Towards effective weather and/or climate services in South Africa: profiling sectoral needs and constraints

Timely, accessible, and tailored weather and/or climate services (WCSs) are essential for sustainable resource management and for supporting adaptation to short-term weather extremes, climate variability and long-term climate change. However, their effectiveness is reduced when producers lack understanding of user needs and challenges. Therefore, a national survey was conducted to assess climate change awareness and the accessibility, use, and challenges of WCSs in South Africa. Primary data were collected from 107 respondents using a structured online survey developed, tested and circulated as a Google Forms document to multiple stakeholders involved in various weather- and/or climate-sensitive sectors (e.g., agriculture and food security, and disaster management) across South Africa. The results indicated a high level of climate change awareness amongst respondents across the sectors (≥67 %). Most respondents (≥72 %) had access to services such as short-range forecasts, seasonal forecasts, climate projections, historical climate data and early warning systems, primarily via the Internet. Key factors for determining the supplier(s) of WCSs were free or low-cost data and a good reputation. Most respondents (≥71 %) used WCSs for decision-making activities, with each sector favouring particular weather and/or climate indices and timescales suited to the weather and/or climate risks they manage. However, obstacles such as lack of tailored services, high costs, lack of knowledge/skills, internet connection issues, data quality, technical jargon and language barriers, and delays in receiving information were reported. To overcome these barriers, the study recommends capacity-building for decision-makers, co-production of sector-specific WCSs, and timely dissemination of simplified, reliable WCSs in local languages through multiple channels.