Precision Agriculture and climate risks management in Niger: case of drought control

1. Precision Agriculture and climate risks management in Niger: case of drought control By AїssatouSitta BAE graduate student

2. Outline • General information on Niger • Brief overview on Agriculture in Niger • Main climate/weather related risks • Drought precision management • Management at national level (technical part) • Products to help in decision-making (seasonal climate outlook, crop water satisfaction indexes, Soil Moisture Map, potential yield map, weather forecast information) • Information dissemination to help for decision-making • Site-specific management of Drought • Possible improvement of the management method with new Precision Agriculture Technologies • Conclusion BAE/SOIL 4213 - Student final presentation

3. General information • Niger is a landlocked nation in West Africa located along the border between the Sahara and Sub-Saharan regions and surrounded by Algeria, Libya, Chad, Nigeria, Benin, Burkina Faso and Mali. • Capital city: Niamey • Area: 1,267,000 sq km (489,191 sq mi), 2/3 is desert • Population: 14,668,743 (2008) • Hot and dry climate with short rainy season (June to October) and a long dry season (November to May) BAE/SOIL 4213 - Student final presentation

4. Brief overview on Agriculture in Niger • 85% of Population involved in Agriculture and livestock sector accounting for 34.8% of the country GDP (FAO) • Food crops: millet, sorghum, cassava, rice, sugar cane, and some vegetables • Cash crops: onion, cowpea, groundnut, cotton • Livestock composition: camels, cattle, sheep, goats, donkeys, horses, poultry BAE/SOIL 4213 - Student final presentation

5. Millet, the staple food in rural areas BAE/SOIL 4213 - Student final presentation

6. Some constraints to Agriculture production in Niger • Small size farms (5ha or less) cannot ensure the return of big investments => very little mechanization and mineral fertilizer use • Farmers with low incomes cannot afford costly fertilizers and other high-cost inputs • High illiteracy rate of farmers that might made difficult the use of high-tech precision agriculture technologies even they could be available for them • Environmental limiting factors: soils poverty, climate risks… BAE/SOIL 4213 - Student final presentation

7. Main climate risks in Niger (1) • Dust/Sand storm Photo courtesy of AGRHYMET Center BAE/SOIL 4213 - Student final presentation

8. Main climate risks in Niger (2) Severe dust storm at the beginning of growing season can cause the loss ofseedlings Photos courtesy of ICRISAT Photos courtesy of WMO

9. Main climate risks in Niger (3) • Floods • Flooded Millet field (Photo courtesy of LTGA) BAE/SOIL 4213 - Student final presentation

10. Main climate risks in Niger (4) • Drought • The most severe and most frequent climate risk in Niger. BAE/SOIL 4213 - Student final presentation (Photos courtesy of WMO)

11. What is drought? • Many definitions according to the discipline considered. However… • …All types of drought originate from a deficiency of precipitation (Wilhite and Glantz 1985). • Meteorological drought occurs when this deficiency spans an extended period of time • Agricultural drought is the deficiency related to soil water availability to support crop and forage growth • Hydrological drought is defined in terms of the departure of surface and subsurface water supplies from some average condition at various points in time. BAE/SOIL 4213 - Student final presentation

12. Drought impacts • High reduction of Agriculture production • Loss of livestock • Recurrent food crisis • Ecosystems destruction (Photos courtesy of ILRI) BAE/SOIL 4213 - Student final presentation

13. Example of drought impacts on ecosystems in Niger Rapid decline of what was formerly the world’s 6th largest lake Source: UNEP Atlas of Our Changing Environment BAE/SOIL 4213 - Student final presentation

14. How can Precision Agriculture Technologies help to control Drought? BAE/SOIL 4213 - Student final presentation

15. Remote sensing/GIS/climatic data/crop modeling in drought control BAE/SOIL 4213 - Student final presentation

16. Types of Satellite data used (1) • NOAA-AVHRR NDVI data and Rainfall estimation images provided by FEWS-NET (Famine Early Warning System Network) through African Data Dissemination Service website • Spot NDVI data and estimated rainfall data from MSG satellite images provided by AGRHYMET regional center • MSG real-time imagery provided by EUMETSAT for short-term weather forecast BAE/SOIL 4213 - Student final presentation

17. Types of Satellite data used (2) MSG Real time imagery Estimated rainfall image of 2nd decadal of August 2009 Spot NDVI of 1st decadal of August 2008

18. Others data types • Soil, Crop, Weather and Climate data are used as input data for soil-plant-atmosphere modelsto make decision support products. • Data sources: • Climatic data (historical) from NMS archive • Real time Weather data (T°, Wind speed and direction, RH, precipitation, sunshine, evaporation) from the NMS observation network and computed ET from FAO Penman-Monteith method • Crop data: Kc, variety cycle • Soil physical properties related data: Soil AWC, soils capability maps BAE/SOIL 4213 - Student final presentation

19. Processing tools • Weather forecast models: MESSIR-VISION, SYNERGY • Seasonal climate forecast models: PRESAO models, CPT models developed by IRI (in experimentation) • Crop models: DHC, ZAR • GIS software: SURFER, IDRISI, ARCVIEW • Rainfall monitoring software: SUIVI, SPM • Vegetation monitoring software: SVN BAE/SOIL 4213 - Student final presentation

20. Examples of decision-support products (1) Seasonal Climate Outlook Optimum Sowing Periods by zone BAE/SOIL 4213 - Student final presentation

21. Examples of decision-support products (2) Potential Growing season length Soil moisture Map BAE/SOIL 4213 - Student final presentation

22. Examples of decision-support products (3) Estimated biomass production Potential Yield Map of millet by water balance simulation BAE/SOIL 4213 - Student final presentation

23. Dissemination of decision support information to farmers • Daily Broadcast of Weather information on TV and radio national channels • Dissemination of Decadal agrometeorological information bulletins • Mobile phone exchanges (very recent) Photo courtesy of WMO BAE/SOIL 4213 - Student final presentation

24. Real-time Site-specific management decisions to cope with drought • Based on seasonal climate outlook results: • Choice of drought resistant and short cycle varieties in case of expected below normal rainy season • Avoiding of high investment in fields located inside flood-prone areas in case of expected above normal year • Based on weather daily forecast: • Field activities scheduling (examples: pesticide or fertilizer application should be postponed if heavy rain is expected) BAE/SOIL 4213 - Student final presentation

25. Sustainable Site-specific management for drought control: Zai, half-moon Half-moons in Illela Zai or Tassa in Illela • Reduce run-off velocity and land degradation • Increase soil available water content for plants Photos courtesy of CRESA

26. Sustainable Site-specific management for drought control: windbreaks Photos courtesy of CRESA - Niger Reduce wind velocity, land degradation and high potential evapotranspiration that can expose plant to water stress

27. Sustainable Site-specific management for drought control: drip irrigation (1) Drip irrigation: Irrigation water, mixed with fertilizer in some cases, is pumped through the black rubber pipes and comes out drop by drop, right by the plant’s root. BAE/SOIL 4213 - Student final presentation

28. Sustainable Site-specific management for drought control: drip irrigation (2) • Drip irrigation is a suitable VRT for dry season irrigated vegetables crops in Niger. • Introduced in the country by ICRISAT and FAO. • Drip irrigation is one of the low-cost, easy-to-use, low-maintenance solutions recommended by FAO to allow poor people to lift themselves out of poverty by improving water security and encouraging sustainability (FAO, 2007). BAE/SOIL 4213 - Student final presentation

29. Low cost Drip Irrigation Technology • Driptech, a California-based company is working to make this technology affordable to poor farmers by using cheap row materials. • According to the San Francisco Chronicle cited by globalenvision.org, the homemade drip irrigation system made by Dripthech is sold at $30 in places like India, China and Ethiopia instead of the traditional drip irrigation system that could cost thousands of dollars. © care of creation/ globalenvision.org BAE/SOIL 4213 - Student final presentation

30. Problems in current drought management method… • Some information are too technical for farmers • Low resolution of satellite images used to attempt to give site-specific management support • Information Dissemination problems: Long distance separating the information providing center (NMS) and some rural areas BAE/SOIL 4213 - Student final presentation

31. …Solution starts (1) • Mass media sensitizing to integrate more climate information and risk management in their programs, specially rural radios • Roving seminars: to reduce gaps between technical services and farmers according to agrometerological information, roving seminars are organized with support from WMO (World Meteorological Organization) and AEMET (Spanish National Meteorological Agency) • Farmers learn about useful climate information, where they can access information and how they should use it BAE/SOIL 4213 - Student final presentation

32. …Solution starts (2) • They learn how to measure rainfall by themselves and receive by the end of the training a very simple type of rain gauge easy to be used BAE/SOIL 4213 - Student final presentation

33. How can new lessons learnt in Precision Ag course help to improve drought management in Niger? BAE/SOIL 4213 - Student final presentation

34. How can new lessons learnt in PA course help to improve drought management in Niger? • Potential yield estimation currently based on soil water balance only, can be improved by INSEY methodology that uses NDVI data • SBNRC algorithms to be built up for main crops in Niger in order to complete existing crop models and improve the Nitrogen Use Efficiency • Pocket sensors can help to have more precise NDVI data which can improve information currently produced with low resolution satellite images. BAE/SOIL 4213 - Student final presentation

35. Conclusion (1) • Mitigation of production limiting factors effects on Agriculture is the most sustainable way to overcome hunger in developing world. Attacking hunger problem at the source in this way may be less costly than food aid supply during food crisis. • Risks management methods using adequate Precision Agriculture technologies can help to achieve that goal. BAE/SOIL 4213 - Student final presentation

36. Conclusion (2) • In case of drought management in Niger: • Adequate technologies include low price equipments easy to handle and to maintain, drought tolerant and short cycle varieties, low-tech precision planting tools, affordable fertilizers … • Relevant existing precision management practices should be reinforced. • Improvement of tools used to produce weather/climate information in order to make them more accurate • Increase of farmers access to climate/weather information BAE/SOIL 4213 - Student final presentation

37. References (1) • Websites • http://test1.icrisat.org/Happenings/happenings1398.htm • http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/irdrip.html • http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090119094856.htm • http://www.ciesin.org/decentralization/French/CaseStudies/niger.html • http://www.new-ag.info/country/profile.php?a=857 • http://www.research4development.info/caseStudies.asp?ArticleID=50229 • http://www.globalenvision.org/tags/drip-irrigation • http://www.driptech.com/ • http://earlywarning.usgs.gov/adds/ • http://www.iri.columbia.edu BAE/SOIL 4213 - Student final presentation

38. References (2) • Books • Sivakumar, M.V.K., Motha, R.P. & Das, H.P. (2005). Natural Disasters and Extreme Events in Agriculture. Pp 23-24. • Sivakumar, M.V.K., Motha, R.P. (2007). Managing Weather and Climate risks in Agriculture • National and international organizations that sources are used in this presentation • AGRHYMET Regional Center • DMN Niger • FAO • FEWS-NET • ICRISAT • ILRI • WMO BAE/SOIL 4213 - Student final presentation

39. THANK YOU QUESTIONS? BAE/SOIL 4213 - Student final presentation