Humanitarian and development actors are increasingly looking for innovative solutions to monitoring food security. The use of satellite imagery in combination with ground data has become an important tool in assessing and addressing food-related challenges. Some of the applications of satellite imagery for food security include:
- Crop Monitoring : Satellites can monitor crop health, growth, and yield over large areas of land. This information is crucial for predicting agricultural output and identifying regions at risk of crop failure or food shortages. By analysing satellite imagery, we assess factors such as soil moisture, vegetation health, and pest infestations, which influence crop productivity.
- Early Warning Systems: Early warning systems (EWS) help governments and humanitarian organisations prepare for and mitigate the effects of food emergencies. Meteorological and ecological data from satellite imagery are a key component of modern EWS.
- Monitoring Land Use and Land Cover Changes: Satellites provide valuable information on changes in land use and land cover, including deforestation, urbanisation, and expansion of agricultural land. Monitoring these changes helps policymakers understand the drivers of food insecurity, such as land degradation and loss of biodiversity, and develop strategies to promote sustainable land management practices.
- Monitoring Climate Variability: Satellites play a crucial role in monitoring climate variability and climate change, which have significant impacts on food security.
- Index Insurance: Index insurance for agricultural drought is a risk management tool designed to provide financial protection to farmers against losses caused by drought conditions. The indexes that trigger payouts are often based on satellite imagery.
Our team uses a combination of satellite information, ground data, and modelling environments to simulate and understand the behaviour of agricultural production systems and provide clients with advice.
Some examples of the services we provide for our clients:
- Design and implementation of index insurance models for the World Food Program and Africa Risk Capacity (ARC)- a service that provides multi million dollar payouts to countries in case of drought.
- Creation of a crop monitoring toolbox for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. This toolbox provide early warning data for over 50 countries
- Crop monitoring for the Ethiopian government and WFP. Our work provides early warning data to model food assistance.
Monitoring pasture for herders in East and West Africa in conjunction with with SNV and Global Communities (Afriscout, GARBAL). Our services provide information for farmers and herders on grazing conditions and seasonal forecasts of droughts.