Ignitia and tropical weather forecasting

About

A little known problem about general weather forecasting is that it’s only around 40% accurate in the tropics. Weather systems in these regions behave differently, and the underlying science demands another approach to predicting daily and weekly weather.

Ignitia developed this technology, led by physicist Liisa Smits, and are now deploying it in West Africa where the majority of population rely on small scale farming for livelihood and food security.

With over 84% reliability, Ignitia’s proprietary forecasting model predicts tropical weather patterns down to a 3 km square range. The forecasts are delivered to West African farmers via SMS in partnership with mobile network operators. The messages are developed according to principles of human centred design, and tested over many years.

Astonishingly, yields improve by around 65% in a season, causing a cascading positive effect on livelihood and poverty reduction, children being sent to school, and deforestation when more yield is available from existing agricultural land. The impact has been independently verified, and Ignitia are now lifting their eyes to the horizon to see how they can scale their impact.

Work

Scaling strategy, strategic partnerships