Climate Exchange

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Making climate science useful: cross-regional

learning from Kenya and Senegal

Emma Visman, Humanitarian Futures Programe, King’s College London; Dr Arame Tall, Consultative Group on

International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security Programme;

Richard Ewbank, Christian Aid; Professor Dominic Kniveton, University of Sussex;

Dr Mariane Diop Kane, Head of Forecasting and Observational Networks Department,

Agence Nationale de l’Aviation Civile et de la Météorologie du Sénégal;

Dr Richard Jones, UK Met Office Hadley Centre; Ezekiel M Njoroge, Kenya Meteorological Department;

and Dr Andy Morse, University of Liverpool

n 2009 the Humanitarian Futures Programme (HFP) based

at King’s College London initiated a series of pilot two-way

exchanges between a number of international climate scientists

and humanitarian organizations. This process led to the develop-

ment of a collaborative proposal between climate scientists and

meteorologists from national meteorological departments and

universities in Kenya, Senegal and the UK,

and policymakers from

a number of international humanitarian organizations

and the

partners and communities with whom they work. Together, these

partners are undertaking two demonstration studies to assess how

climate science can better support humanitarian, disaster risk

reduction and development decision-making.

Communities living in the arid and semi-arid areas of Kenya are

largely dependent on rain-fed agriculture and livestock production

and are increasingly vulnerable. More than 75 per cent of Kenya’s

population works in the agriculture sector, and is highly vulnerable

to climate shocks. In recent years, the Mbeere district has frequently

received inadequate rainfall and experienced a succession of poor

harvests and associated high levels of livestock mortality.

Mbeere district is the focus of a demonstration study that involves

climate scientists from national meteorological departments and

universities in Kenya and the UK partnering with policymakers

from national and international humanitarian and development

organizations. The study supports the development of an integrated

cross-disciplinary approach with the aim of helping to improve

the capacity of vulnerable communities to respond to climate and

weather risks and advance climate scientists’ understanding of the

climate information needs of humanitarian users. It is one of a series

of two pilot exchanges initiated in 2011 by the HFP based at King’s

College London, and embedded within a three-year Christian Aid

Sustainable Agriculture and Livelihoods Innovation project (SALI).

A parallel demonstration study in the Kaffrine district of Senegal is

also underway (see the following case study). This article seeks to

identify and draw together generic learning from across the demon-

stration studies in both Senegal and Kenya.

The exchange approach has provided an unforeseen framework

for innovation, creating the linkages and space to develop new

approaches which offer the potential to better meet users’ information

needs including regular forecast updates by SMS in local

languages direct to key community actors. The process

includes community-based evaluation, technical reviews

of the provision and use of climate information following

each season and the development of approaches which

support direct and more effective dialogue between the

providers and users of emerging climate science.

Building on past efforts

Efforts to strengthen systematic response to risks identi-

fied by science are not new. There are a multitude of

early-warning systems, including seasonal rainfall and

crop forecasts; nutritional and epidemiological surveys;

networks of earthquake and tsunami early warning

systems; and volcano monitoring stations. Each operates

at different geographic and temporal scales, offering fore-

casts with differing levels of certainty. Often the barriers

to effective use of scientific forecasts are not related to

a lack of information, but to lack of political will to act;

inability or unwillingness to invest in risk-based preven-

tion; lack of understanding regarding probabilistic

information or appropriate forms of action to take; or

not ensuring that timely, relevant information reaches

those who are able to take independent action.

There is a need to break the cyclical nature of crises in

regions vulnerable to climate hazards, and to contextual-

ize weather and climate information within the complex

multi-hazard environments in which these crises occur.

There are a number of major international frame-

works guiding humanitarian and development

initiatives due for review in the coming few years.

This exchange project answers the principles of the

World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Global

Framework for Climate Services, offering significant

opportunities to establish more systematic and inte-

grated use of weather and climate information at all

levels of humanitarian, disaster risk reduction (DRR)

and development decision-making and so to address

some of the drivers of persisting vulnerability.

ommunities