Determinants of Access and Utilization of Climate Services Among Vulnerable Communities

Abstract

Changes in climate have caused impacts on natural and human systems. These impacts affect poor people's lives through impacts on livelihoods and the destruction of homes. In Delta State, Nigeria, the impacts of climate change are real. Adaptation has been identified as the key to reducing the impacts of climate change. However, successful adaptation depends on use of climate services. While climate services are essential to adaptation, the services do not always reach the users who need it most. This chapter analyzes factors influencing access and utilization of climate services in Delta State. The chapter utilizes the survey research while data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings show a low utilization of climate service. The determinants of access and utilization of climate services include income, educational attainments, access to ICT facilities, extension agents, and the level of local climate variability. The chapter calls for awareness creation on the importance of climate services.

Harnessing climate services to support community resilience planning: lessons learned from a community-engaged approach to assessing NOAA’s National Water Model

“…A growing number of tools and resources are being developed to facilitate the translation of climate science data and information for practical applications that can assist communities with resilience planning (Hewitt et al, 2020;Jacobs and Street, 2020). These climate services provide information and products with a scientific foundation with the intent to improve the public's awareness and comprehension of how environmental conditions can affect their choices and behavior (Onwuemele, 2014;Hewitt et al, 2020). These include providing information on historical weather patterns, anticipated future climatic conditions, temperature and precipitation scenarios, sea-level changes, and their potential effects on various industries, including agriculture, infrastructure, health, and other fields (Onwuemele, 2014).…”

“…These climate services provide information and products with a scientific foundation with the intent to improve the public's awareness and comprehension of how environmental conditions can affect their choices and behavior (Onwuemele, 2014;Hewitt et al, 2020). These include providing information on historical weather patterns, anticipated future climatic conditions, temperature and precipitation scenarios, sea-level changes, and their potential effects on various industries, including agriculture, infrastructure, health, and other fields (Onwuemele, 2014). Climate services can help at-risk communities more effectively manage climate variability, save lives, and preserve livelihoods.…”

“…Climate services can help at-risk communities more effectively manage climate variability, save lives, and preserve livelihoods. To harness this potential more needs to be done to improve utilization and highlight the value-added of climate services and other climate risk management tools for policy makers and communities at risk (Onwuemele, 2014;Vaughan et al, 2016;Hewitt et al, 2020;Lioubimtseva and da Cunha, 2023).…”

“…While there is clearly practical value associated with predicting when and where water will be, climate services such as the NWM are generally underutilized (Onwuemele, 2014;Vaughan et al, 2016;Raub and Cotti-Rausch, 2019;Hewitt et al, 2020;Lioubimtseva and da Cunha, 2023). Even when climate services are used, communities frequently apply them incorrectly or in ways that are not as intended by their developers (Raub and Cotti-Rausch, 2019).…”