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

Hirons, L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1189-7576, Wainwright, C. M., Nying'uro, P., Quaye, D., Ashong, J., Kiptum, C., Opoku, N. K., Thompson, E. M. and Lamptey, B. (2023) Experiences of co-producing sub-seasonal forecast products for agricultural application in Kenya and Ghana. Weather, 78 (5). pp. 148-153. ISSN 1477-8696 doi: 10.1002/wea.4381

Abstract/Summary

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
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/110617
Item Type	Article
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > NCAS Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > Department of Meteorology
Publisher	Wiley
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