Africa Surveyors May-June issue 2023 digital

DRONES
Utilizing Drone Technology To
Advance Development In Africa
Image Credits: courtesy
Adoption of drone technology in Africa has come a long way.
What was once viewed as a foreign concept is now widely
adopted across Africa for socio and economic purposes.
Its diverse applications on the continent in different sectors and
industries have eclipsed many other parts of the world. This proves
that if harnessed for good, use of drones will make a difference in how
we tackle existing issues within Africa.
A good example to begin with is an unlikely one that has had a
huge impact. In East Africa, there has been a race to outsmart desert
locusts with drones and data. According to the Kenya Agricultural and
Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), one swarm of locusts can
comprise of up to four million insects and is estimated to eat food that
can be consumed by about 35,000 people a day.
In an aim to mitigate such risks, KARLO, alongside FutureWater and
HiView through the ThirdEye project, now provides farmers with
important and relevant information on seeds, water, pesticides, and
labor to increase efficiency and production. So far, six flying sensor
operators have been trained and equipped with tools to analyze the
obtained imagery and offer advice to farmers allowing them to scout
farm fields quickly and efficiently rather than evaluate their farms
manually on foot or by tractor.
Thanks to technological advancements that have made them more
nimble, adaptable, affordable, and simple to operate, drones are being
used in ways that either directly or indirectly save the environment.
Image courtesy
In Zimbabwe, drones are now part of efforts to control infestation of
tsetse flies and quelea birds. Further south, agriculture fields could be
destroyed by little rainfall, very dry seasons, swarms of pests like the
locust invasion in the summer of 2021/22, and outbreaks of disease
– resulting in massive losses. The drone systems are developed to
monitor pests and illnesses, anticipate yields, inform markets, and
help decision-making in land-use planning in addition to making use
of earth observation, climate change modelling, big data, and data
analytics.
While the potential of drones within the environment and agriculture
space in Africa has not even scratched the surface, there is great
progress so far as scientists, environmentalists, and engineers use
unmanned aircrafts as land surveying tools; lower-resolution satellite
photographs assist in mapping and environmental monitoring. Drones
are suitable for faraway or hard-to-reach places since they can execute
30 May-June issue l 2023 www.africasurveyorsonline.com