NASA Assists African Farmers

The U.S. space agency, NASA, has established a center in Niger that utilizes satellite data for food security and better management of natural disasters. According to Reuters, this initiative covers Burkina Faso, Ghana, Senegal, and Niger. The office in Niger is one of four centers launched globally by NASA and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Dan Irwin, the project manager, states that this design is based on regional needs. He believes this initiative 'connects space to the villages.' Research in the area began two years ago, and NASA concluded that countries in the region lack access to necessary and useful information for agricultural advancement, and even if they have it, they do not utilize it. According to Dan Irwin, this strip known as the 'Sahel' is considered one of the most vulnerable areas in the world to climate change. Rising global temperatures and decreasing rainfall have weakened agricultural lands and disrupted agricultural production, resulting in increased hunger and malnutrition. The Sahel region in Africa extends from east to west across the continent, located between the Sahara Desert and the Sudanese savanna. Matteo Takert, the UN food agency official, states that all life in this part of Africa depends on a few grains like millet and maize. This UN official says, 'The growth of these grains directly depends on the amount of rainfall. Therefore, having satellite information for accurate weather forecasting in this region is key.' Farmers in the area say they can no longer predict the weather through traditional methods passed down through generations, as rapid climate changes have disrupted all traditional equations. Aklas DePrez, the UN aid director, believes there is an urgent and pressing need to link advanced technologies to the needs of people in Africa. This new project is set to use satellite technology to predict the location and timing of future droughts and to map fertile areas for farmers.