The gEOthermalKenya team has been working with Kenyan government partners to enhance the uptake of satellite EO data for the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) process associated with the country’s expanding geothermal energy sector. The project has been funded through UKSA’s International Partnership Programme, part of the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF). Kenya has […]
A high-resolution Vegetation Health Index (VHI) is proposed as an indicator of the water stress condition of vegetation cover. This index integrates satellite-derived vegetation and thermal information; it is a function of NDVI (Normalised Difference Vegetation Index, derived from Sentinel-2) and LST (Land Surface brightness Temperature, from MODIS). The VHI has already been tested experimentally […]
The ‘Advanced Coffee Crop Optimisation for Rural Development’ (ACCORD) programme used satellite technology and weather data in an innovative way to provide tailored information to smallholder farmers in Kenya and Rwanda on their coffee crops. The farmers could thus make more timely and informed crop management decisions that would increase their income. The project ran […]
The International Partnership Programme (IPP) seeks to bridge the space and development communities. Our projects utilise space technology to respond to development challenges on the ground. A key part of our programme is knowledge sharing; all of our IPP projects must produce a case study to publicise the progress of their work and the lessons learned.
Recent case studies include the PASSES project led by CGI. This project uses satellite radar technology to track the movement of peatlands across South East Asia.
Peatlands are a significant carbon store: between them, peatlands and organic soils contain 30% of the world’s soil carbon but only cover 3 percent of the Earth’s land area. These areas are at risk of degradation through intensive land use and mismanagement. Peatland conservation, restoration and improved management are low-hanging fruit for climate change mitigation and satellite enabled services like PASSES are essential for cost effective peatland management.
The ACCORD project lead by Earth-i have also recently published their case study. This project is working across Kenya and Rwanda helping farmers make timely, important decisions about crops with greater certainty than traditional methods.
The ACCORD project offers a smarter, data-driven solution by using satellite-enabled technology, combined with localised weather and ground truth data. The project so far has mapped nearly 50,000 fields, helping thousands of small-holder farmers make better decisions to improve the quantity and quality of the coffee they are producing.
The C-RISE project led by the National Oceanography Centre and Satellite Oceanographic Consultants is working with partners in Madagascar, Mozambique and Mauritius to provide satellite-derived data on sea level, winds, waves and currents to support vulnerable coastal populations in adapting to the consequences of climate variability and change.
The project enables institutions in the partner countries to work with the C-RISe products to inform decision-making. It enables effective uptake of C-RISe data by commercial and operational sectors in the region and contributes to the improved management of coastal regions, enabling these countries to build increased coastal resilience to natural hazards.
These are just some of the case study publications coming from the IPP programme. The majority of current IPP projects are due to run until March 2021 and we expect to continue to see the publication of further case studies and details of further impacts made.
A wider range of satellite enabled development solutions can be found in our Space solutions for Development catalogue; here we have collated a series of space enabled development tools. These tools respond to a full range of Development challenges and are aimed at operational users in developing countries.
The UK Space Agency’s International Partnership Programme (IPP) hosted an online workshop on Thursday 29th October for the agricultural projects in IPP. Eleven projects attended, represented by ~35 attendees. The objective of the session was to provide a forum for networking and sharing of knowledge and lessons between the IPP projects, with the work undertaken […]
This Case Study offers an overview of key successes and learnings of the UKSA IPP supported Advanced Coffee Crop Optimisation for Rural Development (ACCORD) project at the midpoint of implementation. The case study outlines the context within which the project is being implemented, the problem being addressed, solutions to the problem, partners involved, the pathway […]
The PRISE project is funded by the United Kingdom Space Agency International Partnership Programme This study evaluates the effects of a pilot mobile SMS messages campaign on farmers’ knowledge and management of fall armyworm (FAW), an invasive pest of maize that is threatening food security in Kenya. The farmers’ participation in the SMS message system […]
From the move to re-usable coffee cups and paper straws, to the purchasing of products from retailers with strong ethics statements, coffee-drinkers are becoming increasingly aware of the impact of their consumption habits. To continue to meet demand, many businesses are implementing sustainability initiatives, showcasing their commitments to ethical procurement processes, and demonstrating their corporate social responsibility.
Original post here. The success of the ACCORD project relies critically on the enthusiastic adoption of the service by the farmers themselves. Even the smartest technology is ultimately useless if the users themselves don’t embrace it. A critical part of measuring the success and the impact of the ACCORD technology and service has therefore been […]