Why Climate Information Services Are Essential for Climate Change Adaptation In Africa

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reports that more than 60% of Africa’s population, exceeding 1.2 billion people, remains without access to early warning systems for severe weather events. Analysis from a collaborative team of climate and risk experts, led by the University of Cambridge, indicates that flood events in Africa result in an average death toll four times higher than comparable events in Europe and North America. This disparity is driven in part by a significant infrastructure gap: Africa has just 6% of the radar stations available in the U.S. and Europe combined, despite similar population sizes and Africa’s larger geographic area. Moreover, WMO data reveals that over half of Africa’s existing radar stations are unable to generate sufficiently accurate data to forecast weather conditions in the near term, compounding the continent's vulnerability to extreme weather.

These statistics underscore a significant challenge: Africa faces a substantial deficit in Climate Information Services (CIS), impacting the region's capacity to adapt effectively to climate risks. But what exactly are CIS?

Climate Information Services (CIS) are structured systems, tools, and processes that deliver accessible, reliable, and actionable climate data, forecasts, and warnings. CIS is designed to support informed decision-making and adaptation in response to climate variability and change by generating, managing, and disseminating information on weather patterns, climate trends, and extreme events. These services aim to inform key sectors such as agriculture, water resource management, health, and disaster risk reduction, enhancing resilience to climate impacts.

Climate Information Services (CIS) are instrumental in equipping societies with critical insights to anticipate and effectively address emerging climate risks. The applications of CIS extend across agriculture, disaster management, water resources, energy, and public health, each benefiting from enhanced resilience through reliable climate data.

In agriculture, CIS enables farmers to adapt to changing climate patterns, optimize irrigation, select resilient crop varieties, and protect against climate-induced pest outbreaks. The Rwanda Climate Services for Agriculture initiative, for example, has provided smallholder farmers in Rwanda with tailored climate data that informs planting and harvest schedules. This data-driven approach has increased crop yields by 47% for maize and 53% for beans, strengthening food security and farmer livelihoods. This is just one of the few that have helped farmers in Africa increase their crop yield.

Disaster management also relies heavily on CIS, particularly through early warning systems (EWS) that provide communities with alerts for imminent extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, floods, and droughts. EWS enable early evacuation and mitigation measures, protecting lives and assets. In Bangladesh, for example, the integration of CIS into national disaster response systems has sharply reduced cyclone-related fatalities. This success highlights the need for similar EWS investments across Africa, where climate-induced disasters are on the rise.

In water resources management, CIS plays a crucial role as climate change disrupts rainfall patterns and intensifies droughts, threatening water availability across Africa. CIS allows water managers to forecast seasonal rainfall variability, essential for planning urban water supplies, agricultural irrigation, and drinking water access in drought-prone regions. Predicting seasonal water availability is essential for managing resources effectively, and climate information services (CIS) play a vital role in this process. Through data-driven insights, CIS supports better allocation and planning, helping to mitigate the risks of water scarcity that could disrupt agriculture, industry, and daily needs. This proactive approach enables communities and sectors to make informed decisions, strengthening resilience against fluctuating water supplies.

The energy sector in Africa, particularly renewable energy, benefits from CIS by supporting the reliable operation of hydropower, solar, and wind energy systems. With Africa’s dependency on hydropower and its growing investment in solar and wind energy, accurate climate forecasting helps energy providers anticipate shifts in rainfall, sunlight, and wind patterns that impact energy production. For example, forecasting dry seasons supports hydropower planning, while solar and wind farms can adjust operations based on climate data, ensuring more consistent energy output. This thereby strengthens energy security, which is essential for economic stability.

In public health, CIS offers data crucial for managing health risks associated with extreme weather and climate-sensitive diseases. Heatwave alerts allow health agencies to deploy protective campaigns for vulnerable populations, while epidemiologists use climate data to forecast outbreaks of diseases such as malaria and cholera, which are influenced by temperature and rainfall. This proactive use of climate data in public health is key to reducing disease burdens and safeguarding public well-being.

Africa’s limited Climate Information Services (CIS) capabilities continue to impede efforts to adapt to climate variability and strengthen resilience in key sectors such as agriculture, water management, disaster preparedness, and public health. Bridging this gap involves tackling critical issues: infrastructure shortfalls, resource constraints, and the need for user-centred service design.

• Infrastructure and Technological Gaps
  Africa’s low density of weather and climate monitoring infrastructure is a substantial barrier. The continent operates with just 6% of the radar stations found in the United States and Europe, despite having a comparable population and a significantly larger land area. Additionally, over half of the current systems are outdated, and unable to provide the high-resolution data needed for precise, real-time forecasting. This technological gap weakens early warning systems and emergency responses, often leaving communities without the critical information they need to respond effectively to imminent threats such as floods or droughts, thereby increasing their vulnerability to climate-related disaster
• Funding and Resource Constraints
  CIS infrastructure and maintenance require substantial and sustained funding, but many African countries face limited budgets and competing priorities. Investing in CIS systems, including radar, satellites, and data-processing capabilities, is costly, and limited international funding further exacerbates these challenges. Climate funding often prioritizes high-impact or high-visibility projects over long-term, localized CIS initiatives, meaning that African countries receive a fraction of the financial support needed for adequate climate monitoring and forecasting services. Consequently, CIS programs struggle to expand, modernize, or even maintain existing resources. For example, the Climate Information Services Research Initiatives (CISRI) has demonstrated success in providing tailored CIS to smallholder farmers, but similar programs require considerable scaling to reach the millions of farmers in need across Africa.
• Lack of User-Centric Design and Localized Implementation
  Another barrier to effective CIS in Africa is the lack of user-centred design in many programs. Many CIS initiatives have historically taken a top-down approach, with information generated and distributed without adequate input from intended users. This approach often results in low adoption rates, as end-users such as farmers, water managers, and community disaster teams receive generalized data lacking practical, locally relevant insights. For example, broad seasonal predictions might not provide the specificity needed for farmers to adjust planting schedules. To improve effectiveness, experts emphasize the need for a participatory approach, integrating local knowledge with scientific data, and delivering information in culturally relevant formats. Programs that use local radio and mobile platforms to communicate tailored forecasts demonstrate the effectiveness of this user-centred approach, showing improved CIS adoption and impact across several regions​.
• Expanding Digital and Mobile Accessibility
  In addition to these structural barriers, reaching remote communities remains a significant challenge. However, the growing availability of mobile and digital technologies provides a promising pathway for CIS expansion. Digital platforms can be used to deliver climate data directly to users, allowing timely access to information about impending extreme weather events, rainfall forecasts, and temperature shifts. Mobile applications, SMS alerts, and radio broadcasts are already proving effective in some regions, offering a more inclusive way to deliver CIS to underserved rural populations. Yet, even with this technology, adoption varies based on literacy, language, and access to mobile infrastructure. Therefore, adaptation strategies must consider these factors to ensure inclusivity and effectiveness​.
• The Path Forward: Investment and Collaboration
  To overcome these challenges, Africa needs a robust, collaborative approach that unites governments, international organizations, and the private sector. Sustainable CIS development requires targeted financial investment, skill-building for local scientists and technicians, and technological support to build and maintain essential infrastructure. Partnerships with international bodies, like the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), have already shown promise by providing technical guidance and funding for CIS systems across various African regions. Increasingly, these collaborations could integrate CIS into development projects across agriculture, health, and disaster preparedness, creating a resilient framework that empowers communities to adapt proactively to climate impacts. This united approach holds the potential to bolster regional resilience and inspire a model of climate adaptation that can be replicated globally.