Kalro accesses real time weather data in food security drive

The Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (Karlo) has gained access to 6,787 virtual weather stations, boosting its efforts to enhance food security.

The development follows a partnership between the State organisation and agricultural weather data and analytics provider, aWhere Inc for two years.

Kalro ICT director Boniface Akuku said the move will open new agriculture science and innovation frontiers, enabling farmers to make informed decisions on types of crops to plant and when.

“We are building on the past success of the Kenya Agriculture Observatory Platform where farmers across the country have access to the latest weather forecast to maximise their food production, hence profitability,” he said.

For Kenya, whose agricultural practices are largely conducted on a rain-fed system, real-time weather information will help mitigate past losses incurred by farmers when they plant crops at the onset of March rains only for the rains to fail.

The platform will also provide data on the ratio of precipitation to potential evapotranspiration (that indicates if a crop is under water stress). These are critically important inputs for farmers dependent on rain-fed agriculture.

The platform’s chief executive John Corbett said they were targeting not only small and large-scale farmers with their Kenyan market entry, but also farm input dealers.

"As the atmosphere warms, weather variability in Kenya has increased dramatically and hence the need for accurate weather data and analytical tools to generate actionable insights for the food sector,” he said.

Climate-smart agriculture is fast becoming a norm with fertiliser dealer, Yara, availing its weather App to customers who also get professional help on region-specific fertiliser and advice on when to apply the same.

Yara Farmweather App that has since been downloaded by 52,000 small-scale farmers is the product of a partnership between Yara and IT giant IBM where spatial data on weather patterns for specific regions is provided to farmers.