Meeting farmers' needs for agrometeorological services : a review with case studies : part II : context 1, the existing situation

Meeting the needs for agrometeorological services, including agroclimatological services, in the livelihood of farmers is the focus of this paper in four Parts. Much was already reported by us on the context of farmers' needs for agrometeorological services. We therefore use now in this second Part some recent reviews of this context in which we recognize that of our own approaches. These reviews deal with the existing situation in Africa, Asia and Latin America from angles of water/fertility/markets (Africa), traditional, conventional/intensive and organic farming (Asia) and operational frameworks that provide agrometeorological information to farmers, extension services and other stakeholders with some emphasis on internet information (Latin America). Examples from Australia, India and South Africa strengthen the arguments.