaries to communicate climate services

Project title: Global Framework for

Climate Services (GFCS). Enhance

the production of scientifically

sound and tailored information to

address the needs of decision-

making in climate sensitive areas

with focus on agriculture and food

security, water, health and disaster

risk reduction.

Objective: Enhance the production

of scientifically sound tailored info

to address the needs of decision-

making in climate sensitive areas,

water, health and DRR.

- Extension officers

- Media

- Red cross / crescent volunteers

- Institutions…

Approach:

- Classroom training

- Workshops

- Materials dedicated to various groups

- On the job trainings

- Field trips.

Why: Various methodologies are used to address specific

audiences.

Successes: Success varies between regions /

countries. In some areas it has been very

successful, I other areas not…

Challenges: Understanding the probabilistic nature

of climate information

- understanding and dealing with the inherent

uncertainty associated with climate information

-packaging information to address user specific

needs and decision-making processes

- communicating information.

Solutions:

- development of training and guidelines

28

Lead organisation: WMO

Main contact: Filipe Lucio

Tools to facilitate the approach?

- classroom trainings,

- workshops,

-materials dedicated to various groups,

- on the job trainings,

-field trips.

WORKING GROUP #2: Identifying good practice in training extension service intermediaries to communicate climate services

Project title: India’s Integrated

Agro-Met Advisory Service (IAAS)

Program

Objective: Reach millions of

farmers across India with tailored

agro-met advisories based on

short-range weather forecast (5-

day)

Lead organisation: India

Meteorological Department

Main contact: Dr. LM Rathore / K.

K. Singh

- Agricultural extension workers

- block development officers

- farmers clubs

- self-help groups

- rural banks

- NGOs

Approach: Collaboration between India Met Department

and Agricultural Research Universities in each state to

produce downscaled and tailored agromet advisory

bulletins for farmers across India every 5 days; Capacity

development at scale since 1990s for met staff and

agricultural research to apply climate information to needs

of the agricultural sector; communication through public

extension (KVKs, and NGOs in some states)

Why: Collaboration between met and agricultural experts

is a pre-requisite to addressing farmers’ climate service

needs.

Tools to facilitate the approach?

- SMS dissemination - Agroclimate bulletins in each bloc

Successes:

- Effective collaboration between met and

agricultural research communities;

- Reached farmers at scale with tailored agromet

advisories, with plans to scaleup to 10-12 million

- Use of innovative ICTs – SMS, voice recordings

- efforts to downscale forecasts to bloc level to

enable farm-level planning

Challenges: Building in equity considerations,

reaching the most vulnerable farmers within

communities serviced

29

Solutions:

- Decentralization in process of agromet advisory

communication

- Use of local NGOs and CBOs as an effective model to help reach the most vulnerable farmers in the community

- Prioritize reaching women farmers

Project title: Projet d’Assistance

Agro-meteoorologique au monde

rural du Mali (Mali’s Agromet

Advisory program)

Objective:

Alleviate food insecurity through

the provision of tailored agro-met

advisories and farmer training in

rain gage use in Mali

Lead organisation: Agence

Nationale de la Meteorologie du

Mali

Main contact: Mr. Daouda Zan

Diarra

- Extension service

Approach: Multi-disciplinary working group

established with local level replicates. Functions

of working group – identify farmers’ information

needs, analyze technical aspects of data and

products, develop recommendations related to

agricultural production, disseminate info and build

capacity.

Why: Support farmer to confront the vagaries of a

changing climate.

Tools to facilitate the approach?

- Farmer trainings on rain gage use

Successes: Multi disciplinary working group model

Challenges: Assessing impact, the model of the

model farmer as the community relay

Solutions: Additional training and capacity

development for intermediaries, impact assessment

for program improvement

30

Project title: Climate Forecasting

for Agricultural Resources (CFAR)

Objective: The role of

intermediaries in the translation of

seasonal information into

agriculturally relevant information.

Lead organisation: Tufts University

Main contact: Dr. Carla Roncoli

- Ex-extension workers – [they

are trained to a high level, are

trusted by the community, they

are experienced and they are

unlikely to leave]

- NGO staff – [they are often

already well trained]

Approach: Participatory workshops

Why:

There was no emphasis on specific responses or learning.

Participants were simply expected to exchange

information and learn from each other, coming up with

their own response strategies, based on their existing

knowledge.

- The idea was to encourage learning from experiences

- The aim of the workshop was only to help farmers

understand what the forecasts mean and the limitations of

forecasts in respect to probability in relation to timing,

locations…

Tools to facilitate the approach?

- Participatory games

- a learning process rather than tools were encouraged

Successes: Best research to date on vale of seasonal

climate forecasts for farmer-decision making

Challenges:

- High turn over of staff

- Funding restrictions

- Poor levels of training due to funding

- Intermediaries may have their own agendas

Solutions:

-Careful selection of intermediaries

- Good training of intermediaries

Project title: Communicating

Probabilistic seasonal

forecasts to farmer groups

(Kaffrine, Sénégal)

- Extension workers [because all

governmental help (eg seed and

fertiliser provision) are already

channelled to the farmers

through extension workers, so

farmers indicated that they

would make the best

Approach: Farmer training workshop to share the seasonal

forecast

Why: To facilitate the open discussion and exchange of

knowledge between met, extension and farmers.

Successes: Some success was noted in the training of

agricultural extension workers who even took over

and started working on their own.

31

Objective: Operationalise climate

services and support farmers’ use

of seasonal climate forecast for

farm-level planning

Establish link between National

met service and Agricultural

extension service

Lead organisation: ANACIM

Main contact: Ousmane Ndiaye

intermediaries as they already

know what the communities need

and the communities trust them.

Extension workers also know how

to package the information for

the farmers].

And a learning through experiences approach.

Tools to facilitate the approach?

- Beginning of season farmer training workshop - The Probability Distribution Function (PDF) as a

communication tool for farmers to understand the seasonal forecast

- Establishment of local multidisciplinary working group on climate & agriculture in Kaffrine

Challenges: The availability of extension workers is

limited as they have other work commitments.

Solutions: By equally addressing the knowledge and

training needs of extension workers they are

incentivised.

Project title: WMO Roving

Seminars

Objective: To teach farmers how

to use climate info.

Lead organisation: WMO

Main contact: Jose Camacho

- The type of intermediary used

varies between each project and

the specific cultural context of

each project

- For the main part, trained

intermediaries include,

meteorologists, facilitators, agro

specialists, farmers, NGO staff,

agri extension agents

Approach: MetAgri, Roving Seminars

Why: Facilitates a two-way communication (through

NGOs)

- To establish dialogue

Tools to facilitate the approach?

- Establish channels of communication (SMS/ local radio…)

- Crop calendars – crop model fed by climate / weather

and soil info.

Successes: Have seen economic benefits due to the

increase in crop production as well as increased self-

reliance and empowerment.

Challenges: technical information is expressed in

ways that is not useful

- Equity

Solutions:

- Key is working together and insuring it is

downscaled to the local level.

- Engaging communities in measurements, eg rain

gauge monitoring

- start to introduce more games and a broader use of

32

mobile phones and radios.

Encourage institutional strengthening to facilitate

closer and more effective communication between

stakeholders.

- Target poor farmers to address issues of equity

- Promote women in specific agendas for gender

equity.

Project title: Climate Field Schools

(CFS) and Science Field Shops

(SFS) – Extension

Agrometeorology

Objective: Educational

commitment to train Indonesian

extension officers - Learning

meetings between scholars,

farmers and extension

intermediaries

Lead organisation: International

Association of Agriculture

Meteorology and Agromet Vision

of the Netherlands.

Main contact: Kees Stigter

- Product intermediaries (work

closest with farmers and are

trained and Science Field Shops)

-Extension intermediaries (are

more technical intermediaries

who should receive institutional

training).

- Facilitators (selected by

communities)

Approach: Dialogues and exchanges in Climate Field

Schools, Science Field Shops and Roving Seminars.

Why: Science field shops do not involve intermediaries, it

is an exchange between farmers and scholars, but it has

been proposed that intermediaries could attend SFS as a

means of training through observing and engaging in the

exchanges.

- All sides get to learn from each other in this process

Tools to facilitate the approach?

Successes:

Challenges: Abandoned CFS because people do not

like being taught in a class room environment

- Intermediaries were not properly trained

Solutions:

Suggestions are to first train 2 different types in

intermediaries in Science Field Shops.

33

Project title: Mainstreaming

Climate Change Adaptation in

Zimbabwe’s Agricultural

Extension System.

Objective: Educating

agriculturalists to use decision

tools and other available products

Lead organisation: Reading

University

Main contact: Dr. Roger D. Stern

Agricultural Extension Staff Approach: Participatory Methods / one week workshop

and analysis of historical data to answer risk questions.

Why:

Increasingly train users (intermediaries) so they know

what to ask from their NMS.

Tools to facilitate the approach?

- Presentation of information in (time series) graphs that

correspond to the questions posed by the intermediaries.

- Semi-analysis of historical data in collaboration with Zim

Met and extension staff.

- Farmers and extension staff use the graphs to work out

the risk for themselves.

Successes: Has been considered as being potentially

useful. In Zimbabwe the 2-stage process (analysis of

primary data, then interpretation by second groups)

seems to work

Challenges: Problems of access to information as

well as the quality of computerised data.

- Funding limitations effecting up-scaling.

- MS staff often reactive (rather than proactive).

- not enough users who know what can be asked for.

NMS staff obsessed by the seasonal forecast – which

is useful, but would be much more so if it were

underpinned by a comprehensive analysis of the

historical data.

Solutions: Training workshops are held within Met

Services so that primary dada does not leave

WORKING GROUP #3: Identifying good practice in training NGO and CBO intermediaries to communicate climate services

Project title: Flood forecasting

technology for community based

response

Objective: Bridging the gap

between producers and users of

forecasts, though generation of

- Union Disaster Management

Committee (UDMC), CARE

Bangladesh and INGOs [Selected

for warning, dissemination and

interpretation].

[They know about the need from

Approach: Participatory discussions

Why? Participants have the opportunity to ask frequent

questions about topics discussed in the training.

Success: New technologies have been delivered to

intermediaries and have enabled them to manage

risk in pilot areas in Bangladesh. (a questionnaire

survey was conducted focusing on knowledge

retention and behavioural change.

34

user-friendly forecasts. Assess the

need of each community; user

requirements, lead-time needs etc.

.to customise the forecasts

products. – familiarity with

different forecast products;

dissemination procedures and its

use at community level.

Lead organisation: RIMES and

CARE Bangladesh and BMD

Main contact: S.H.M Fakruddin

(Bapon)

participants] Tools to facilitate discussions:

- Simulations

- Table top exercises

Participants identify risks on maps as well as potential

recourses and vulnerabilities. This aims at training

intermediaries to communicate forecast information /

advisories in risk communication – including approaches to

support blending

Challenges:

- Difficult for communities to adopt new

dissemination techniques and technologies, such as

SMS and e-mails

- Constraints in reaching the end user

- Knowledge retention of intermediaries.

Solutions:

Messages can be interpreted over the phone by

UDMC once SMS / emails have been received,

Project title: Communicating

short-range weather advisories to

three target communities in

Kaffrine for Early Warning > Early

Action (Senegal)

Objective: Open dialogue between

climate scientists, communities at

risk and boundary organisations.

Research into specific climate

service needs of women farmers

- Red Cross Volunteers - Community Early

Warning > Early Action community relays

Approach: National level and community level early

warning > early action participatory workshops

Constraints to information access are identified,

notably for women farmers, with:

- Participatory identification of end user needs in

climate/weather information + training on

requested products

- SMS communication

Successes: In 3 villages in Kaffrine, short range

weather advisories (72h to 3hours) are

communicated to farmers through Red Cross

and community relays.

Challenges: The availability of extension workers is

limited as they have other work commitments.

- Humanitarian staff and volunteers lack the capacity

to fully understand the implications of seasonal and

short-term predictions

35

Lead organisation: CCAFS, HFP,

CDKN, Red Cross

Main contact: Arame Tall, Emma

Visman, Pablo Suarez

- NGO with strong local feet as local relay

- Two way information transfer, with local

communities playing key role in information

production and feedback (community climate

diaries, rain gage daily registered rainfall, dynamic

tracking of actual weather events vs. forecast

events).

Why:

-Sparks discussions, debate, understanding and generation

of new ideas

Tools to facilitate the approach?

- Pre-project assessment of community climate service needs (using PAR approaches)

- Early Warning > Early Action training workshop -Small dialogue tables – first experts would explain in simple language (without a computer / presentations) what a prediction tool can or can not do and why it is important for decision-makers. Then practitioners and community members have time to ask questions. Finally they all together explore options for turning plausible predictions into concrete action

- Participatory games – Early action – early warning game. – encourages constructive dialogue, reveals key insights

- loss of trust in intermediaries when uncertainties

are not communicated adequately

- takes time and perseverance

Solutions: Providing continuous weather

forecasts across timescales (seamless

forecasting) as a means to navigate

uncertainty throughout the season.

Climate information however is not enough,

needs overlay of agricultural extension

experts interpretation of information to give

context to received weather information and

render it actionable (with concrete rural

advisories on fertilizer use, pesticide

application, seed selection, etc. in light of

forecast).

Finally, more effort and work is needed to

support farmers to adapt to the multiple

envelopes of uncertainty inherent in the

seasonal forecast, and contingency plan for

multiple possible scenarios at the beginning

of the season.

36

Project title: Climate services to

enable resilience building.

Objective: To increase access to

climate information services to

enable resilience-building

decisions to be made at both

community planning and individual

livelihood levels.

Lead organisation: Christian Aid

and HFP

Main contact: Richard Ewbank

- Local NGO staff

- Agricultural extension staff

Approach: Participatory exchange workshops

Why: to support face-to-face dialogue

- To bring scientists and practitioners together to

understand the forecast, way that it has been developed,

priorities of users…

Tools to facilitate the approach?

- Early warning- early action participatory game

Successes: this approach means that information can

be tailored to the forecast priorities of potential

users while also respecting local knowledge

Challenges:

Two-way communication / feedback to scientists is

difficult because climate scientists are scarce making

face-to-face dialogue not always possible and most

feedback is through reports.

- Scientist’s belief that users want deterministic info

(instead of probabilistic)

- everything is piloted to a great expense but when it

comes to trying to scale it up there is not enough

money or resources.

- Equity issues – discrimination agains women

Solutions:

- diversitying communication links (use of ICTs)

- Lobbying forecasters to provide probabilistic info.

- separate programmes / phases for men and women

37

Project title: Sustainable

Agricultural Livelihoods

Innovation (SALI) Project

Objective: Increase opportunities

for marginalised agricultural

producers, community-based

organisations and private sector

agricultural providers in Mbeere

District to increase incomes and

develop sustainable climate-

resilient livelihoods by 2013

Lead organisation: Kenya Met

Department partnered with

Christian Aid, HFP.

Main contact: Samuel Mwangi

Farmer group leaders and

representative group members

Approach: Discussions

Why: Facilitates continuous dialogue

Tools to facilitate the approach?

- Card games on decision making

- Presentations and feedback on experiences, traditional

(indigenous) forecasting methods

- Borrowing from the local language to describe weather

and climate events

- Incorporating other technical staff from key ministries of

Agriculture, Livestock, Research and Cooperatives, to

convert the climate and weather information into useable

information like varieties of crops, planting dates, weeding

etc

- Use of SMS (two way), and monitoring visits

Successes: Success due to the strong support from

key partners Christian Aid, Humanitarian Futures

Programme (M&E has been done but did not focus

on this aspect. It focused more on the achievement

of the broader objectives of the project).

Challenges: - Uncertainties in weather and climate forecasts are taken to mean that the forecasts are not accurate. - Probabilities in the local communities are understood as chance occurrences. - Translating the forecasts into understandable language (Kiswahili) without change of context or meaning.

Solutions: Continuous dialogue and explaining that

forecasts are not prophesies and using phrases that

the community can identify with.

Project title: Dialogue Approaches

for Vulnerable Community

Adaptation- Summary of

Exchange work from Senegal to

Kenya

Approach: Exchange Approach

Why: ‘Practical Dialogue’ is needed between scientists and

users to avoid maladaptation and to overcome barriers to

Successes: Strengthened access to climate

information

- Demonstrated the usefulness of climate

information in helping facilitate informed

livelihood decision-making

38

Objective: How best to support

effective communication /

dialogue between climate services,

communities and humanitarian

development organisations.

Lead organisation: HFP, Senegal

RC, KCL, CGIAR-CCAFS, Met office,

ANCIM, Liverpool Uni, CDNK,

Sussex Uni

Main contact: Emma Visman

understanding and plying scientific knowledge.

Tools to facilitate the approach?

- increased scientist’s understanding of the type of

climate information required / desired by affective

communities.

-

Challenges:

Solutions:

Project title: CCAFS East Africa

Regional Program. The objectives

Objective: To work with CBOs to

train identified villages to

understand climate information

Lead organisation: ILRI

Community based organisation

(CBO) leaders [because they

interact with farmers and can

provide information in local

languages].

Approach: Consultation - Joint teams of local universities,

national agricultural research stations and met departments

go into local communities and are consulted by farmers.

Why: Facilitates the inclusion of local knowledge

Tools to facilitate the approach?

-Trained local villagers translate the information to the

farmers,

Successes: Unclear as the programme is in its

initial phase now. However the use of indigenous

knowledge in Tanzania has been considered useful

(no evaluation yet).

Challenges: Topographies I some regions change

drastically resulting in unique microclimates. As

such general forecasts are less accurate in these

areas.

39

Main contact: John Recha

- Farmers consult agricultural extension agents to help in

decision making on what crops to grow and appropriate land

management practices

- The trained local villagers meet monthly with climate

information team for feedback

Solutions: The inclusion / integration of indigenous

knowledge in weather forecasting.

WORKING GROUP #4: Identifying good practice in training other community relays to communicate climate services

Project title: Adaptation Learning

Programme (ALP) for Africa

Objective:

Lead organisation: CARE

Main contact: Maurine Ambani

- Local chiefs, religious leaders

and community monitors (ie

representatives chosen by the

community) – [allows user needs

to be fed into interpretation of

seasonal climate info]

- CSO

- Officials from government

ministries

Approach: Participatory Scenario Planning (PSP)

workshops.

(ALP has not specifically trained intermediaries, but it has

exposed them and involved them in PSPs)

Why: Intermediaries engage in and learn from discussions

about accessing and interpreting climate information

(both local and scientific)

- They learn about probabilities (uncertainties) in seasonal

climate info. This has helped intermediaries engage in and

understand climate information and how it can be applied

to help farmers. This means that they are better placed to

communicate it.

Tools to facilitate the approach?

- Discussions

Successes:

After the PSP workshops intermediaries are able to

go out to communicate climate info and advisories

based on what and how they understood

information interpretation and needs through

engaging in workshop discussions.

Challenges:

Solutions:

40

Project title: Linking Knowledge

with Action (CCAFS Theme 4.1)

Objective: Note, there is no

specific focus on climate

information services.

Lead organisation: CGIAR - CCAFS

Main contact: Christine Jost

- Boundary Partners are trained

in the use of regional socio-

economic scenarios for climate

decision-making,

- Research partners are trained in

designing and implementing

participatory gender-focused

climate change research, and in

implementing the CCAFS baseline

household, village and

institutional surveys.

Approach: Participatory gender research training

- Co-development of knowledge and products through social

learning

Why: to develop capacity in partners to implement

established survey instruments

Tools to facilitate the approach?

- Co-development of knowledge and products through social

learning.

- Developing Scenarios,

- Focused on social learning spaces, including Wiki pages and

the Climate Change and Social Learning sandbox, as well as

supporting innovative interactive methods of information

dissemination to farmers such as Shamba Shape-up.

Successes:

Challenges: Moving from a one-way dissemination

of knowledge that is often the focus of science to

improving understanding, synthesis and ownership

of information through two-way or networks

systems of knowledge generation and flow.

Solutions: Focus on social learning including

Wikipages and the Social Learning sandbox, as well

as support for innovative interactive methods of

information dissemination to farmers such as

Shamba Shape-up.

41

Project title: Adaptation for

Smallholder Agriculture

Programme (ASAP)

Objective: To Strengthen linkages

between Nat Met Services and the

Agri Met people in the line

ministries to ensure relevance of

information – with downscaling

dimensions to extension services

and farmers

Lead organisation: IFAD

Main contact: Stephen Twomlow /

Gernot Laganda

The projects are still in the development stage

42

Appendix 2. Interview guide:

- Briefly, what is the title of your programme / project and what are its objectives

- What intermediaries are you training and why

- What approach have you taken to the training

- What specific methodology and tools are you using/have you used to:

Train your staff/volunteers/frontline workers to understand climate information/science

To translate the information so that is it in a format that is understandable and useful

for the users

Train your staff/volunteers/frontline workers to communicate the forecast information /

advisories with end-users /at risk communities you serve

Train your staff/volunteers/frontline workers to be able to use the information to

inform decision making

Train your staff/volunteers/frontline workers to convey community feedback to

forecasters and facilitate a two-way dialogue between the users and producers of

climate services?

- Have you come across any challenges – if so what have they been

- What (if any) solutions have you come up with to address these challenges

- On a scale of 1-5 (1 lowest, 5 highest), how do you rate the successfulness of your training

methodology/approach?

- Why in your opinion, is this training approach successful? Or not?

- Has there / will there be any assessment and M&E of the impact of using intermediaries in your

project to communicate climate forecasts, advisories and early warning messages to at risk

communities?

GAPS / CHALLENGES and LIMITATIONS – of current projects/cases training intermediaries -

FAILURES and what difficulties persist in attempting to train intermediaries to serve as

communicators of climate forecasts, advisories and early warning messages to at risk

communities.

WHAT NEXT? – What more is needed to effectively leverage intermediaries to communicate

climate services at scale to vulnerable communities.

43

Appendix 3.

Questionnaire The intension of this questionnaire is to collect methodologies on how to communicate weather and climate

information to people working through and with intermediaries. Specifically, it aims to gather information on

examples and tools used to train intermediaries to facilitate a two-way communication between producers of

climate information and advisories and at risk communities.

No Question Answer

1. What is the title of your programme / project and what are its objectives?

2. What intermediaries are you training and why?

3. What approach have you taken to the training?

4. What specific methodologies and tools are you using / have used to: - Train the intermediaries to understand climate information / science - To translate the information so that it is in a format that is understandable and useful for users - To enable trainers to appropriately communicate the uncertainties within the forecasts

- To train intermediaries to communicate the forecast information / advisories with at risk communities you serve – including approaches which support blending or bringing together of local and scientific sources of weather and climate information - Train intermediaries to be able to use the information to inform decision making. - Train intermediaries to convey community feedback to forecasters and facilitate a two-way dialogue between the users and producers of climate services?

5 Have you come across any challenges – if so what have they been?

6 What (if any) solutions have you come up with to address these challenges?

7 On a scale of 1-5 (1 lowest, 5 highest) how do you rate the successfulness of the programme / project?

8 Why in your opinion has this training been successful? or not?

9 Has there / will there be any assessment and M&E of the impact of using intermediaries in your project to communicate climate forecasts, advisories and early warning messages to at risk communities. And if so, could you provide information on the M&E frameworks employed, including selected criteria for measuring

44

impact.

We may wish to use your case study and responses as examples of best practice, however if you would like

your responses to remain anonymous, please indicate this by ticking this box

Appendix 4.

Examples of participatory approaches that use climate science / information to inform

agricultural practices and decision-making and can be used to train intermediaries.

Name of the

game Objectives Rules Developed by:

Weather or Not

- Designed to introduce the basics of forecast-based humanitarian decisions, - Highlights issues of probability and the consequences of decisions / actions, - Can be played by national conferences and events or at the local level in the field.

- A forecast / scenario is presented - ‘Directors’ are then asked to make a decision on if they act and how they act on the information presented - An outcome is then randomly selected which will reveal if they have made the right choice or not.

Parsons School of Design in collaboration with RCCC http://petlab.parsons.edu/redCrossSite/

Before the Storm

- A decision-making game -Designed to introduce weather forecasts and possible actions to take against natural disasters through different roles.

- Cards are places on a table to create a scenario or forecast, - A set of action cards is then distributed to each actor / participant - Each actor selects or design what action they will take based on the scenario presented - Selected ‘deciders’ then choose one of the proposed actions - However the decision can be challenged - Points are allocated to the actors who proposed the action that was then eventually selected by the decider.

Spread the Word

- A game on forecast communication, - Based on ‘Chinese whispers’ - It illustrates what happens when communications break down between scientists and humanitarian workers.

- Players whisper a phrase to each other down a line, or round the table, - When the message reaches the last person, they relay the message back to the group, This final message is often hugely different from the original.

Seasonal - To illustrate community’s crop - Organise a participatory discussion Inter-American

45

Crop Calendars

production activities in relation to forecast seasonal changes, - They can be used as a clear way of planning farming activities, such as when to plant and which seeds to use, when to apply fertilisers, what sorts of diseases to predict, labour demand and availability etc.

with stakeholders and advisors, - Explain objectives of the crop calendar and decide, together, what parameters should be included, - Determine a timescale to work to, - Describe the seasonal variations that have been forecast and what action should accompany the forecast (eg planting of crop1)

Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA). For more examples follow the link below. http://www.iica.int/Esp/regiones/central/cr/Publicaciones%20Oficina%20Costa%20Rica/80tools.pdf

This document

outlines over 80

different

participatory

tools for rural-

development

stakeholders

and

professionals,

extension

workers,

advocates,

community

leaders and

researchers.

Flow Chart of Activities

- To clearly illustrate a systematic flow of activities and decisions, - This illustration can be combined with climate information to plan when to carry out each activity (similar to the crop calendar).

- This activity flow chart can complement the crop calendar to plan in more detail the resulting activities.

Historical Graphing of Production System

- To visually describe historical changes in the production system with regard to crop varieties, management practices, etc

- This is a participatory group activity - Participants should agree on the issue to be addressed, eg climate change and finalise a timeline, - Create headings for each of the issues that are to be discussed and then encourage participants to mark under each, the importance of each issues along the timeline, - This will reveal a trend, for example in crop types…

Crop / Seasonal activity problem census

- To identify all of the issues and challenges that communities face when it comes to planning crops and other seasonal activities, - The aforementioned flow chart can be used as an activity guide

- Determine, with the participants what the main problems are when it comes to planning each activity (for example insufficient knowledge of the planting date or erosion) - Once this has been done for each activity record the overall problems and discuss how they can be addressed.

E-modules - MetEd is an international resource of hundreds of online training modules - The collection of modules can be browsed by tropic area, skill level or searching for a specific module, - It offers modules appropriate to all levels, from experienced meteorologists to students.

- To access the modules you need to register online, - You can then search for and access and even save relevant modules.

MetEd is operated by the Comet Programme. https://www.meted.ucar.edu/

Seasonal Graphs

- To identify the importance of local climate variability in the context of farmer’s perceived challenged.

- Understanding rainfall variability – Ask participants to classify the short rains season for the past 5 years (good, medium, poor), based on crop yields, then repeat this in terms of rainfall (wet, medium, dry). Record

James Hansen

46

this on a chart and then discuss and correlations or obvious differences. - Rainfall time series graphs – using measured rainfall for the past 5 years get participants to measure it and plot the figures on a graph and then encourage them to interpret what the graph illustrates and how this relates to the memory in terms of good or bad yields…

Dissolving Disasters

- ‘A resilience game where donors walk the talk’.

- Taking the role of subsistence farmers and organised into teams participants win and /or lose beans depending on the simulated rain and their decision on crop selection. - Each corner of the room is the designated a choice (eg flood protection or drought protection of no protection). - Participants have to move to a corner of the room, based on what activity they chooses to follow. - the role of the dice then determines what the rains are and participants lose or gain beans depending on the activity they chose. -Donor orgs can also be introduced, - Eventually climate change variation is introduced, - The game was specifically designed to be flexible so that people and organisations can modify the game to the specific context or issue that is being addressed.

Commissioned by the Rockefeller Foundation http://www.bu.edu/pardee/game-descriptions/