Using climate information to achieve long-term development objectives in Zambia

This policy brief details the findings of a pilot case study in Zambia conducted between February and October 2014 by the Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre, the Met Office Hadley Centre, and the Zambia Red Cross Society. The study evaluated how climate science can inform long-term development and humanitarian planning, concluding that there is currently no evidence of climate information being used for long-term planning or infrastructure decisions in the country.

• A pilot study in Zambia found that climate information is not currently used to inform decisions regarding long-lived infrastructure or long-term planning.
• Decision-makers in Zambia desire high-resolution climate projections but often do not understand that increased geographic precision leads to higher levels of uncertainty.
• Stakeholders in Zambia seek 'adaptation ready' climate science that relates to real-world system thresholds, such as the probability of extreme rainfall events over 5–40 years or temperatures that exceed human health critical levels, rather than simple annual or seasonal averages.
• Climate data in Zambia is often siloed within specific government departments—such as the Department of Agriculture, Department of Water Affairs, and the Meteorological Department—making it difficult for officials in other departments to access and use for decision-making.
• The use of interactive, creative processes and 'serious games' can help overcome communication barriers between science producers and users. In Zambia, a prototype game called 'UpRiver' has been used to crowdsource water level data along the Zambezi River to calibrate hydrological models and increase trust in flood warnings.
• Forecast-based financing is proposed as a mechanism to trigger early action based on warnings, which could be applied in Zambia to manage risks such as flooding upstream of Victoria Falls by prepositioning relief items or distributing mosquito nets.

APA

Koelle, B., Bachofen, C., Suarez, P., Coughlan, E., Jones, R., & Mudenda, W. (2015). Using climate information to achieve long-term development objectives in Zambia. Climate and Development Knowledge Network. http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/FCFA_PolicyBrief_Zambia_WEB1.pdf

Chicago

Koelle, Bettina, Carina Bachofen, Pablo Suarez, Erin Coughlan, Richard Jones, and Wisford Mudenda. Using climate information to achieve long-term development objectives in Zambia. Climate and Development Knowledge Network, 2015. http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/FCFA_PolicyBrief_Zambia_WEB1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Koelle |first1=Bettina |last2=Bachofen |first2=Carina |last3=Suarez |first3=Pablo |last4=Coughlan |first4=Erin |last5=Jones |first5=Richard |last6=Mudenda |first6=Wisford |title=Using climate information to achieve long-term development objectives in Zambia |publisher=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |date=January 2015 |url=http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/FCFA_PolicyBrief_Zambia_WEB1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{koelle2015using, author = {Koelle, Bettina and Bachofen, Carina and Suarez, Pablo and Coughlan, Erin and Jones, Richard and Mudenda, Wisford}, title = {{Using climate information to achieve long-term development objectives in Zambia}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2015}, month = jan, url = {http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/FCFA_PolicyBrief_Zambia_WEB1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }