Muthoni Masinde
Dr. Muthoni Masinde holds doctorate, masters and bachelors degrees in computer science from the University of Cape Town, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and the University of Nairobi respectively. She is an academic member of staff at the School of Computing and Informatics, University of Nairobi, Kenya and also works as a consultant academic researcher at the Central University of Technology, South Africa. Her research involves developing ICT-based solutions to droughts and climate change using wireless sensor networks and mobile phones. Dr. Masinde’s most recent research output is a novel bridge dubbed itiki (acronym for Information Technology and Indigenous Knowledge with Intelligence) that was realised in form of a drought early warning system. The bridge integrates African indigenous knowledge (IK) on droughts with the scientific drought forecasting approaches.
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Implementation of weather forecasting systems in many Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries is hampered by among other things, inadequate coverage by weather stations. Ideally, when deployed in their hundreds, WSNs-based weather meters can mitigate this by capturing weather parameters at micro-level. However, the reality is different, the cost of sensor boards is still prohibitive; boards cost between 100 to 800 Euros (Bagula et al. 2012). The wireless sensors communication protocols only allow coverage of between 100 and 300M and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) in SSA is not reliable enough to support interruption-free communication. Even then, with a functioning WSNs-based drought monitoring system, there is no guarantee that the people (especially the small-scale farmers) that need it most in SSA will utilise the information for an array of reasons that are documented in literature (Masinde 2012). For example, studies reveal that over 80% of farmers in some parts of Ethiopia, Kenya, Zambia and Zimbabwe relied on Indigenous Knowledge Forecasts (IKFs)(Mugabe et al. 2010). This is where Internet of Things (IoT) comes in; instead of creating a homogenous drought forecasting system made up of sensors, a system made up of heterogeneous weather information sources (such as sensors, mobile phones, conventional weather stations, indigenous drought forecasters (rainmakers), mobile phones, smart billboards and so on) would suffice. Though IoT is yet to be realised in the commercial/industrial and business worlds, to address this, a generic service-oriented 5-layered architecture for implementing IoT applications is presented in this paper. This architecture is then used to realise a droughts early warning system. This work therefore affirms that despite the current challenges facing IoT’s real-life implementation, it is possible to implement a simple IoT application to addresses the unique problem of droughts in SSA.
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The most commonly used form of forecasts used in most countries in Africa is the Seasonal Climate Forecasts (SCFs). Research (Ziervogel and Opere, 2010) has shown that SCFs are too supply-driven and are too ‘course’ to have any relevance at a local community level. The terminologies (e.g. below and normal level) and formats used do not make much sense to most farmers. Furthermore, the mode (websites, radio/television broadcasts and print media) of dissemination does not reach the targeted audience. Consequently, these farmers continue to rely on forecasts that are based on indigenous knowledge (IKFs). For instance, it is in realization of this fact that an initiative (http://www.africa-adapt.net/aa/ProjectOverview.aspx?PID=PUXVdbXh9bM%3D) aimed at integrating SCFs with IKFs was piloted in Kenya. The integration was geared towards maximizing the strengths of the two (SCFs and IKFs) and by extension to improve the adoption of weather forecasts by small-scale farmers. Started in September 2008, the project brought together meteorologists and the Nganyi indigenous knowledge forecasters to build ‘reconciliations’ between SCFs and IKFs. The reconciled forecasts were carried out for 7 seasons between 2007 and 2011 and results disseminated through the locally available (existing) communication channels such as chief barazas and churches. The outcome of the project was rated ‘very good’ by the two parties.
There has been a sharp increase in publications in the area of Indigenous Knowledge (IK) in Africa especially in South Africa where tens of research projects are funded through the National Research Foundation (Loubser, 2005). Despite this encouraging trend, publications in the category of weather/droughts/climate-variation prediction are still rare. For instance, in a recent study (Njiraine et al, 2010) on IK research in Kenya and South Africa, publications directly and indirectly touching on this topic were those under agriculture and environment categories. Unlike other categories such as culture (with 41.2% for Kenya and 31% for South Africa), these (agriculture and environment) categories had minimal representations of 11.5% and 7.5% for agriculture and 12% and 6.9% for environment; the percentages are for Kenya and South Africa respectively. Generally, publications under IK on drought/weather management in Africa ((ISDR, 2008), (Ziervogel and Opere, 2010), (Ajibade and Shokemi, 2003), (Roos and Dewald, 2010), (Steiner, 2008) and (UNEP, 2011)) reveal that communities in Africa used more or less common approaches in predicting drought/weather. They observed changing seasons as well as lunar cycles (shape/position of the moon and patterns of stars). They also observed the natural environment (behavior of animals/birds and looks of some plants) and like the weathermen of today, IK also involved studying the meteorological parameters such as air/temperature intensity, clouds colour/direction and wind direction. Religious beliefs and myths also contributed greatly to African IK on droughts prediction. For example, rainfall is seen as gift from the gods and lack of it as a curse. For example, in reference to the current (2011) drought affecting some parts of Mbeere in Kenya, residents are often heard saying; “we do not know what God wants with us!” Other examples are; (1) Mating of animals was a sign that there was going to be plenty of rains (Roos and Dewald, 2010); (2)Birth of many girl children was sign of good season and more boys a bad season(Mugabe et al, 2010) and (3)Wind blowing to the west would bring rainfall in an hour (Ajibade and Shokemi, 2003).
IK on droughts in Africa is a twin-reality; prediction as well spelling out elaborate coping mechanisms. When drought strikes the Mbeere people, the women specialise in weaving baskets using (mostly) locally available materials and then travel to Central Kenya (Kikuyu land) to exchange them for cereals. Similarly, the women among Bastwanas of South Africa engaged in creative activities such as making clay pots for water storage as well for entrepreneurial purposes (Roos and Dewald, 2010). African communities also have common food preservation practices such as meat drying and stockpiling; these are meant to ensure food availability during shortages.
Though IKFs and SCFs have more differences than similarities, participatory solutions designed around ICTs can be used to make SCFs a compliment to the IKFs. This is because though IKFs are localized and more adapted to the farmers’ context, this knowledge is threatened by phenomena such as climate change, population growth and urbanization. SCFs act as a complement by introducing aspects such global weather parameters. The big question then becomes; how then do we bridge these two diverse sciences of weather forecasting? The authors present one such solution; ITIKI (Information Technology and Indigenous Knowledge with Intelligence); a framework that integrates IKFs and SCFs using mobile phones, wireless sensor networks and intelligent agents. Itiki (pronounced e-ti-ki) is the name given to a kind of a bridge made up of sticks and wires for crossing rivers among the Mbeere people in Eastern part of Kenya.
Implementation of weather forecasting systems in many Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries is hampered by among other things, inadequate coverage by weather stations. Ideally, when deployed in their hundreds, WSNs-based weather meters can mitigate this by capturing weather parameters at micro-level. However, the reality is different, the cost of sensor boards is still prohibitive; boards cost between 100 to 800 Euros (Bagula et al. 2012). The wireless sensors communication protocols only allow coverage of between 100 and 300M and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) in SSA is not reliable enough to support interruption-free communication. Even then, with a functioning WSNs-based drought monitoring system, there is no guarantee that the people (especially the small-scale farmers) that need it most in SSA will utilise the information for an array of reasons that are documented in literature (Masinde 2012). For example, studies reveal that over 80% of farmers in some parts of Ethiopia, Kenya, Zambia and Zimbabwe relied on Indigenous Knowledge Forecasts (IKFs)(Mugabe et al. 2010). This is where Internet of Things (IoT) comes in; instead of creating a homogenous drought forecasting system made up of sensors, a system made up of heterogeneous weather information sources (such as sensors, mobile phones, conventional weather stations, indigenous drought forecasters (rainmakers), mobile phones, smart billboards and so on) would suffice. Though IoT is yet to be realised in the commercial/industrial and business worlds, to address this, a generic service-oriented 5-layered architecture for implementing IoT applications is presented in this paper. This architecture is then used to realise a droughts early warning system. This work therefore affirms that despite the current challenges facing IoT’s real-life implementation, it is possible to implement a simple IoT application to addresses the unique problem of droughts in SSA.
"
The most commonly used form of forecasts used in most countries in Africa is the Seasonal Climate Forecasts (SCFs). Research (Ziervogel and Opere, 2010) has shown that SCFs are too supply-driven and are too ‘course’ to have any relevance at a local community level. The terminologies (e.g. below and normal level) and formats used do not make much sense to most farmers. Furthermore, the mode (websites, radio/television broadcasts and print media) of dissemination does not reach the targeted audience. Consequently, these farmers continue to rely on forecasts that are based on indigenous knowledge (IKFs). For instance, it is in realization of this fact that an initiative (http://www.africa-adapt.net/aa/ProjectOverview.aspx?PID=PUXVdbXh9bM%3D) aimed at integrating SCFs with IKFs was piloted in Kenya. The integration was geared towards maximizing the strengths of the two (SCFs and IKFs) and by extension to improve the adoption of weather forecasts by small-scale farmers. Started in September 2008, the project brought together meteorologists and the Nganyi indigenous knowledge forecasters to build ‘reconciliations’ between SCFs and IKFs. The reconciled forecasts were carried out for 7 seasons between 2007 and 2011 and results disseminated through the locally available (existing) communication channels such as chief barazas and churches. The outcome of the project was rated ‘very good’ by the two parties.
There has been a sharp increase in publications in the area of Indigenous Knowledge (IK) in Africa especially in South Africa where tens of research projects are funded through the National Research Foundation (Loubser, 2005). Despite this encouraging trend, publications in the category of weather/droughts/climate-variation prediction are still rare. For instance, in a recent study (Njiraine et al, 2010) on IK research in Kenya and South Africa, publications directly and indirectly touching on this topic were those under agriculture and environment categories. Unlike other categories such as culture (with 41.2% for Kenya and 31% for South Africa), these (agriculture and environment) categories had minimal representations of 11.5% and 7.5% for agriculture and 12% and 6.9% for environment; the percentages are for Kenya and South Africa respectively. Generally, publications under IK on drought/weather management in Africa ((ISDR, 2008), (Ziervogel and Opere, 2010), (Ajibade and Shokemi, 2003), (Roos and Dewald, 2010), (Steiner, 2008) and (UNEP, 2011)) reveal that communities in Africa used more or less common approaches in predicting drought/weather. They observed changing seasons as well as lunar cycles (shape/position of the moon and patterns of stars). They also observed the natural environment (behavior of animals/birds and looks of some plants) and like the weathermen of today, IK also involved studying the meteorological parameters such as air/temperature intensity, clouds colour/direction and wind direction. Religious beliefs and myths also contributed greatly to African IK on droughts prediction. For example, rainfall is seen as gift from the gods and lack of it as a curse. For example, in reference to the current (2011) drought affecting some parts of Mbeere in Kenya, residents are often heard saying; “we do not know what God wants with us!” Other examples are; (1) Mating of animals was a sign that there was going to be plenty of rains (Roos and Dewald, 2010); (2)Birth of many girl children was sign of good season and more boys a bad season(Mugabe et al, 2010) and (3)Wind blowing to the west would bring rainfall in an hour (Ajibade and Shokemi, 2003).
IK on droughts in Africa is a twin-reality; prediction as well spelling out elaborate coping mechanisms. When drought strikes the Mbeere people, the women specialise in weaving baskets using (mostly) locally available materials and then travel to Central Kenya (Kikuyu land) to exchange them for cereals. Similarly, the women among Bastwanas of South Africa engaged in creative activities such as making clay pots for water storage as well for entrepreneurial purposes (Roos and Dewald, 2010). African communities also have common food preservation practices such as meat drying and stockpiling; these are meant to ensure food availability during shortages.
Though IKFs and SCFs have more differences than similarities, participatory solutions designed around ICTs can be used to make SCFs a compliment to the IKFs. This is because though IKFs are localized and more adapted to the farmers’ context, this knowledge is threatened by phenomena such as climate change, population growth and urbanization. SCFs act as a complement by introducing aspects such global weather parameters. The big question then becomes; how then do we bridge these two diverse sciences of weather forecasting? The authors present one such solution; ITIKI (Information Technology and Indigenous Knowledge with Intelligence); a framework that integrates IKFs and SCFs using mobile phones, wireless sensor networks and intelligent agents. Itiki (pronounced e-ti-ki) is the name given to a kind of a bridge made up of sticks and wires for crossing rivers among the Mbeere people in Eastern part of Kenya.