Digital Innovation for Climate-Resilient Agriculture

Digital services have significant potential to strengthen the climate resilience of smallholder farmers and rural populations. Using existing mobile network operator (MNO) assets – specifically commercial microwave links (CML) rainfall observations from mobile networks – these services can be localized, improved and scaled to generate revenue for operators and impact for farmers. Data from CML provides a unique opportunity to use existing mobile network infrastructure to produce high-resolution rainfall observations in near real-time.

This study outlines how this data, and other MNO assets, can be used to enable or improve digital climate resilience services, and identify opportunities for MNOs to generate revenues through data services or collaborations with organizations such as weather forecasters, agri intelligence providers, or insurers. It covers weather and climate services, data-driven agriculture services, and agri digital financial services as they directly impact farmers' ability to overcome the challenges presented by climate change.