Satellite-based insurance for livestock has been developed in Kenya to measure the country’s “greenness,” safeguarding herders against droughts and other effects of climate change.
Slated to begin in early 2010, Kenya will be the first developing nation to set up a satellite insurance mechanism.
Specialists will study satellite images measuring the greenness of vegetation in the northern Marsabit region. If there is a shift to brown, pastoralists who rely on the land will be paid for the deaths of their livestock predicted to follow such a vegetative transition.
Read more [MediaGlobal/Voice of the global south]
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The use of Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and other related remote sensing tools in this work opens the door for more oprationalisation of remote sensing technology.It demystifies the technology and thus brings the knowledge of its applicablity in real world situation closer to those it is supposed to serve. I would describe this as a very important step for the country and a bold step for the scientists involved. Great job.
This a very interesting move and yet so applicable not only in pastoral-livestock keeping but also in agriculture. With the mushrooming of small and large scale farming, precision of crop yields, input demands and application in localized areas of the farm can also benefit from use of remotely sensed images.
As Patrick noted, NDVI has been used widely to provide some of this details.
Great move.