Dynamic Uptake of CIS Use and Impacts on Agricultural Productivity and Incomes: Does co-production make a difference?

In West African Sahel, and particularly Senegal, seasonal climate forecasts are necessary to support farmers’ decision-making on farming activities and operations in a context of expected increase in rainfall variability. In recent years, a lot of attention has been paid to improving the provision of climate information services by ensuring that it is tailored to meet the users’ needs. In 2011, CCAFS scientists started a collaboration with the National Civil Aviation and Meteorology Agency of Senegal (ANACIM) which aimed to: 1) develop downscaled climate information services - CIS; 2) enhance the capacity of partners who were tasked to communicate climate information to farmers; and 3) enhance the transmission 0 of CI and agricultural advice to farmers. Under this initiative, a multidisciplinary working group (MWG) was set up at both national and local levels and constitute a decisive and inclusive body that facilitates the development of CIS, its diffusion and subsequent uptake by users at the district level. There is a lack of rigorous evidence on assessment of such co-production models, particularly on influencing uptake of CIS by end-users and the implications farmers’ welfare. A major challenges in evaluating CIS is due to the stochastic nature of weather which implies farmers’ adaptive strategies may vary from year to year depending on the weather changes. This makes it challenging to evaluate impact of CIS on livelihood welfare outcomes such as agricultural yields and household incomes using cross-sectional data. This study investigates the impact of climate information services and their effectiveness in improving farmers’ awareness, access and uptake of CIS. on agricultural productivity and agricultural income. To achieve these objectives, we use a two-time balanced panel to explore the dynamics CIS uptake and the impact on farmers’ agricultural income. This data is further complemented with participatory surveys that provide richer contextual information in explaining the impact pathways. Results show that the use of CIS when mediated with access to MWG increases leads to increases in household income of about 10-25% for farmers with access. Details of the impact pathways and implications of for policy are discussed.In West African Sahel, and particularly Senegal, seasonal climate forecasts are necessary to support farmers’ decision-making on farming activities and operations in a context of expected increase in rainfall variability. In recent years, a lot of attention has been paid to improving the provision of climate information services by ensuring that it is tailored to meet the users’ needs. In 2011, CCAFS scientists started a collaboration with the National Civil Aviation and Meteorology Agency of Senegal (ANACIM) which aimed to: 1) develop downscaled climate information services - CIS; 2) enhance the capacity of partners who were tasked to communicate climate information to farmers; and 3) enhance the transmission 0 of CI and agricultural advice to farmers. Under this initiative, a multidisciplinary working group (MWG) was set up at both national and local levels and constitute a decisive and inclusive body that facilitates the development of CIS, its diffusion and subsequent uptake by users at the district level. There is a lack of rigorous evidence on assessment of such co-production models, particularly on influencing uptake of CIS by end-users and the implications farmers’ welfare. A major challenges in evaluating CIS is due to the stochastic nature of weather which implies farmers’ adaptive strategies may vary from year to year depending on the weather changes. This makes it challenging to evaluate impact of CIS on livelihood welfare outcomes such as agricultural yields and household incomes using cross-sectional data. This study investigates the impact of climate information services and their effectiveness in improving farmers’ awareness, access and uptake of CIS. on agricultural productivity and agricultural income. To achieve these objectives, we use a two-time balanced panel to explore the dynamics CIS uptake and the impact on farmers’ agricultural income. This data is further complemented with participatory surveys that provide richer contextual information in explaining the impact pathways. Results show that the use of CIS when mediated with access to MWG increases leads to increases in household income of about 10-25% for farmers with access. Details of the impact pathways and implications of for policy are discussed.