Usability of weather information services for decision-making in farming: Evidence from the Ada East District, Ghana

Abstract

The provision of weather information services (WIS) has become increasingly relevant for smallholder farmers in developing countries to manage the risks and opportunities arising from climate change and variability. However, gaps exist between what information providers understand as useful information and what users recognise as usable WIS, leading to under-utilisation of WIS in the farming sector and other domains. Drawing mainly on- qualitative research methods, our study examined farmers’ perceptions about the usability of existing WIS for farming, focusing on the Ada East District in the Greater Accra Region in Ghana. We developed five information design and delivery criteria: local embeddedness, legitimacy, spatial and temporal resolution, predictive skill, and accessibility. The findings show that smallholder farmers access ten different WIS in the study district. However, the extent to which each WIS was used varied, given that the farmer-to-farmer and the private weather forecasters’ information were more used than the other available services. The usability of the existing WIS provided for farming was either enhanced or obstructed by various factors, including the origin of the information, information providers’ level of interaction with farmers, continuity in the delivery of information, respect for local values, accessible level, and mode of payment, among others. Some of the information design and delivery criteria and factors affecting WIS usability had trade-offs or complementarities, which is inevitable. In conclusion, we propose that the information providers find a balance between these factors to meet farmers' information needs in a particular context.

Keywords

• Farming
• Ghana
• Weather information services
• Usable information
• Information design