Beschreibung:
Climate change disproportionally affects many countries in the Global South where smallholder farmers make up the majority of the agricultural sector. Weather and Climate Information Services (WCIS) bridge the gap between smallholder farmers and scientific weather forecasts to create actionable knowledge to assist farmers to make optimal agricultural decisions. Over the past years there has been a spur in WCIS initiatives targeting smallholder farmers. However, many projects fail to commercialize and create a long-term impact and little attention has been given to the business models behind WCIS and their commercialization pathways. The study bridges this gap by studying the enabling and hindering environments for business models for WCIS for smallholder farmers in the Global South.The results indicate that there is not one commercialization pathway and/or business model that proliferates among WCIS for smallholder farmers in the Global South. Rather, projects employ a wide variety of business development activities, partnerships and revenue models to sustain their business. Many WCIS rely on donor money, which poses a threat to the market and the commercialization process. A revenue model where a third party absorbs costs to the end-user is most promising. Whereas a user-pay model should be avoided. There are several possibilities for future scenarios for WCIS in the Global South such as to seek integration with the National Meteorological Departments, integrate with a partner in the value chain of smallholder farmers or to create an academic spin-off and become a service platform for smallholder farmers