Precision Agriculture using GIS

and GPS in Africa

By
James Kimani Wanjohi
 What is precision agriculture
• Precision Agriculture is a technology that has
been described as the ‘next great revolution in
agriculture’.
• An integrated information and production-based
farming system that is designed to increase long-
term, site-specific and whole farm production.
Leading to efficiency, productivity and
profitability, while minimizing unintended impact
on wildlife and the environment
Ability to manage land by the square metre instead of the
square mile
What is precision agriculture CONT
Precision agriculture is an agricultural concept
relying on the existence of in-field variability
that requires the use of technologies, such as
GIS geographic information systems, Global
Positioning System (GPS), sensors, satellites or
aerial images, and geographical information
management tools to assess and understand
variations
 Uses of precision Agriculture
• Helps in adapting to variability (Spatial – changes
across farm, temporal – season to season and
predictive – difference between predicted and actual
results)
• It can be used to accurately predict crop yields
• Avoids blanket practices across the field. Action
depending on soil/climate conditions at different
areas of a farm
• Optimize use and vary the rate of inputs, such as
fertilizer, across a field based on the need
identified by GPS guided grid sampling.
 Components of Precision Agriculture
• Soil Sampling

• Yield Monitoring

• Variable Rate Application (VRA)

 Components of precision agriculture
• Yield monitoring
Yield monitoring and mapping
capabilities allow combines
equipped with an AgGPS® FmX™
integrated display to accurately
monitor and map harvested crop
yield and moisture.

Farmers can use the recorded

yield data to analyze performance
and create variable rate
prescription maps using ArcGIS
 Components of precision agriculture
• Variable rate application-(Nutrient or
chemical needed)
• Create a prescription map using Farm
Works Site (A division of Trimble)or
ArcGIS or get a prescription file from
a crop consultant.
• Load the field prescription map into
the EZ-Guide 500 system or FmX
integrated display. It reads data and
sends rate information to the
application controller.
• Work the field and enjoy the benefits
of saving on inputs and increased
efficiency!
 Benefits
• Making the agricultural practices economically
and environmentally justifiable

• Technologically feasible

• Increase the stewardship of land, water, and

related natural resources

precision Agriculture is aimed at reducing production cost and

increase the potential for greater yields.
Challenges of precision Agriculture in Africa
“Precision agriculture is virtually unknown in
Africa, except in South Africa and in a few other
countries”(Swinton and Lowenberg-Deboer
2001).
Reasons
• High initial investment required
• Most applications have been on large-scale farms
• Mostly implemented where labour is costly but
where land and capital are less costly
precision Agriculture will be adopted where the technology makes more
efficient use of scarce productive resources.
 Challenges of precision Agriculture in Africa
Most applications have been on large-scale farms
• According to (Nagayets 2005), about 80% of the farms
in Africa are smallholdings.
• An agricultural sample survey conducted in Ethiopia
showed that 64.5 % of the farming households have
one or less hectares of land and that female-headed
households have even smaller holdings (CSA 2000).
• In Egypt, ¾ of all farmers are smallholdings (Nagayets
2005)
• in Kenya, smallholdings range from 0.2 to 12 hectares
and produce ¾ of agricultural output (Obara 1988,
Oxfam (GB) 2000).
Way forward in precision Agriculture in
Africa
• The way forward is taking the technology to the small
scale farmers through Government sponsored
initiatives, NGO and continuous research.
• Take the message to the farmers that they have to get
more involved in using the emerging technologies
• providing training in the use of GPS equipment and GIS
software for local technicians
• Need to ensure reliable operation and maintenance of
highly specialized equipment
It is anticipated that the wide acceptance of precision agriculture in Africa
will enable the potential of precision agriculture to be fully exploited.
 How Do we reach the small scale
farmers
• Utilizing the digital villages by having user friendly
Agricultural extensions

• Utilizing web resources through public forums

and groups e.g. ArcGIS.com

• Easy reporting mechanisms to farmers through

mobile phones (text) and other applications

• Relevant Spatial agricultural data in the NSDI

 What do Small scale farmers want?

Relevant Content
• Query and answer services
• Suggestions on best practices
• Alternatives to traditional practices
• Predictions on climatic condition and its
effects
• Prediction on yield volume
 African Success stories
SUDAN – GOLDER, an international
company, working with ASBNACO - a Sudan
based company.

Golder uses commercial mechanised farming.

As part of this project, the GPS and the GIS
technology has been introduced to help improve farm
productivity while conserving the environment. This has
been achieved through an acquired auto-steer tractor,
fitted with a GPS satellite guidance system that controls
tractor steering.
 African Success stories
Benefits:
• Cut down planting time on the Agadi farm by 60%
• Spatial yield monitoring (GPS field monitors have also been
installed in combine harvesters to monitor yield variations within
each field and produce yield maps)
• Guide fertilizer, seed and agro-chemical applications
• Controlled traffic farming (self-steering tractors that limit
movements of tractors to selected rows within a field to reduce soil
compaction and erosion)
• GIS-based farming information and management system mainly to
identify weed infestations, water stress, and crop pest outbreak
areas.
• Variable Rate Application (VRA) technology make it possible to
select appropriate chemical applications and prevents unnecessary
groundwater contamination
 African Success stories
South Africa - precision irrigation
Farmers in South Africa using groundwater for
irrigation practice precision irrigation.
“This method provides a sustainable and efficient
system of using water and entails application of
optimum quantities of water over the area being
irrigated, based on variability in terms of soil
type, soil water capacity, potential yield and
topography” (Dennis and Nell n.d.)
 Resources
• www.esriea.co.ke
• www.trimble.com/agriculture
• ICTS AND SMALL-SCALE AGRICULTURE IN AFRICA: A
SCOPING STUDY- HILDA MUNYUA 2008
END