Caritas Czech Republic and Big Terra have introduced a new and simple mobile app to help Zambian farmers better resist climate change through the timely provision of data concerning the weather and their crops.
Introduced at an online workshop attended by farmers and representatives of municipalities and ministries from both Zambia and the Czech Republic, the Terra Crop Zambia app provides weather information and other data valuable to both small scale farmers and larger local agricultural cooperatives.
The app was created in cooperation with the Czech European Space Agency incubated start-up Big Terra within the AgriBusiness for LIFE (Livelihoods, Innovation,Food and Empowerment) project funded by the Czech Development Agency.
Project Coordinator Mutinta Shandele said the project which was funded by the Czech Development Agency was implemented between July 2018 and was scheduled to end in July 2021 but came to an end in August 2021. She said Caritas Czech Republic in partnership with Lima Links, Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, Big Terra and government line ministries implemented the project.
Speaking during a Climate Data Workshop, Shandele said the overall objective of the project was to increase agricultural productivity and incomes of small & medium scale farmers and cooperatives, and the project was operating in Mongu, Limulunga, Kaoma, Nkeyema and Mumbwa districts with a target of 22 cooperatives (more than 400 members) and 125 small to medium scale farmers in the 5 pilot districts.
“Local farmers are interested in understanding the weather conditions so that they know what crops to grow and when. So far, 20 farmers have tried the application during the pilot phase, and according to them, the application is user-friendly and they are very satisfied with it,” stated Shandele.
And Big Terra Founder Pavel Jurus said better future planning of farmer resilience to the impacts of climate change can improve lives. “We want to support sustainable farming around the world by providing customized information to farmers in various locations,” stated Jurus about the motivation to develop an application for Zambian farmers. “The information is based on satellite data, weather and climate models, crop modelling and local data. The result is a service tailored to local needs, contributing to the resilience of local farmers to climate change.”
In Zambia, agriculture plays an important role and the livelihood of a large part of the population depends on it. However, climate change is bringing even more uncertainty to this already unpredictable sector. This Terra Crop Zambia app aims to contribute to more efficient agriculture and better resilience of Zambian farmers to the effects of climate change.
