Commercialization pathways for climate services for small holder farmers in the global South

Abstract

Climate change disproportionally affects many countries in the Global South where smallholder farmers make up the majority of the agricultural sector. Weather and Climate Information Services (WCIS) bridge the gap between smallholder farmers and scientific weather forecasts to create actionable knowledge to assist farmers to make optimal agricultural decisions. Over the past years there has been a spur in WCIS initiatives targeting smallholder farmers. However, many projects fail to commercialize and create a long-term impact. The current study addresses this issue by studying potential commercialization pathways of WCIS for smallholder farmers in the Global South. WCIS representatives and experts were interviewed to reach a deeper understanding of the barriers and opportunities of different, potential commercialization pathways.The results indicate that there are multiple commercialization pathways for WCIS for smallholder farmers in the Global South. Projects may employ a wide variety of business development activities, partnerships and revenue models to sustain their business. Many WCIS rely on donor money, which poses a threat to the market and the commercialization process. The results suggest that a revenue model where a third party absorbs costs to the end-user is most promising, whereas a user-pay model seems to have the least potential. There are several possibilities for future scenarios for WCIS in the Global South such as to seek collaboration with the National Meteorological Departments, integrate with a partner in the value chain of smallholder farmers or to create an academic spin-off and become a service platform for smallholder farmers.