Weather Forecasts and Soil Data for African Farms (FarmSupport) 

Overview

Weather information is critical for farmers, but in Africa many of them have not been able to get that information in a timely way.  In response, researchers are developing an application, delivered via the internet and mobile phones, that will provide up-to-date weather forecasting, and at the same time collect crowd-sourced information from farmers on which crops are planted, their yields, and the types and amounts of fertilizer used.  The crowd-source feature uses a modified Geo-Wiki, thereby promoting two-way communication between the data providers (IIASA and ZAMG) and the farmers. The data should improve IIASA's EPIC crop growth model. Improved crop models could lead to more accurate early warning systems for food security and to better estimates of the current yield gaps, particularly in Africa.

The crowd-sourced data represents a potentially unique and valuable dataset for agricultural monitoring, mapping and modeling, and will be freely disseminated to the research community via Geo-Wiki. The project will test the information service in two locations: Ethiopia and Kenya. IIASA has existing projects or collaborative links with organizations in these countries that could aid in testing the application.

IIASA Research 

The key data source underpinning the FarmSupport project is soil moisture derived from the ASCAT sensor (onboard the METOP satellites), which will become available for Africa through the FFG-funded project Global Monitoring of Soil Moisture for Water Hazards Assessment (GMSM).

The FarmSupport project adds value to GMSM by demonstrating the potential of ASCAT-derived soil moisture. This project will provide an opportunity to evaluate the usefulness of ECMWF soil moisture forecasts as a source of information to farmers and for crop modelling more generally. ZAMG will also compare soil moisture derived from ASCAT with soil moisture from the EPIC crop model, and historical forecasts of ECMWF soil moisture with historical soil moisture from EPIC. 

Last edited: 18 December 2012