12 October 2015Dorothy Njagi

African Technology Policy Studies (ATPS)Network

A New Development in Mobile App to enhance Land Productivity and Resilience

Agricultural Production and Land Management in Africa

• Continued agricultural growth due to land expansion rather than increase productivity

• Challenges: rapidly growing population; land degradation; soil erosion; declining soil fertility and climate change

• Available Land must :– Produce more food and pasture to

meet the growing demand – Maintain environmental quality and – Maintain the natural resources base

upon which the Africa’s agricultural economy depends.

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Rethinking current land use mechanisms

• Advances in mobile applications and Geospatial technologies– development and use of new

agricultural technologies and innovative tools

– to generate accurate, robust, and timely information and knowledge of land potential

– effective decision making on modern agricultural development and land management strategies

– to support decision making at the various scales of the agricultural system

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What is the LandInfo Mobile App?• The LandInfo App allows users to capture data about

soil characteristics such as soil water, texture, erosion risk, and climate factors such temperature, rainfall, and growing season length.

Search on the names in the Google Play Store or use the links at http://landpotential.org/landpks/app

LANDINFO MOBILE APP

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Land Potential Knowledge System (LandPKS)

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Geospatial Datasets

• Elevation – 90m Shuttle Radar Topography Mission• Elevation derivatives-Elevation, slope, curvature, landforms

• Soil- Harmonized World Soil Database and AFSIS soil database • Soil derivatives- soil depth, texture, dominant/sub-dominant soil

• Weather- SLATE 100 year weather database for precipitation, temperature and solar radiation; CRU – Climatic Research Unit

• Wind- NCEP/NCAR Reanalyzes- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

• Global Agro-Ecological Zones (GAEZ) (FAO) cereal productivity, thermal zones, Growing degree days, soil toxicity, soil workability, aridity

• Land use/ Land cover- LULC

• MODIS vegetation indices

Create a plot•If already have plots loaded, user can toggle between list and map view•Make sure that your phone GPS is switched on•Open the Land info app by clicking on the icon.•On the top bar of the first screen, click the PLUS sign on the far right.

Plot ID screen•Enter a plot name•Enter location or tap “Obtain GPS fix” to use the phone’s GPS (must be turned on in Settings – Location)

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MENU

Land Cover/land use• Pictorial land cover

classes. Select the best match

• Currently using NRCS classes. Future versions to include WOCAT classifications

• Expanded flooding and grazing options

Grazing Activities on the Plot

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Slope screen•Select the slope that most closely matches the average slope in a 50 meter diameter plot, or click “Use slope meter” to measure the slope by matching the phone angle to the slope.)

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Slope shape screen•Select the shape of both the down-slope and cross-slope to provide info on how water will move

Soil Conditions screen• User provides information

on the existence of deep vertical cracking in the soil profile (i.e. cracking clay) and existence of salt deposits on the soil surface

Soil layers screen:The soil texture of the surface (0-1cm) soil layer is required. Texture for the top 6 layers (to 70-100cm) is strongly recommended.

Rock fragment volume: select the image or % range that most closely matches the proportion of the layer that is filled with material over 2mm in diameter.

Soil texture: Thoroughly mix a handful of soil with water until it is mud. When you are done, it should have enough moisture to make the surface shine, but not so much that water drips out of it.

Follow the key in “Guide me” using the videos linked to the “?”

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Photos screen•Use phone’s camera function and built-in compass to take photographs of landscape, soil pit, and soil samples for inventory and future monitoring (photos are saved as URLs to minimize file size)

Review screen•Review your entries.•Tap “Submit Plot Data”. Data cannot be modified after they have been submitted, though you can of course modify the data after you have downloaded them from the Data Portal (http://landpotential.org).

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Results/ Outputs

Pilot Projects

Kenya• Northern Rangelands Trust

(NRT) and its associated Conservancies

• Initial focus: identifying and prioritizing areas for restoration of perennial grasses and monitoring for livestock and wildlife

Namibia

• Ministry of Lands and Resettlement

• Initial focus: improved understanding of livestock carrying capacity + crop production potential of resettlement areas.

Thank-You