New study shows informed decisions can minimize the impacts of adverse weather on farmers and rice production in Tanzania’s floodplains

floods threaten the food, health, and livelihood security of farmers in Tanzania’s floodplains. Aside from the significant crop losses, extreme floods are forcing farmers to rent, sell, or abandon their crops and farms. (Photo: IRRI-Africa)

Scientists from the Sokoine University of Agriculture, the University of Copenhagen, the Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute, and the International Rice Research Institute are using satellite imagery and geospatial datasets to establish the frequency and extent of floods in the rice-growing areas of Tanzania’s river basins.  The aim is to plot flood occurrences in these regions using Google Earth Engine data to assist farmers in planning their planting calendars to prevent natural disasters from damaging their rice crops..

Scientists from the Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), the University of Copenhagen, the Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI), and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) are using satellite imagery and geospatial datasets to establish the frequency and extent of floods in the rice-growing areas of Tanzania’s river basins.

In the new study, Floods stress in lowland rice production: experiences of rice farmers in Kilombero and Lower-Rufiji floodplains, Tanzania, scientists aim to plot flood occurrences in these regions using Google Earth Engine data to assist farmers in planning their planting calendars to prevent natural disasters from damaging their rice crops

In early December 2023, several districts in Tanzania experienced extreme flooding and massive landslides resulting in casualties and significant damages, according to Al Jazeera News Between 2017 and 2022, researchers established that floods engulfed 55% and 5.5% of rice-growing areas in the Lower-Rufiji Basin and Kilombero Basin, respectively.