Using geospatial tools to optimize cassava agronomy trials in Nigeria and Tanzania

Abstract

Cassava (Manihot esculenta) is an important staple crop for over half a billion people in Africa yet current yield at farmers’ field is only 20% of the potential yield. The African Cassava Agronomy Initiative (ACAI) project is initiated to mitigate the yield gap through developing site-specific recommendations based on a demand-driven approach. The project responds to specific agronomy-related needs of partners already engaged in cassava dissemination and value chain activities in Nigeria and Tanzania. ACAI is developing site-specific recommendation, where processing geospatial information related to climate, soil and remote sensing data is crucial. We are using spatial multivariate analysis to delineate our partners’ operational area into homogeneous clusters to ensure the representativeness of trial sites and optimize the number of trial sites for maximum operational efficiency.