Climate experts are set to launch a major project to help rice farmers make smarter, more timely decisions. Known as the Climate-Smart Decision Support System Project, the initiative will combine local climate data with satellite technology to give farmers more accurate and practical weather information.
“We started this project in October last year with three baseline locations in Kenya and 17 in Nigeria. We first wanted to understand the local needs of the farmer to tailor tools using localised innovations. The major issue was existing infrastructure and a mismatch in information remitted to farmers due to poor data analysis,” the African Agricultural Technology Foundation assistant programme officer for data management said.
The project aims to help businesses use climate data, such as weather patterns, rainfall, temperature changes, and other factors, to inform their agricultural decisions.
The data will be turned into easy-to-follow advice and shared with farmers through an internet application or by sending bulk messages on their phones.
The move will help farmers make smart choices about growing and managing their rice crops, boosting their productivity and income.
Timely information on rainfall patterns, temperature trends, and extreme weather forecasts will guide planting schedules, irrigation management, and pest control strategies and support risk management decisions.
When farmers know when to expect heavy rainfall or prolonged dry spells, they can adjust their cultivation practices and choose resilient crop varieties, ensuring optimal yields under the prevailing climatic conditions.
The project is funded through the Grand Challenges, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation initiative.
The project partners include Michigan State University, the Cereal Growers Association of Kenya, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and Benue State University, Nigeria.
The project was among the technologies showcased to the over 800 delegates who attended the four-day African Conference on Agriculture Technologies (ACAT2025) at the Kigali Convention Centre.
The conference was titled ‘NextGen Ag-tech solutions for Africa’s farmers’. The African Agricultural Technology Foundation hosted it in partnership with the government of Rwanda.
The conference is the continent’s premier platform for advancing agricultural technology transfer.
Macharia said calibration was not easy, as they had to capture parameters.
He said engineers are testing at Michigan State even as plans to install the project at quarter two begin.
Macharia said 20 stations have been up and running for the past month.
Seventeen of the stations are in Nigeria, while three are in Kenya.
“One of the stations is in Ahero, another one is in Mwea, while the third one is in Bura irrigation,” Macharia said, adding that they wanted to understand different climatic zones in the country where rice is grown.
However, Rice and Pod Borer-Resistant (PBR) cowpea are the project’s focus in Nigeria.
Macharia said that each station has been transmitting data every two minutes in the last month, adding that over 120 million data points have been generated.
He said that, among other things, the highly accurate data aids in early warning systems and weather forecasting.
According to Macharia, they are collaborating with the Kenya Meteorological Department to determine how data may be used to forecast weather patterns, compute revenues and losses, and determine interest rates for farmers.
According to him, data will be packaged so that many people may access it via various platforms, including web-based systems and mobile apps.
According to Macharia, the initiative is currently under experimental testing and has already cost over half a million USD, but it is still growing.
Delegates at the conference supported several proposals designed to encourage the use of various technologies to increase food production.
Source: STAR
