August 9, 2023 | USDA |
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) is collaborating with university students in Tanzania on a pilot project aimed at enhancing crop mapping and improving crop condition assessments using satellite imagery. The project involves 14 students from YouthMappers, an international network of university-based chapters dedicated to mapping activities for local and global development.
The primary objective of the FAS-YouthMappers team is to create an agricultural database of ground-truth data in the Arusha, Dodoma, and Mwanza regions of Tanzania. This data will be used to strengthen FAS satellite imagery analysis for assessing crop conditions and production estimates.
The project focuses on identifying target crops relevant to FAS' International Production Assessment Division (IPAD), which often involves distinguishing between different crops grown together in larger fields. By geo-locating these crops and collecting additional data on crop heights and pest damage, the project aims to enhance understanding of crop conditions and the impact of seasonal weather patterns.
So far, the Tanzanian YouthMappers network has collected data from 1,700 fields in the specified regions. This data will be combined with Sentinel-2 satellite imagery to improve the accuracy of crop assessments.
The collaboration also involves training additional university students in geo-mapping techniques using tools like ArcGIS, OpenStreetMap, and Kobo Collect to further support Tanzanian agriculture.
The project aligns with FAS' efforts to develop young agricultural leaders in Africa, ultimately contributing to the region's self-development and capacity building. The outcomes of this initiative will be presented at the upcoming Africa Food Systems Forum, where stakeholders aim to strengthen agricultural and food systems in Africa with a focus on inclusivity, sustainability, resiliency, and equity.