The Regional Climate Center for West Africa and the Sahel (AGRHYMET CCR-AOS) organized a regional workshop on co-validation, co-production, and coordination of climate services for better decision-making in Niamey, Niger, from September 30 to October 1, 2026. The workshop was supported by the WISER CLICK and ACCORD initiatives. It aimed to strengthen the integration of climate information into decision-making in the agriculture, food security, and health sectors in West Africa and the Sahel.
The workshop followed an analysis of the situation in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal, conducted under the WISER CLICK initiative. An inventory of climate products and their applications was also carried out under the ACCORD initiative. The main objective of the workshop was to link the needs of users to the offer of services and agree on a co-production and monitoring process.
The workshop examined and consolidated the results of the WISER CLICK analysis and the ACCORD inventory, documenting corrections, gaps, and reserves to validate a regional knowledge base. It also identified priority sectoral decisions and their calendars, as well as information needs and actors involved in the "Forecast to Decision" chain.
The participants analyzed information flows, obstacles, and coordination mechanisms, then prioritized climate products and services to be developed or improved through co-production. They also defined a regional roadmap specifying priority actions, institutional responsibilities, partnerships, necessary resources, and monitoring modalities.
In his opening remarks, Dr. Guiguigbaza-Kossigan Dayo, Director-General of the AGRHYMET Regional Center (CILSS), emphasized that in the face of climate challenges, it is essential to produce quality information and make it accessible, understandable, usable, and integrated into planning and decision-making processes at the right time.
The workshop included presentations on the WISER CLICK project and climate services in West Africa and the Sahel. The presentations highlighted the need for increased climate services and were followed by a question-and-answer session to clarify the topics.
The workshop concluded with sectoral group work to identify priority actions and develop a roadmap for co-producing and coordinating climate services. The participants aimed to improve decision-making in West Africa and the Sahel by strengthening the integration of climate information into sectoral planning.
Key points
- The workshop aimed to strengthen the integration of climate information into decision-making in the agriculture, food security, and health sectors in West Africa and the Sahel.
- The workshop examined and consolidated the results of the WISER CLICK analysis and the ACCORD inventory to validate a regional knowledge base.
- The participants defined a regional roadmap specifying priority actions, institutional responsibilities, partnerships, necessary resources, and monitoring modalities.
