Stakeholder Engagement

For more Structured and Effective Interactions

As the ClimSA Programme nears completion, it marks a pivotal moment to reflect on its achievements and draw lessons from its multi-regional implementation. Across the African, Caribbean and Pacific regions, the Programme has addressed one of the most persistent barriers to effective climate services: the limited and often fragmented connection among stakeholders across the entire climate service value chain.

By facilitating structured and sustained dialogue across policy, technical and community levels spanning 21 regional and 16 national and sub-national level platforms, as of May 2025, ClimSA has helped drive a systemic shift - from one-way information flow to co-designed, demand-driven climate services that directly support resilience-building.

Climate services are only effective when they are understood, trusted and used. Yet, many providers, including the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs), still struggle to align their products and services with the timing, format and content needed by decision-makers in key sectors such as agriculture, disaster risk reduction (DRR), water resources and health. ClimSA addressed this challenge by embedding multi-stakeholder engagement mechanisms across all levels of the climate services value chain; from Continental and Regional Outlook Forums to User Interface Platforms (UIPs), to National Climate Outlook Forums (NCOFs) and Participatory Scenario Planning (PSP) at community level. These mechanisms ensured that climate services are shaped by the people who use them and anchored in local development priorities.

To support the development of effective UIPs, the ClimSA Programme, in collaboration with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and following extensive stakeholder consultations, has produced practical Guidelines that offer a clear framework for implementation. 

 

Examples of Good Practices

1. Structured User Interface Platforms

ClimSA supported the creation and strengthening of over 20 UIPs, spanning regional, national and sub-national levels. These platforms serve as formal entry points for stakeholder interaction, where users articulate needs, provide feedback, and co-design products with climate service providers.

  • In Africa, the African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD) facilitated the establishment of four continent-wide UIPs for agriculture and food security, water, health and DRR, in collaboration with the WMO, the World Health Organization and the African Union Commission (AUC).
  • In Eastern Africa ICPAC, the IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre, implemented national-level UIPs in Kenya and Uganda, building on the PSP model and linking national forecasts to community-level planning. Sub-national PSPs in Machakos (Kenya) and Kiboga (Uganda) translated national climate outlooks into livelihood-specific advisory tools, disseminated via Telegram groups, community forums and extension networks. At the regional level, ICPAC supports the strengthening of the Food Security and Nutrition Working Group (FSNWG), a UIP for agriculture and food security in East Africa. It is also playing a lead role in establishing a regional UIP for the water sector, and promoting the GHACOFs as a multi-sector UIP.
  • In West Africa, the Regional AGRHYMET Centre, with ClimSA and the Accelerating Impacts of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA), initiated sectorial UIPs on agriculture, water and disaster management. These platforms were bolstered by dialogue days in countries like Burkina Faso, enabling the joint review of climate bulletins and sector-specific information needs.
  • Through the ClimSA Programme, the Climate Services Centre (CSC) of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) is actively strengthening support for National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs). Efforts focus on expanding the reach of climate services, and training users to apply climate information effectively. Four regional platforms—water, energy, food security and disaster risk reduction—have already been established. In Angola, a 2023 UIP event laid the foundation for a national coordination mechanism that enhances the institutional use of forecast products in national policy execution; as a result, two UIPs are being established, one on agriculture and food security, and the other one on the water-energy nexus.
  • In Central Africa, the recently established team at the CAPC-AC [Centre d’Application et de Prévision Climatologique de l’Afrique Centrale], jointly with the AUC, has established two user interface platforms at the national level in Cameroon: one focused on agriculture, and the other on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR).
  • In the Caribbean, the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH) and NMHSs launched an inaugural national UIP in Jamaica, aligning climate services with country-specific institutional frameworks, including agricultural insurance schemes and national DRR platforms. It marked a key step in aligning climate services with national needs and building legal and collaborative frameworks for action at all levels.
  • In the Pacific, the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), with support from the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and WMO and funding from ClimSA, convened a joint meeting of meteorology and disaster management communities, the first of its kind in a decade, resulting in updated governance protocols that influenced the Namaka Declaration and reinforced regional commitments under the UN Early Warning for All initiative.

 

2. Climate Outlook Forums as Multi-Stakeholder Planning Spaces

ClimSA has significantly enhanced the structure, relevance and usability of Climate Outlook Forums (COFs) across all ACP regions, by moving more towards participatory platforms for co-producing climate outlooks and actionable sectoral guidance in eight regions and more than ten countries.

  • In Africa, ClimSA supported ACMAD in its WMO-mandate to organise African Continental Climate Outlook Forum (ACCOF) sessions (from ACCOF-9 to ACCOF-18) and reinforced regional forums like PRESAC (Prévisions Saisonnières en Afrique Centrale) and SWIOCOF (South West Indian Ocean Climate Outlook Forum). These events now deliver agro-hydro-climatic outlooks integrated into food security response plans and water resource allocation strategies.
  • ClimSA is strengthening climate resilience across West Africa by supporting via the AGRHYMET Centre key regional forums such as PRESAGG [Prévisions Saisonnières Agro-Hydro-Climatiques du Golfe de Guinée], PRESASS [Prévisions Saisonnières Climatiques et Agro-Hydro du Soudano-Sahélien] and PREGEC [Prévention et Gestion des Crises Alimentaires au Sahel et en Afrique de l'Ouest​​​​​​]. These initiatives deliver vital seasonal agro-hydro-climatic forecasts for the Sahelian and Sudanian zones, improving early warning systems, food security and climate-smart planning in agriculture and water management. Through ClimSA’s backing, the accuracy and reach of climate information have grown, driving regional collaboration and informed decision-making in the face of climate change.
  • The ClimSA Programme has played a key role in strengthening the Greater Horn of Africa Climate Outlook Forum (GHACOF), which recently reached its 69th edition, marking a major milestone in regional climate coordination. This targeted support ensures climate information is accessible, actionable, and tailored to user needs, boosting resilience from national to grassroots level. ICPAC is also deepening collaboration with Kenya and Uganda to enhance climate services. In Kenya, ICPAC has guided the development of the National Climate Outlook Forum (Kenya NCOF) since the onset of the Programme in 2020, supporting the Kenya Meteorological Department in connecting national forecasts with local communities. In Uganda, ClimSA as supported 6 NCOFs.
  • In Central Africa, the CAPC-AC, in close collaboration with the AUC and ACMAD ClimSA teams, coordinated the Cameroon National Climate Outlook Forum which already held the second edition of the Cameroon NCOF. The first Forum also provided the opportunity to review the action plan for the National Framework of Climate Services (NFCS).
  • In Southern Africa, the Southern Africa Regional Climate Outlook Forum SARCOF reached its 30th edition in 2025. ClimSA support from SARCOF24 onwards consistently helped transform SARCOF from a provider-led forecast release to a forum that includes pre-season consultations, user training and post-season evaluations, especially for DRR, agriculture and energy sectors. In the pilot country, the first National Climate Outlook Forum of Angola was held in October 2024, aiming at delivering services for climate action.
  • In the Caribbean, organised by the CIMH, ClimSA backed multiple editions of CariCOF, and the NCOFs in Dominica, Jamaica and Antigua & Barbuda, promoting the integration of climate outlooks into drought preparedness protocols, public health planning and climate-resilient tourism frameworks.
  • In the Pacific, the ClimSA team at SPREP co-hosted Pacific Islands Climate Outlook Forum (PICOF) editions PICOF12 through PICOF15, alongside partners such as Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology and Pacific regional organisations (PROs). These forums generated consensus statements on El Niño conditions, which informed national contingency planning and emergency preparedness operations across up to 17 Pacific island countries. National processes were strengthened and resulted in the NCOF in Samoa and NCOF in Kiribati, marking a major milestone after it was discontinued for more than 5 years before ClimSA started.

 

Looking Forward

The ClimSA Programme continues to prove that stakeholder engagement is not an accessory to climate services, it is a prerequisite for their effectiveness: strong collaboration between climate service providers, sectorial experts and researchers is key to delivering impactful, user-driven climate services. Most RCCs still limit themselves to running UIPs exclusively during the RCOFs. For ClimSA, the goal is to progress towards a stage where UIPs operate independently from the RCOFs and in a structured fashion; following agreed Terms of Reference, which include meeting more frequently, even online, engaging a broad range of stakeholders, particularly users, and ultimately reaching full maturity. This maturity is defined by the timely and well-coordinated co-design and co-production of climate information and services across all relevant sectors. As the Programme concludes, the challenge, and opportunity, lies in scaling and sustaining user-centred climate services. Together with its wider efforts to enhance climate service delivery, expand access to climate data, build capacity and mainstream climate considerations into policies and programmes, ClimSA is also supporting RCCs in becoming WMO-designated centres. These combined actions are helping to embed climate services into national and regional planning, strengthening resilience and promoting sustainable development across the ACP regions.

 

Further Reading and Resources

The ClimSA Programme is firmly grounded in the approach set out by the World Meteorological Organization, recognising that effective, science-based, regionally and nationally sustained and inclusive climate action relies on strong partnerships and collaboration both within and across national borders. UIPs and COFs are part of Global and National Frameworks for Climate Services (GFCSs and NFCSs), which play a pivotal role in driving the development and implementation of climate action. To further strengthen these efforts, RCCs and NMHSs are encouraged to actively promote the establishment of NFCSs and sector-specific GFCSs, fostering coordinated, responsive and impactful climate services.

 

For more information, do not hesitate to contact the OACPS Secretariat through Dr Nsadisa Faka, Team Leader of the ClimSA Programme (nsadisa.faka@acp.int), and Ms Michela Paganini, Stakeholder Engagement Expert for the ClimSA Programme (michela.paganini@acp.int).