Handbook on climate information for farming communities

Despite technological advances, most agrometeorological information does not reach smallholder farmers with limited means. This guide identifies farmers' most important climate information needs and presents the weather and agroclimatic products that are made available by national meteorological services. For instance, the Response Farming in Rainfed Agriculture approach is used for identifying and quantifying rainfall variability at the local level to assess the climate-related risks of farming communities. The Climate-Responsive Farming Management approach is an enhanced version that uses modern and digital technologies such as specific computer software, automatic weather stations, real-time telecommunication and smartphone applications. The publication also gives special consideration to farmers' local knowledge, a key factor in coping with climate variability and change that is too often neglected.