Harnessing Satellite Technology for Climate Resilience and Increased Agricultural Productivity in Kenya

Despite the adaptation and mitigation measures that have been put in place to counter the negative effects of climate change and food insecurity, over 5.4 million people are at risk of hunger in Kenya (IPC 2023). This comes against the backdrop of declining agricultural productivity attributed to several factors including high cost of inputs, high incidence of pests and diseases, low input use and extreme weather conditions (droughts, floods, erratic rainfalls, etc). The traditional methods of drought prediction (in-situ physical rain gauges) used in most of the rural areas of Kenya is unreliable and does not consider explicit information on risk profiles/sectors and provides short-term forecasts. Satellite technology helps in monitoring drought impacts and provides early warning information.

• View from World Agroforestry website