Lessons learned from the CIRDA Programme

Climate change is causing major impacts in many African countries, disproportionately affecting the poorest and most vulnerable populations. One essential requirement for adapting effectively to a changing climate is access to reliable, credible weather and climate information on which to base decisions. 

Unfortunately, as evidenced by the large number of “non-reporting” weather stations and the absence of effective forecasts and warnings of hazardous weather events in many Sub-Saharan countries, weather and climate information systems in this region are currently of poor quality. While there have been many efforts to improve observations and forecasting of weather and climate in this region, few have had much success or long-lasting impact.

Recognizing the need to improve critical environmental monitoring and forecasting systems, several Sub-Saharan countries sought assistance from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF). In response in 2013, the  GEF approved support for projects in 11 African least developed countries (LDCs). Similarly, and responding to requests and the lessons from past failures, the 11 partner countries, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Liberia, Malawi, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, The Gambia, Uganda, and Zambia developed a new vision for weather and climate information services in collaboration with UNDP that resulted the Programme for Climate Information for Resilient Development in Africa (CIRDA). 

This program included several unique features, these included: 

• Utilizing an end-to-end systems engineering approach; 
• Encouraging use of innovative, less expensive fully integrated monitoring and forecasting equipment; 
• Basing communication systems for data collection and dissemination of information products on the cell network; 
• Establishing long-term agreements for procurement of integrated packages of hardware, software, installation services, and training; 
• Creating a multidisciplinary support team to work with and across countries, aid in procurement actions, and facilitate learning and information sharing; 
• Fostering collaboration with private providers of weather equipment, services, and communication; and 
• Supporting outreach to businesses in need of tailored weather and climate information services to help define needed system improvements and potentially to become sources of revenue for improving the sustainability of public weather services.  

The implementation of CIRDA with its innovative features over a four-year period produced some notable successes and identified many challenges to improving weather and climate information services in LDCs. The lessons learned in the CIRDA Programme are now being reflected in the design of more recent projects and the consideration of new policies by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and other international organizations.  

While the CIRDA Programme, officially concluded in December of 2019 the project developed various communications and information products to guide a new generation of climate information projects for adaptation. Resources include the report A New Vision for Weather and Climate Services in Africa, a continental-scale market assessment on the potential for climate information services in Africa, a communications toolkit for communicating early warning systems and most recently the project has produced a terminal evaluation report with the aim of generating best practices and lessons learned when looking to replicate a similar approach to vulnerable countries in enhancing their climate information services. 

Among the conclusions of the evaluation report includes an acknowledgment of the success of the Programmer to deliver considerable results by the end of its implementation, including its capacity to enhance national efforts in monitoring and forecasting extreme weather and identifying effective communication channels through potential partnerships. The evaluation also recognized the Program's success in facilitating the efficient and effective use of hydro-meteorological information for generating early warning and long term development plans, as reflected in national score cards and in the commissioned market assessment. A key achievement identified through the project is the support provided by programme specialist to identify capacity gaps in national partners and mobilizing support to address these including in helping guide appropriate exit strategies to ensure long term sustainability.

The evaluation also recommended as a lessons learned from the project an improved focus on baseline analysis as well as risk monitoring to allow for an enhanced systematization of impact. The project, if replicated should consider an enhanced monitoring framework to allow for a better documentation of project results. 

2018 Market Assessment on Climate Services in Africa

The availability, diversity, sophistication and use of weather information is increasing rapidly within the public and private sectors globally. Availability is also coupled with increased demand from economic sectors looking to adapt to the widespread impacts of climate change. To address this, international private weather companies have begun to market tailored weather information products intensively and have generated considerable demand from private as well as government customers across a wide range of economic sectors, including agriculture, mining, forestry, construction and energy. 

Thriving commercial weather markets across the world have invariably been underpinned by National Hydrological and Meteorological Services (NHMSs) that provide consistently accurate primary data – about weather phenomena on the synoptic (large scale) and local scales – generated from their extensive observation networks. Such data can significantly improve the quality of weather information products being provided or developed by private companies for public and commercial use because the products are often solely derived from satellite observation data. The improved quality of products as a result of inclusion of primary weather information – particularly those describing local scale weather phenomena – is likely to give a private weather company a significant competitive advantage over other providers of weather information that do not incorporate such local data.  

On the other hand, NHMS' benefit from establishing win-win partnerships with private weather providers to access much needed sources through profit sharing agreements, by leveraging technology and in developing weather markets for improved weather products. The availability of improved weather products across all economic sectors can, for example, reduce loss of life and damage to infrastructure during extreme weather events, diversify the economy by creating new business opportunities, and consequently increase tax revenues for governments. In addition, enhanced capacities to NHMS' also ensures that reliable and timely weather information is not only available to those who can afford it, but rather is also made accessible to vulnerable populations.  

With this in mind, the UNDP CIRDA Programme commissioned a continental-scale market assessment to investigate how thriving commercial weather markets could be catalysed in the 11 African countries supported by the UNDP CIRDA programme, and how their NHMSs could maximise benefit they derive from such markets. This market study was published originally in 2016 and was updated in 2018 to gauge the impact of both the CIRDA Programme and national projects aimed at enhancing the access to climate information and early warning systems. 

Two main conclusions from both studies have emerged: firstly, that the NHMSs should collaborate rather than compete with private weather companies; and secondly, that the NHMSs should embark on a phased transition to derive benefits from the national commercial weather markets. Collaboration with the private sector is advisable because the skills, core business objectives, and comparative advantages of private weather companies compared with those of NHMSs are very different. Such companies are innovating rapidly, using state-of-the-art technologies, and generating demand for their products through intensive marketing targeting specific user groups. By contrast, NHMSs focus on providing public goods such as basic weather forecasts to the general public, an accurate national climate record, and early warnings of hazardous weather events; they consequently do not yet have the business skills required for developing and marketing cutting edge products. By providing accurate data and working closely with the private sector to improve the quality of climate and weather information products available in their countries, NHMSs can potentially share, through royalties or fixed fees, the revenues generated from products that incorporate their primary data. Such business deals are – as has already been demonstrated in some countries – likely to generate far greater income streams for the NHMSs than from the simple sale of primary weather data. 

This market assessment also found that NHMSs in countries supported by the UNDP CIRDA programme were in varying states of readiness for engaging with the private sector. The 2018 market assessment update revealed that considerable progress has been made following the years receiving CIRDA programme support. A general upwards trend was observed for all countries with regard to their readiness to engage with the private sector. An important next step for NHMSs will be to undertake in-depth national market assessments to identify suitable entry points into their respective commercial weather markets. 

Results from this updated market study are extremely relevant not only for the UNDP CIRDA partner countries by providing potential entry points to engage with the private sector, but also for climate adaptation practitioners looking to address a key barrier in promoting climate adaptation in economic vulnerable countries. By increasing the long term  sustainability of NHMS and improving access to climate information services, future adaptation projects will have the capacity to develop the tools needed to climate proof development thereby, protecting lives and livelihoods. 

Read the full 2018 report