IGAD CENTRE FOR CLIMATE PREDICTION AND APPLICATION

Their core work

ICPAC is the regional climate services centre serving the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) member states in the Greater Horn of Africa. They produce operational climate forecasts, drought and flood early warnings, and seasonal outlooks used by governments, humanitarian agencies, and agro-pastoral communities across East Africa. Their core work connects climate science with practical decision-making in food security, water management, and disaster risk reduction. In H2020 they bring direct regional expertise, ground data, and end-user access that European climate modellers cannot replicate from outside the region.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

With only two H2020 projects, both launched in 2020, there is no long time series to analyse — ICPAC entered H2020 late and in a concentrated burst. The early DOWN2EARTH signature is firmly on hydrology, groundwater and agro-pastoral food security, while CONFER adds a more technical edge: downscaling, machine learning and explicit climate services across energy, water and food. Taken together the trajectory points from field-level water and food security toward more sophisticated, sector-tailored operational climate services.

They are moving from climate data provision toward co-produced, sector-specific decision tools for water, energy and food — a strong fit for partners building applied climate service products for Africa.

How they like to work

ICPAC joins H2020 consortia as a participant rather than a coordinator, contributing regional authority and user access rather than project management. Both projects are substantial multi-partner EU consortia (23 unique partners across 10 countries) in which ICPAC plays the indispensable African anchor role. For European partners they are effectively the gateway to IGAD member states and to credible uptake by regional ministries and national meteorological services.

Across two projects ICPAC has worked with 23 distinct partners from 10 countries, combining European climate research institutes with East African users. The geographic centre of gravity is clearly the Horn of Africa linked into European climate science networks.

What sets them apart

ICPAC is the official IGAD climate centre for eleven East African countries — no European partner can substitute for its regional mandate, observational network and direct line to national meteorological services. Where many H2020 climate partners are academic, ICPAC is an operational service provider whose forecasts are actually used by governments and humanitarian agencies. Partner with them when a project needs real-world uptake in East Africa, not just a case study.

Highlights from their portfolio

• DOWN2EARTH
  Their largest H2020 engagement (EUR 1.6M), translating climate information into decision support for agro-pastoralists facing drought and water stress.
• CONFER
  Flagship East Africa climate services project combining downscaling and machine learning with co-production across water, energy and food sectors.