Launching next generation ict for weather and water information and advice to smallholders in africa
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Transcript of Launching next generation ict for weather and water information and advice to smallholders in africa
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Water for a food-secure world
Launching Next Generation ICT for Weather and Water Information and Advice to Smallholders in Africa
Bharat R Sharma, L. Rebelo, G. Amarnath, I. Miltenburg
5th CRS ICT4D Conference: Mobile Services that Empower Vulnerable Communities
March 19-21, 2013; Alisa Hotel, Accra, Ghana
Water for a food-secure worldWater for a food-secure world
Water is an increasingly scarce input in agriculture in Africa.• The challenge is to increase agricultural
production while reducing water consumption.
Smart and affordable technologies need to be adapted to customize farm management for smallholders.• Tools that can monitor plot specific
information and generate advice shall be helpful.
Water for a food-secure worldWater for a food-secure world
What are the opportunities to use ICT to increase agricultural productivity?
Satellite images are increasingly being used to assist commercial farmers and agribusinesses
Innovative approaches and ICT based technologies
Advice to end users for:- informed decision making- enhanced negotiation capacity with water and farm related service providers
Smart ICT for Weather and Water Information and Advice to Smallholders in Africa
What did we already do?
Development Tools & Algorithms
• Develop Tool algorithms ->Turn satellite imagery and ancillary data into valuable information
• Develop operational calculation system
• Develop data delivery infrastructure
• Develop user applications
Run Operational Service
• Data acquisition (satellite imagery)
• Calculation automation
• Tool application• Development of
Information Package
• Central storage
• Dissemination through user application
Water for a food-secure worldWater for a food-secure world
Topic Contribution Ethiopia(Arata Chufa)
Sudan(Gash region)
Mali (Office du Niger)
Egypt(Naubariya Governorate)
Weather Temperature , rainfall, RH, wind speed, reference ET
y y y
Hydrology River flow y Crop growth Biomass production, yield,
Nitrogen, Leaf Area Indexy y y y
Agricultural Water Manage.
Crop water stress, crop water use, water productivity, soil moisture, irrigation advise
y y y y
Flood Inundation extent
Daily/weekly spatial surface water extent for Gash delta/mesga blocks; flood early warning
Y
Strategy and Approach: Modular
Information packages and transfer modes (cell phone, radio, smart phone, web) will be piloted based on the requirements and possibilities per location.
Water for a food-secure worldWater for a food-secure world
From pixels….to information….to simple action messagesFor each field: w
eekly predictions:
Smart ICT for Weather and Water Information and Advice to Smallholders in Africa
Development of Information Packages
•Weekly calculation of information package from satellite image•Period: 2012: August 15 – December 31 -> Finished and available•Period: 2013: August 15 – December 31 -> Next season
•9 parameters (evapotranspiration, biomass growth, crop stress, …)
14-Dec – 20-Dec 2012Biomass Production[kg/ha/week]High detail:20m spatial resolution
0 400 800
Smart ICT for Weather and Water Information and Advice to Smallholders in Africa
Example Operational service
• Minerals
• Growth
• Moisture
• biomass production (kg/ha) • leaf area index LAI (m2 leaf/m2 ground) • vegetation index NDVI
• evaporation shortage (mm/week) • current evaporation (mm/week) • surplus rain (mm/2 weeks) • reference evaporation
• Nitrogen content in the top leaf layer (kg/ha) • Nitrogen content in all leafs (kg/ha)
Example FieldLook Web Platform
Information packages ((2)weekly/seasonal)
Based on satellite imagery
Water for a food-secure world
• Frequent rain-induced floods result in heavy losses in agriculture in this region
The GeoSFM is a semi-distributed physically based hydrological model that simulates the dynamics of runoff processes using RS data
Inundation and flood forecasting: The Gash River, Sudan
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=12099
Spatially distributed data is assimilated to simulate stream flow on a daily basis
Water for a food-secure worldWater for a food-secure world
Flood Inundation Products
Smart ICT for Weather and Water Information and Advice to Smallholders in Africa
http://fieldlook.com.sd/Also available in the Arabic Language
FieldLook Sudan operational website
Water for a food-secure worldWater for a food-secure world
Final Outputs• Cell-phone and web-based information system
developed and tested in pilot areas.• Different stakeholders/ end users are able to
make use of information and advice for better management, negotiation.
• Priorities for specific weather, water, crop related information agreed and mode of transfer identified.
• Agri-industry and other service providers interested in expansion and continuance.
Water for a food-secure worldWater for a food-secure world
Target Groups• Individual smallholder farmers• Contract farm managers• Water User Associations• Irrigation Boards and Block Inspectors• Agriculture Extension Service Providers• Crop and Livestock Insurance Companies• Commodity stock cooperatives/ traders• State Dept. of agriculture/ irrigation/Meteo.• Agric. Research Institutions
Water for a food-secure worldWater for a food-secure world
Project Partners
ELEAF, DLV Plant, Basfood, The Netherlands -The Hydraulic Research Station, Sudan-Soil, Water, Environment Research Institute, Egypt-Directorate of National Meteorology, Mali-The HEDBEZ Consult, Ethiopia
Water for a food-secure worldWater for a food-secure world
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/jul/24/mobile-phones-africa-microfinance-farming
Bharat SharmaInternational Water Management Institute- New Delhi, India
Thank You for Your TimeandInterest!