Mobile phone App Development for Drought Adaptation in Drylands (MAD DAD). Funded by UK Research and Innovation Global Challenges Research Fund Translational Award (GRTA), K. Michaelides (PI) 2019-2021
Jacob Rigby is the Research Associate (postdoctoral researcher) working on MAD DAD based in Bristol.
This project is developing a mobile phone app to deliver water status forecasts to remote communities in Kenyan drylands. Severe water shortage is one of the most pressing development challenges in the East African region, having been struck by 10 droughts since 2000 which led to three severe famines affecting millions of East Africans. Under climate change droughts are set to become more intense and frequent and there is a pressing need for relevant, timely, and practical information about water resources, particularly with a view to climate change adaptation. However, rural agro-pastoral populations are sparse and distant from decision-making centres making it hugely challenging to disseminate useable information in a timely manner. Information and Communications Technology (ICT) presents a great opportunity to develop applications for information dissemination to the whole population, including distant, rural communities. The provision of a mobile phone app has the potential to transform decision-making and drought adaptation for a large number of people in remote, rural dryland regions of East Africa that currently do not have access to useable and relevant information about the short- and long-term changes in water scarcity in their location.
Collaborators on this project:
University of Bristol
Chris Preist
Daniel Shien
Rafael Rosolem
Cardiff University
University of Nairobi, Kenya
Tim Waema, School of Computing and Informatics
Agnes Wausi, School of Computing and Informatics
Almaz Yohannis, School of Computing and Informatics