Climate change is affecting almost everything in agriculture just as it is affecting other aspects of our lives. Already, it has been recorded that as much as quarter of a billion herders in Africa are not finding things easy as getting pasture and water has become a very big problem. It is for this reason that the Afriscout mobile app has been designed.
The app which was designed by the Project Concern International (PCI) seeks to make use of satellite maps to help pastoralists to find better grazing sites for their herd as well as help them in making decision as regard their migration.
Today we launch #Afriscout, an app that gives #Livestock keepers real time alerts on #water and pasture. Download the app today from @GooglePlay. Tell a friend to tell a friend. pic.twitter.com/seaAbqQglY
— Afriscout (@afriscout) February 1, 2018
Prior to the initiative, herders are forced to rely on luck or words of mouth and that would get them walking many kilometers only to discover that there is neither pasture nor water. They then resorted to paying scouts to find water and pasture and report back to them, but the efficiency of that still came lacking.
It was introduced to Kenya earlier in 2018 after it was tested in other African countries such as Tanzania and Ethiopia which have 6.6 Million pastoralists and 7 million pastoralists respectively. While Tanzania has recorded a herd mortality rate of 35% as a result of the impact of climate change and difficulty in accessing pasture and water, Tanzania has recorded a mortality rate of 19% which is one of the main problems that PCI sought out to solve with Afriscout.
How Afriscout Application Works
What PCI has done with the app is tap into the satellite technology as well as the availability of mobile technology to locate green pastures and water. Prior to this, maps were printed and sent to the herders and they would be able to use that for the next 10 days. With the availability of the app itself, the way it works is to allow the herders to themselves check and find good places without depending on the printed maps.
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From the pilot phase of the project, it has been recorded that as much as 78% of users take advantage of the app to decide on their migration while 52% have agreed that it is now their most important resource. What is more is that thus far, it has led to a decrease in the mortality rate of herd by 48% which has helped in saving over $5 million.
It is able to show pastoralists things like legalized grazing maps, vegetation conditions, surface water detection, distance of migration, the view of terrain, as well as past changes that have occurred.
Challenges To Be Faced By Afriscout
While the good sides of the app are obvious, there are some challenges that it will face, and the most important is the availability of mobile phones. Most of the herders make use of smaller phones while the app can only work naturally, on smartphones. Nonetheless, there is the belief that once the pastoralists are able to see the importance of the app that may get them to go for more sophisticated mobile phones.
In addition to that, there are also the problems of electricity to keep the phones charged as well as network connectivity and other smaller issues.
With that said, the app is already enjoying acceptability in many places in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Tanzania, recording great successes.
Click here to download the app from Google Play.
