New technology could help predict & prepare for droughts in Africa

A new technology launched by the Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), called Nutrition Early Warning System (NEWS), will help governments, aid groups, and farmers in early detection of famines, droughts, and floods, among other calamities, and help lessen their effects, especially those that lead to food shortages.

CIAT says that one in four people in Sub-Saharan Africa is malnourished. According to the Kenyan government, the current drought affecting 11 million people in East Africa and 3 million in Kenya has left more than 38 percent of people living in the worst-affected regions in Kenya acutely malnourished. The impact of this drought could have been lessened with the use of NEWS CIAT’S Regional Director for Africa Dr. Debisi Araba believes.

Charles Sunkuli, Kenya’s permanent agriculture secretary, told the gathering that his country will use the new system to prevent calamities such as the one that has hit Kenya.

“We look forward to using the new innovation to be better prepared to deal with future calamities, and I am sure many African countries will follow suit,” Sunkuli added.

source: aa.com.tr

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