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Value‐added weather advisories for small‐scale farmers in South Africa delivered via mobile apps*

Maize, the staple crop of Southern Africa, is dependent on the highly variable summer rainfall, especially the start of the rainy season. Every growing season, farmers decide about when to plant their crops. Agrometeorologists use climate and weather information to assist such decisions and engage farmers and other stakeholders to fill gaps in the relevant information. Modern electronic communication technologies can distribute real‐time information pertinent to the farmers' current situation. The Rain for Africa consortium developed a mobile phone app, AgriCloud, giving updated information on a daily basis to extensionists and small‐scale farmers. AgriCloud advisories are for a specific location in a selected local language on an android phone. AgriCloud has enabled farmers to use rainfall in a more sustainable way as they plan land preparation and planting according to weather forecasts for their own farm. Advantages are that users eagerly obtain daily updates with farming‐relevant advice, in their own local language on their own phone in their hands. AgriCloud includes the unique aspect of crowdsourcing to collect qualitative weather observations from users. AgriCloud mobile app is used to access integrated information from current short‐term forecasts regarding maize planting recommendations by farmers for their specific farm location.