Africa Innovates Magazine - Flipbook - Page 20
AGRICULTURE
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CHASING WATER
IN THE SAHEL
HERDERS USE AI
TO FEED
LIVESTOCK
IN SAHEL, BURKINA
FASO, SENEGAL,
MALI, MAURITANIA
AND NIGER
Collecting satellite data to identify areas at
risk of food crisis – a pastoral surveillance
system research project is applied to
detect anomalies in biomass production,
rainfall and surface water availability.
As Sahelian pastoralists search high and
low for water pasture, the irregularity and
rarity of its rainfall creates uncertainty and
disrupts social cohesion. Now, thanks to
Action Against Hunger, herders in Burkina
Faso, Mali and Niger, are deploying
Artificial Intelligence and satellite data
collection to find food for their livestock
and navigate droughts, heatwaves, and
bushfires.
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The Pastoral Early Warning System
(PEWS) measures biomass, surface water
and herd circulation, which are then
combined with on- the-ground mobile
surveys, sharing market prices, animal
disease trends, and bushfire reporting.
Artificial intelligence analyses this data
and PEWS sends information in native
languages to 100,000 herders every ten
days via radio, text, and local bulletins.
The information helps herders optimize
feeding practices for goats, sheep and
other valuable livestock.
SHOWCASING AFRICAN CLIMATE CHAMPIONS
“The aim is to contribute
to i) an improved
access to information
for agropastoral
organisations and
communities and ii) the
improvement of the food
and nutritional crises’
surveillance system in
pastoral settings, all the
while improving early
warning and surveillance
systems in the Sahel,
specifically in Burkina
Faso, Senegal, Mali,
Mauritania and Niger.
This information are
integrated into the
National Early Warning
Systems and regional
Food and Nutrition
crises prevention
network (RPCA).”
