Challenge
The increased frequency of extreme weather has affected farmers around the globe, particularly those in rural communities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Much of the population there lives in communities without the infrastructure to protect against severe flood, drought, and other unpredictable weather patterns that pose challenges to growing food and raising livestock. Volatile crop and livestock yields lead to volatile prices both for farmers and consumers.
These problems are compounded by the fact that only 4 percent of the cultivated land in Sub-Saharan Africa is equipped for irrigation, and the vast majority of crops rely on rainfall.
Another challenge is the lack of more advanced weather forecasting across the region — a key obstacle preventing smallholder farmers from adapting to a changing climate.
Solution and Impact
Ignitia AB, a tropical weather forecasting service designed for smallholder famers, will use a DFC loan to expand its services in several Sub-Saharan African countries from Kenya to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Mali. The loan will also support growth in its existing markets across the continent, including in Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sierra Leone. As a young startup business, Ignitia was funded with seed financing prior to seeking debt financing from DFC.
Ignitia will use the loan to support its development of local weather models specifically designed for tropical conditions, based in part on satellite data. This specialized focus addresses these main shortcomings of existing forecasts in the region and produces more accurate weather predictions.
Participating farmers pay as little as 4 cents per forecast for weather information that will influence key decisions during the growing seasons. Of participating farmers, 78 percent saw increases in total production and 88 percent reported an increase in the quality of their produce.