Africa: Africa's Climate Services Need Local Detail and Knowledge, Say People Who Use the Information

What the report says

A Conversation Africa analysis published via AllAfrica says climate services across Africa need to be more local, practical and connected to community knowledge. The piece is based on interviews with 530 people involved in nature-based projects in Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar and South Africa, including farmers, community groups, NGOs, government bodies and researchers. These projects range from mangrove restoration and grazing management to urban greening, and many participants rely on climate information to protect livelihoods and ecosystems.

The authors say most respondents already use forecasts and warnings for rainfall, heat, floods and droughts, delivered through phones, radio, TV and websites. But many said current services are too general, hard to access, too technical or too late to support decisions on land, water, livestock, food security and disaster risk. A major concern was that formal climate services often do not incorporate Indigenous and local forecasting practices, even though those practices remain important in places such as Turkana in Kenya.

The article argues that climate information should be designed with users, not just for them. Respondents wanted community-specific services that combine weather and seasonal forecasts with local details such as soil moisture, river flow, vegetation, fire conditions and social or health impacts. They also called for simpler explanations, stronger climate literacy and better delivery through trusted local networks, mobile messaging, community radio and visual formats.

The piece says this matters because climate adaptation is becoming central to everyday decisions across the continent, and services that better reflect local conditions could make restoration and resilience efforts more effective.