A group of 33 ALBATROSS members, led by partners from the University of Cape Town, has been involved in a study where they have measured and assessed the needs of end users regarding climate services. The study focused particularly on the relationship between users’ current climate service use and their desired needs for new climate services for nature-based solutions in Sub-Saharan Africa. A clear finding was the strong demand for meaningful integration of scientific knowledge with Indigenous and Local knowledge in climate-service co-production. The study has been recently published in the journal npj Climate Action.

The analysis was based on the responses received on the 530 interviews they carried out in the seven hubs (learn more about the interview process). Respondents ranked why, how and for what they use climate services, as well as the formats and types of information they currently use. They were then asked the same set of questions in relation to their priority desired needs for completely new climate services for nature-based solutions. Both use and need priorities were ranked in terms of their importance to users.

They tested the extent to which stated usage priorities overlapped with desired needs priorities, to assess the extent to which the priority needs are constrained by limitations in existing use. This also enabled them to distinguish between requirements for improvements of existing climate services and needs that more clearly pointed towards genuinely new climate services.

The study found that 82% of current users reported limitations in the climate services they use, and more than 60% identified a need to strengthen climate change literacy. This included understanding climate change and its impacts, knowing which services are available, and having the skills to interpret and apply climate information. Further, 91% of respondents said new climate services should integrate Indigenous and Local Knowledge with scientific knowledge.

Overall, the findings suggest that climate-service development for nature-based solutions needs to proceed in two related ways. Firstly, by strengthening existing services, and secondly by co-producing genuinely new climate-services. Treating these two as distinct but related parts can help improve co-production of more usable and useful climate services. Users and producers need time and space to reflect on what assumptions shape stated needs and what other possibilities might exist, particularly for meaningfully integrating Indigenous and Local Knowledge with scientific knowledge.