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Farmers in southern Uganda seek information to anticipate the interannual variability in the timing and amount of precipitation, a matter of great importance to them since they rely on rain-fed agriculture for food supplies and income. The four major components of their knowledge system are: (1) longstanding familiarity with the seasonal patterns of precipitation and temperature, (2) a set of local traditional climate indicators, (3) observation of meteorological events, (4) information about the progress of the seasons elsewhere in the region. We examine these components and show the connections among them. We discuss the social contexts in which this information is perceived, evaluated, discussed and applied, and we consider the cultural frameworks that support the use of this information. This system of indigenous knowledge leads farmers to participate as agents as well as consumers in programs that use modern climate science to plan for and adapt to climate variability and climate change.

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This paper analyzes the responses enacted by families of the Central Plateau in Burkina Faso during the year that followed a severe drought in 1997. We illustrate the agro-ecological and socio-economic contexts that shape livelihood options and constraints in an area characterized by high levels of climatic risk and low natural resource endowment. A description of farmers' perceptions and official accounts identifies key criteria whereby farmers formulate evaluations and predictions of a season. We document how food procurement and management practices are shaped by household resource access profiles and livelihood portfolios. Livelihood diversification, encompassing migration, non-farm work and social support networks, in addition to livestock production, is shown to be a critical dimension of adaptation. Livelihood and production adjustments entail costs and risks for most, but also gains for those who have the resources needed to take advantage of distress sales and high prices of agricultural commodities. Household livelihood and risk management increasingly hinge on efforts by household members who traditionally have had marginal access to resources, especially women. The research points to the need for closer integration of drought preparedness efforts, farmers' understanding of climate-crop interactions and interventions that bolster the capacity of resource-limited households to respond. Affordable grain, locally adapted seed varieties, labor saving technology and flexible credit are among the most needed inputs. http://www.fews.org/bf980262/sh980626.html#bf. In this paper we use the term 'drought' to translate the common French term sécheresse used by educated local people without entertaining the debate of its meteorological, hydrological or agronomic definitions. The Moré term waré refers to both a dry year and a dry period during the rainy season, including failure of expected rains event, such as planting rains

This study compares responses to seasonal climate forecasts conducted by farmers of three agro-ecological zones of Burkina Faso, including some who had attended local level workshops and others who had not attended the workshops. While local inequalities and social tensions contributed to excluding some groups, about two-thirds of non-participants interviewed received the forecast from the participants or through various means deployed by the project. Interviews revealed that almost all those who received the forecasts by some mechanism (workshop or other) shared them with others. The data show that participants were more likely to understand the probabilistic aspect of the forecasts and their limitations, to use the 434 Climatic Change (2009) 92:433-460 information in making management decisions and by a wider range of responses. These differences are shown to be statistically significant. Farmers evaluated the forecasts as accurate and useful in terms of both material and non-material considerations. These findings support the hypothesis that participatory workshops can play a positive role in the provision of effective climate services to African rural producers. However, this role must be assessed in the context of local dynamics of power, which shape information flows and response options. Participation must also be understood beyond single events (such as workshops) and be grounded in sustained interaction and commitments among stakeholders. The conclusion of this study point to lessons learned and critical insights on the role of participation in climate-based decision support systems for rural African communities.

Due to devastating droughts in the 1970s and 1980s, climatic and environmental change in the West African Sahel has attracted a great deal of scientific research. While many of these studies documented a long-term trend of declining rainfall, analyses conducted in the last few years suggest that a 'recovery' is underway. Drawing on ethnographic interviews, focus groups, and participant observation in two Provinces of the Central Plateau of Burkina Faso, we elicited local perspectives on these rainfall trends from the people who are most directly affected, namely local farmers. Fieldwork revealed that farmers in the research sites perceive that both overall seasonal rainfall and the number of 'big rains' during the rainy season have decreased over the last 30 years. We then tested these perceptions against rainfall records from nearby meteorological stations and found them to be corroborated. This paper illustrates how farmers of the Central Plateau now view drought as 'normal', having incorporated drought-mitigation adaptations into their agricultural systems. Our case study highlights the need for ground truthing scientific analyses and assessing livelihood implications at the local level. It also advocates for sustained institutional support for rural communities, to increase their ability to adapt to climate change.

This article synthesizes the state of the art in the application of ethnographic and participatory methods in climate application research. The review focuses on 2 aspects: (1) the cognitive and cultural landscape in which farmers' understanding of climate and climate information is grounded and (2) the decision-making processes and environment which shape farmers' adaptive strategies. The first part analyzes methods to elicit how farmers perceive and predict climate events and how these perspectives relate to scientific forecasts. It addresses the long-standing question of whether and how farmers understand the probabilistic nature of climate forecasts and how they assess the credibility and accuracy of such information. The second part examines approaches to characterizing the vulnerability of decision makers and to elucidating the configuration of options and obstacles that farmers face in using climate forecasts to mitigate risk. The complexities of farmers' decisions and the difficulties of identifying the exact role that climate predictions play (and, therefore, of directly attributing impacts to them) are taken into account. Finally, the review highlights efforts to transcend the localized focus of farmer-centered approaches in order to capture interactions across sectors and scales. The review concludes by proposing that climate application research move from a 'technology-adoption' paradigm to a broader perspective on vulnerability and adaptation. This shift will entail a cross-scale, multi-sited research design and an interdisciplinary mix of interactive and structured tools and techniques. It will also require that the analytical focus be expanded to encompass local communities and their multiple action spaces as well as the higher spheres of decision-making, where policy and science are shaped. KEY WORDS: Farmer participatory research · Ethnographic methods · Climate forecasts · Risk communication · Livelihood adaptation · VulnerabilityResale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisher