Develop medium‐ to long‐term climate information services to enhance comprehensive climate risk management in Africa

Abstract Increasing climate change risks in Africa, emerging from global warming and their interaction with non‐climate risks such as market, have increased the need for comprehensive Climate Risk Management (CRM) that considers both climatic and non‐climatic risks and enables actions that address the underlying drivers of vulnerability to these risks. However, comprehensive CRM requires holistic Climate Information Services (CIS), that is, CIS that balances between components focused on provision of short‐ and long‐term climate information for both local and non‐local decision makers. In this article, we ask: to what extent is CIS in Africa holistic? We review recent and ongoing CIS interventions in Africa to determine whether a balance of components between short‐ and long‐term CIS for local and non‐local decision makers is achieved for holistic CIS. We find a focus on provision of short‐term, that is, Sub‐Seasonal‐to‐Seasonal (S2S) CIS for local and non‐local decision makers, with limited focus on medium‐ to long‐term (MLT) CIS, particularly MLT CIS for local decision makers which represents the biggest gap to achieving holistic CIS in Africa. We present a supported case that ensuring holistic CIS in Africa will require a portfolio‐based approach to CIS development, particularly focusing on MLT CIS for local decision makers. We further highlight the need for integration of this MLT CIS for local decision makers into existing CIS. Achieving this will require: (a) experimentation and innovation with different CIS formats, products and timeframes to enable learning and flexibility to achieve desired goals; (b) capacity development of producers and consumers of climate information to ensure that they have the skills and expertise to understand and generate, and articulate needs and consume MLT CIS respectively; and (c) coordinated allocation of financial resources to ensure that all components of the holistic CIS are advanced.