Abstract/Summary

DFID is considering a new programme on climate information and services in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), building on existing initiatives and a providing a step change in the use of climate information to support poverty reduction and promote socio-economic development. As part of the scoping for the design of the Climate and Information Services for Africa programme (CIASA), this report provides a short literature review on user needs, gaps and potential intervention options. It adopts the structure of the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS, see Section 1) with individual sections on ‘Users’, ‘User Interface Platforms (UIPs)’, ‘Climate Services Information Systems’, ‘Observations and Monitoring’, ‘Research, Modelling and Prediction’ and ‘Capacity Development’. The review identified a number of gaps in climate services, which were then considered alongside other evidence in a synthesis report and for the design of intervention options. The literature review found that the requirements of users of climate information are demanding relative to current levels of provider capacity in Africa (Section 2, Section 7). Needs are differentiated across a wide range of users working across decision time- and geographic scales (Section 2). Climate services should be reliable in terms of accuracy, robust in terms of operational delivery, relevant in terms of content and format and accessible in terms of channels of communication and language employed. To deliver the best possible climate services, at scales down to sub-national, synthesis of a wide range of information from global, regional and national centres is required together with the means for effective two-way communication. The appropriate operational hardware and expertise, institutional linkages, data exchanges (Section 4) and institutional capacity (Section 7) require development to facilitate this synthesis and a reliable operational service.