Breaking New Ground in Agricultural Resilience: EPFL, UNIL & UZ

© 2024 EPFL

© 2024 EPFL

We are thrilled to announce a groundbreaking collaboration between Urban and regional planning community CEAT (EPFL), UNIL, and the University of Zimbabwe’s Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, under the Collaborative Research on Science and Society (CROSS) Programme 2023 Call for Projects. This partnership, funded in 2023, is at the forefront of leveraging cutting-edge technology to address the impacts of drought on agricultural productivity and farmer livelihoods in Eastern and Southern Africa.

The Project: A Pioneering Approach to Drought Impact Assessment

The project, titled “Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Approach Using Remote Sensing and GIS for Drought Impacts Assessment on Vegetable Health”, seeks to transform how drought-prone areas are managed and supported.

Key Objectives of the Project:

  1. Data Analysis through Remote Sensing: Processing and interpreting Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Land Surface Temperature (LST) datasets using Landsat satellite imagery (30-meter resolution) to identify the Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) and Temperature Condition Index (TCI) across targeted regions.
  2. Mapping Drought Zones: Producing a Vegetation Health Index (VHI) to pinpoint the most drought-affected areas.
  3. Relief Planning: Identifying optimal prepositioned relief locations in Eastern and Southern Africa to support vulnerable communities.
  4. Supply Chain Optimization: Employing a Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) process to integrate quantitative and qualitative data, optimizing transport models to minimize costs and delivery times in humanitarian supply chains.

Key Study Focus: West Pokot, Kenya, and Goromonzi District, Zimbabwe

The research highlighted the distinct challenges faced by farmers in West Pokot, Kenya, and the Goromonzi District, Zimbabwe. In Zimbabwe, the study underscored the significant impacts of climate variability, gender disparities, and limited access to resources on farming activities, particularly for smallholder farmers and women.

Through a focus on sweet potato farming—a climate-resilient and high-demand crop—the study offers actionable solutions to improve farming practices, enhance gender equity, and promote infrastructure development. The new sweet potato processing plant, in Harare, which adds value to this essential crop, further emphasizes the timeliness of these efforts.

Dissemination Workshop: Mobilizing Action for Climate-Resilient Agriculture

To share the study's findings and foster action, a dissemination workshop was convene with key stakeholders, including farmers, policymakers, academics, and extension workers, from Goromonzi District.

The workshop Objectives were:

  1. Present key findings and recommendations from the study.
  2. Facilitate discussions on implementing practical, climate-resilient strategies.
  3. Address challenges and identify solutions for promoting gender equity in farming.
  4. Develop a collaborative action plan for sustainable sweet potato production.

The Outcomes obtained included:

  1. Enhanced awareness of gender-specific challenges in sweet potato farming and the importance of climate resilience.
  2. A collaborative roadmap for integrating study recommendations into community and policy practices.
  3. Stronger networks between stakeholders to support sustainable and inclusive agriculture.
  4. A commitment to embedding gender-inclusive strategies into agricultural policies.

Moving Forward: A Step Toward Sustainable and Inclusive Agriculture

This project exemplifies the power of collaboration in addressing critical agricultural challenges. By uniting expertise from EPFL, UNIL, and the University of Zimbabwe, it not only highlights the potential of remote sensing and GIS and Simulation technology but also shines a light on the need for gender equity in agricultural development.

The workshop represents a vital step in transforming the study’s findings into actionable strategies, ensuring that smallholder farmers, especially women, can thrive in the face of climate change. The workshop was concluded with a commitment to collaboration on a comparative policy paper between Kenya and Zimbabwe.

Funding

Collaborative Research on Science and Society (CROSS) Programme 2023 Call for Projects