Experiences of co-producing sub-seasonal forecast products for agricultural application in Kenya and Ghana

Hirons, Linda, Wainwright, Caroline ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7311-7846, Nying’uro, Patricia, Quaye, David, Ashong, Jesse, Kiptum, Chris, Opoku, Nana Kofi, Thompson, Elisabeth M and Lamptey, Benjamin 2023. Experiences of co-producing sub-seasonal forecast products for agricultural application in Kenya and Ghana. Weather 78 (5) , pp. 148-153. 10.1002/wea.4381

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Abstract

The development and application of new sub-seasonal forecasting products in the agricultural sectors of Ghana and Kenya are described. Using a co-production approach transforms the role of the forecast user from merely a recipient of forecast information to being involved in the forecast product development process. This approach is resource intensive, but it can improve the application of forecasts in decision-making by giving the in-country services the agility to respond to local needs. Sub-seasonal forecasts (1–4 weeks) have potential to aid agricultural planning. Realising this potential requires the co-production of reliable forecast products with agricultural users. The African SWIFT (Science for Weather Information and Forecasting Techniques) project ran a 2-year sub-seasonal forecasting testbed bringing together forecast users, producers and researchers in Africa and the United Kingdom to co-produce bespoke forecasts. Here, agricultural case studies in Ghana and Kenya show having direct access to the sub-seasonal data in real time gave local operational centres the agency to iteratively develop, communicate and visualise the forecast information in an appropriate way to support agricultural decision-making.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Earth and Environmental Sciences
Publisher:	Royal Meteorological Society
ISSN:	0043-1656
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	15 February 2023
Date of Acceptance:	8 February 2023
Last Modified:	18 May 2023 00:22
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/157043

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