There is a compelling case to make advances in climate science useful for one of the most exposed and vulnerable communities, the Philippine smallholder farmer. The Philippine government’s investment in the modernization of PAGASA is consistent with a substantial international effort in weather and climate science. However, these improvements are only of value if they can be communicated and used in decisionmaking. Collectively the 12 papers in this special issue offer insights into the process of creating value from PAGASA information for smallholder farmers. These 12 papers are drawn from case studies in two contrasting farming systems: high-value vegetable production in Benguet, and the corn and rice production in Mindoro. The papers have a common focus on the use of weather and climate information for smallholder farmers, but they apply various methods from the social sciences (social network analysis, key informant interviews, gender analysis) and applied economics (risk matrices, simulation model, decision analysis, and value of information). The resulting insights are cross-disciplinary, consisting of a research team of Philippine and Australian colleagues, cross-national. We conclude this synthesis paper by drawing together what was learned in specific contexts and what this might offer other applied researchers in the Philippines, Australia and globally as they seek to make the advances in climate science useful to decision makers.