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Farmers in the lower Bengal Delta around the city of Khulna, Bangladesh, are particularly vulnerable to hydro-climatic variability. Phenomena such as heavy rain, drought and salt intrusion increasingly affect their crop production, with far-reaching socio-economic and environmental impacts. Reliable hydro-climatic information service received in a timely manner could help farmers improve their responses to hydro-climatic variability, thus improving their agricultural decision-making. However, significant challenges persist regarding information uptake and the role of information from the available sources. We designed an explorative research framework combining different participatory methods and analysis of climate data. Our aim was to examine three key research questions: (i) what information is currently available to farmers for agricultural practices and decision-making? (ii) what is the perceived quality of the available hydro-climatic information in response to water and weather related stresses? (iii) how does the available information influence farmers’ decision-making? We found that farmers had access to information from five main sources: informal contacts, formal contacts, education and training programs, traditional media (like television) and modern ICT tools/social media. However, informal contacts, particularly with peer farmers and private input suppliers, were the farmers’ main source, in addition to their own previous experiences. Farmers perceived hydro-climatic variability as high and the quality of available hydro-climatic information as poor. They indicated a need for more accurate, time-specific, trusted and actionable information for improving agricultural decision-making. We conclude that there is high potential and need for hydro-climatic information services tailored for farmers in the study area.

Hydroclimatic information services are vital for sustainable agricultural practices in deltas. They advance adaptation practices of farmers that lead to better economic benefit through increased yields, reduced production costs, and minimized crop damage. This research explores the hydroclimatic information needs of farmers by addressing (1) what kind of information is needed by the periurban delta farmers, and (2) whether information needs have any temporal dimension that changes with time following capacity building during coproduction of information services. Results reveal that the attributes of weather and water-related forecasts most affecting the farmers are rainfall, temperature, water, and soil salinity, along with extreme events such as cyclone and storm surges. The majority of the male farmers prefer one- to two-week lead-time forecasts for strategic and tactical decision-making; while female farmers prefer short-time forecasts with one-day to a week lead time that suggests the difference of purpose of the forecasts between male and female farmers. Contrarily, there is little preference for monthly, seasonal, and real-time forecasts. Information communication through a smartphone app is preferred mostly because of its easy accessibility and visualization. Farmers foresee that capacity building on acquiring hydroclimatic information is vital for agricultural decision-making. We conclude that a demand-driven coproduction of a hydroclimatic information service created through iterative interaction with and for farmers will enable the farmers to understand their information needs more explicitly.

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The farming communities living in the Lower Bengal Delta, Bangladesh are vulnerable to hydroclimatic variability. Farming decisions are becoming risky due to unpredictable weather patterns. The southwest region of Bangladesh, located in the heart of the Lower Bengal Delta, is known as an ecologically rich and productive agriculture zone. At the same time, smallholder farming communities are confronted with recurrent hydroclimatic events such as cyclones, storm surges, tidal flooding, and salinity intrusion among others. These events severely affect the agricultural income, livelihood, and food security of farming communities. Improved management of these hydroclimate risks is necessary to improve the livelihood and food security of the smallholders. Hydroclimate information services and technology hold the potential to help smallholders to manage hydroclimatic risks through informed agricultural decision-making. However, there is a scientific challenge for developing services and bridges between the available model-based forecasts and the local context and capabilities. The central question is how hydroclimatic information services can be tailored in ways that local farmers find useful in decision-making processes for their crops and livelihood activities. Another transdisciplinary challenge is balancing information service providers and end-users, integrating social science and climate science perspectives. Understanding end-user needs and capacity, local knowledge institutions, and policy are also fundamental challenges for the co-production of services for sectoral end-users and improving the value of forecasts information. There is a need for timely, accurate, and effective hydroclimatic information services mechanisms. The existing information services are largely developed from a top-down perspective. A bottom-up approach, shaped by users' requirements, engagement and capacity building has not been attempted yet. In this dissertation, I aim to co-produce hydroclimatic information services with smallholder farmers in the lower Bengal Delta in Khulna, Bangladesh. A mixed-methods transdisciplinary research approach was applied to study current knowledge gaps that exist regarding (i) farmers' practices and the role of available information, (ii) hydroclimatic information needs of smallholders, (iii) co-production of information services with and for smallholder farmers, and (iv) willingness to pay for location-and time-specific climate information services for wider uptake, improved agricultural practices, and service sustainability. This study confirms that there is a potential for need-based tailored information services for smallholders. However, farmers' information needs assessment is not a single-step process. This requires iterative interaction and capacity building. The coproduction study shows that hydroclimate information services through actors' collaboration, capacity building of farmers, and extension officers at farmer field school lead to better understanding, accessibility, and uptake of weather...