The overarching goal of enhancing the uptake of Climate Information Services (CIS) is to provide people and organizations with reliable, timely, user-friendly information tailored to reduce climate risks related losses as well as in capitalizing on emerging opportunities for development. Hence, factoring CIS into policy, planning and practices are crucial for Africa to achieve its development aspirations for enhanced trade competitiveness, reduced poverty and sustainable economic growth.

The uptake and use of CIS in Africa is influenced by many factors including the lack of reliable historical observations, coarse scale of future climate projections, weak coordinated CIS delivery, among others. On the side of the users, the main obstacles for poor uptake and utilization of CIS include limited awareness about the existence of specific climate information, poor data accessibility, and lack of capacity to use climate information in decision making process. Accelerating CIS uptake for development planning in Africa also requires an enabling environment with an economic case for substantive investments in the production and uptake of climate information services. This must be supported with solid scientific evidences derived from applied research and policy analyses, as well as coordinated approaches to service delivery. It is important to strengthen knowledge frameworks and foster partnerships between public institutions, the private sector, civil society and vulnerable communities.

There is a growing political goodwill in Africa to improve CIS generation and uptake as demonstrated by the engagement of African parliamentarians in dialogues on CIS, and most recently with the adoption of the Integrated African Strategy on Meteorology. Unfortunately, the existing development partners’ investments in CIS are often in piecemeal, short-lived, and not well oriented to generate the level of impacts required to support development planning. Hence, innovative ways of delivering CIS initiatives that provide science-informed solutions vital for the effective implementation of the Paris Agreement, Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Africa. Investment in the deployment of robust climate information and services delivery system for the effective implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and associated mechanisms established through the global climate governance processes will be crucial.

There are still challenges in the provision of precise downscaled location-specific, reliable, timely, and user-friendly weather and climate information that are required to provide fit-for-purpose climate information services that effectively address vulnerability in communities, as well as capitalizing on emerging opportunities due to climate change. Harnessing new frontiers for economic growth such as the blue economy, will require significant utilization of CIS.

The economy, environment and people of Kenya are highly dependent on the natural resources, such as land, water, and forests that are highly vulnerable to climate variability and change. With rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns, there has been increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as droughts and flooding which threaten the sustainability of the country’s development.

Kenya has experience a lot of flooding and other natural disasters in recent times and efforts to minimize the impacts and prepare has been very minimal. The Kenya metrological department has produced the information but dissemination of this information has been a challenge. The challenges include the lack of reliable historical observations, coarse scale of future climate projections, weak coordinated CIS delivery, among others. On the side of the users, the main obstacles for poor uptake and utilization of CIS include limited awareness about the existence of specific climate information, poor data accessibility, and lack of capacity to use climate information in decision making process.
Women as a constituency should be actively involved in Climate Information Services. This is because they are disproportionately affected by climate change and they are disadvantaged in terms of knowledge access. However, this has not always been the case because of the women’s gender roles and structural discriminations.

Objectives

The main objective of the training is to build capacity of the National & county Governments, women, youth, CSOs, media and development stakeholders in the uptake and use of CIS building on concrete cases and experiences of utilization of CIS in development planning, policy and practice in Kenya

Specific objectives

• Build capacity of CSOs, governments and other stakeholders in the uptake of CIS
• To explorestrategies to improve involvement of women in Climate Information Service in order to achieve efficient interventions. 
• To identify practical options for enhancing uptake and use of CIS
• to explore ways of strengthening the enabling environment for CIS uptake