Agricultural Resilience Through Climate Services (ARCS)

• Duration: 5 years (2024-2027)
• Budget: 837,287,368.18 MWK
• Donor: NORAD stands for the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norwegian: Direktoratet for utviklingssamarbeid) 
• Partners: NORCAP, Development Fund, NORCE, CMI, CEPA, Total Land Care (TLC), Farmers Union of Malawi (FUM), Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST)
• Goal: Enhance smallholder farmers’ resilience and food security in Malawi and Ethiopia by improving access to reliable climate information services.
• Objectives:
  1. Understand local institutional and decision-making contexts for co-producing Climate Information Services (CIS).
  2. Co-produce timely, localized, and sustainable forecasts and agricultural advisories.
  3. Establish inclusive and effective CIS delivery mechanisms.
  4. Conduct a rigorous impact evaluation to assess the program’s effectiveness.
  5. Build long-term institutional capacity for CIS co-development, delivery, and use.
• Outcomes:

• Smallholder farmers gain better access to climate information for informed agricultural decisions.
• Strengthened institutional capacity in climate services at the national level.
• Sustainable delivery of climate information through local partnerships.
• Evidence-based knowledge on CIS impact to support scaling up and policy development.

Contributing to the following SDGs:

• SDG 1: No Poverty – By improving the resilience of smallholder farmers to climate change, ARCS enhances food security and reduces poverty, particularly in vulnerable rural communities in Malawi and Ethiopia.
• SDG 2: Zero Hunger – ARCS aims to increase agricultural productivity and improve food security by providing smallholder farmers with reliable climate information, helping them make informed decisions and mitigate the effects of climate-related risks on their crops.
• SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure – Through the co-production of localized climate services, the project supports innovation in climate information systems and strengthens infrastructure for sustainable agricultural practices.
• SDG 13: Climate Action – By building the capacity to develop and deliver timely, localized climate forecasts and agricultural advisories, ARCS directly contributes to climate change adaptation and helps farmers prepare for extreme weather events.
• SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals – The project brings together a broad network of partners, including government agencies, universities, local NGOs, and international organizations like NORAD and NORCAP, ensuring effective collaboration to achieve climate resilience goals.
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