Extension officers can serve as a bridge between climate information and the farm management decisions farmers must make. Yet translating climate projections into meaningful advice can be challenging. ACLIMATAR is increasingly helping extension services make that step - moving from abstract climate signals to practical conversations about adaptation in cocoa, coffee and tea systems.
In Ghana, data from the platform has informed the development of the “Climate-Smart Agriculture in Cocoa” training manual for field officers prepared by World Cocoa Foundation, Rainforest Alliance and in collaboration with Ghana Cocoa Board. The manual draws on climate projections and risk indicators as featured in ACLIMATAR to guide extensionists on future-oriented farm management advice. For extension agents working with cocoa farmers, such information helps frame discussions around longer-term trends: changing rainfall patterns, increasing temperature stress, and shifting suitability zones.
A similar dynamic has emerged in Colombia through activities under the ClimaLoCa project. When teams visited cocoa farming communities, ACLIMATAR served as a reference point for discussing how climate conditions in the region may evolve over the coming decades. Rather than presenting fixed recommendations, the tool helped structure conversations with farmers: What climate changes have already been observed? How might they affect pest pressure, shade management, or crop performance in the future? And which adaptation options could be explored together?
In Honduras, similar experiences have emerged through work with HRNS and the coffee&climate initiative. During trainings, extensionists used the platform to examine projected changes in temperature and precipitation and discuss what these trends could mean for coffee production in their regions. The process was less about generating fixed recommendations and more about building confidence in using climate projection data as part of extension practice. By becoming familiar with the platform’s visualizations and risk indicators, extension officers strengthened their ability to integrate forward-looking climate information into regular advisory work and discussions with farmer groups.
These discussions highlight an important aspect of extension work. Climate adaptation is rarely about applying a predefined blueprint. Instead, it requires joint reflection—combining local experience with forward-looking information. Platforms like ACLIMATAR allow extension agents to illustrate climate risks and projected patterns of change using locally relevant data, while linking them to crop-specific management considerations.
Climate adaptation is not a standalone topic but intersects with many existing extension themes. For example, a workshop on integrated pest management can be connected to future temperature and precipitation projections, helping farmers understand how pest dynamics may shift over time.
“Decisions taken today will have long-lasting effects. Extension work needs to be future-oriented and take climate change into account. Platforms like ACLIMATAR provide a valuable resource for integrating the strategic perspective offered by climate projections more easily into farm advisory work.”
Further material
To support this process, ACLIMATAR offers workshop templates practical guides for planning adaptation-focused sessions with producers and cooperatives. Topics include: Joint reflection on the past and future climate; Diving in - change of agro-climatic suitability zones (ACZs) ; Choice of adaptation options; Climate Hotspot analysis. The templates are available in English and Spanish and can be accessed for free.