The impacts of climate change in Africa will be significant and long-term. Long-lived infrastructure and development planning are likely to be particularly affected. Factoring climate change into their design and implementation is, therefore, vital to development outcomes. Yet we know very little about how long-term climate information is used in African decision-making. While seasonal climate information is increasingly embedded in development and humanitarian actions across Africa, our knowledge of the barriers to and opportunities for to the uptake of long-term climate information is comparatively scant. In this Special Edition of Climate and Development Outlook, Lindsey Jones, JP Roux, Charlotte Scott and Tom Tanner reflect on some of the initial lessons FCFA has learned about communicating climate science and ensuring it’s used in decision-making for climate-resilient development. This Outlook outlines recent activities by the case study teams, and presents lessons on: i) opportunities and barriers to the uptake of long-term climate information, and ii) ways to improve stakeholder engagement processes around the use of climate science in adaptation decisions. It also presents recommendations on how scientists and policy-makers can work better together and on how to encourage better use of climate information. Read the Special Edition on African climate science here http://cdkn.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/FCFA-Outlook-Africa-Climate-Science-Special-Edition2.pdf