Abstract
The ability of smallholder farmers to utilise seasonal climate forecast (SCF) information in farm planning to reflect anticipated climate is a precursor to improved farm management. However, the integration of SCF by smallholder farmers into farm planning has been poor, partly because of the lack of forecast skill, lack of communication and inability to see the relevance of the SCFs for specific farming decisions. The relevance of seasonal climate forecasting in farming decisions can be enhanced through improved understanding of SCF from the smallholder farmers’ perspective. Studies that have been done of how smallholder farmers understand SCF and how the available SCFs influence smallholder farmers’ decisions are limited. Therefore, the objective of this paper was to review how smallholder farmers make decisions on farming practices based on SCFs and the challenges and opportunities thereof. The review shows that the majority of smallholder farmers in Africa make use of either scientific or indigenous knowledge climate forecasts and, in some cases, a combination of both. There are mixed results in the area of evaluating benefits of SCFs in decision-making and farm production. In some cases, the outcomes are positive, whereas in others they are difficult to quantify. Thus, the integration of SCFs into smallholder farmers’ decision-making is still a challenge. We recommend that significant work must be done to improve climate forecasts in terms of format, and spatial and temporal context in order for them to be more useful in influencing decision-making by smallholder farmers.
 Significance:
 
 At the farm level, making the right decisions at the right time is rendered even more difficult in light of the increasing frequency of extreme weather patterns.
 The threat of climate change makes accurate seasonal climate forecasting essential for African smallholder farmers.
 Technological, social and interdisciplinary issues, communication and scale are some key challenges which impact the utility and uptake of SCFs in rural smallholder farms.
 The integration of both scientific and indigenous knowledge forecasts is an opportunity for further exploration.
Highlights
Smallholder farmers, defined as farmers who possess small pieces of land largely below 2 ha[1], constitute nearly 60% of the farming population in sub-Saharan Africa and are vital to food security in this region[2]
The questions we considered are: how do rural farmers appreciate the value of seasonal climate forecasts (SCFs); and how do they use SCF information for their benefit? Some studies have provided insight into spatial, temporal and format issues, including challenges in the SCF application to agriculture, but there has not been a comprehensive review of applied social science research that synthesises farmers’ perceptions of SCFs as well as the use of SCFs to adapt to climate variability risks.[10]
There is some convergence between SCFs and indigenous knowledge system (IKS) forecasts, the following sections provide some distinction between the two sources of SCFs
Summary
Smallholder farmers, defined as farmers who possess small pieces of land largely below 2 ha[1], constitute nearly 60% of the farming population in sub-Saharan Africa and are vital to food security in this region[2]. The timely availability of SCFs to smallholder farmers can improve their decisions in efforts to increase and sustain agricultural production.[4] Rainfall amount and distribution, the extent and the commencement date of the rainfall season, as well as the frequency of dry spells, are some of the important climatic factors that influence farming decisions. These key climate variables vary substantially from year to year due to climate change.[2] In consequence, an accurate SCF is deemed crucial to benefit smallholder farming in Africa. The objective of this review was to determine how smallholder farmers make on-farm decisions based on SCFs and the challenges and opportunities thereof
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