Digital services have significant potential to strengthen the climate resilience of smallholder farmers and rural populations. Using existing MNO assets – specifically CML rainfall observations from mobile networks – these services can be localised, improved and scaled to generate revenue for operators and impact for farmers.

Data from commercial microwave links (CML) provides a unique opportunity to use existing mobile network infrastructure to produce high resolution rainfall observations in near real-time, data that is typically not available in LMICs. We outline how this data, and other MNO assets, can be used to enable or improve digital climate resilience services, and identify opportunities for MNOs to generate revenues through data services or collaborations with organisations such as weather forecasters, agri intelligence providers, or insurers.

The report covers weather and climate services, data-driven agriculture services, and agri digital financial services as they directly impact farmers’ ability to overcome the challenges presented by climate change.