TechnoServe Labs is using satellite, aerial and drone imagery – coupled with TechnoServe ground truth data and machine learning – to improve how we manage and report on our programs.
Our Work
Geospatial Technology
TechnoServe Labs and the University of Minnesota created a dashboard to map cashew growing areas in Benin, using satellite imagery and machine learning algorithms. The dashboard will help field teams improve operations and policy makers make better decisions.
TechnoServe Labs interns from Carnegie Mellon University – Africa in Kigali, Rwanda and CERCO Group and Epitech in Cotonou, Benin created an interactive dashboard showing smallholder cashew growing areas.
Labs and the University of Minnesota are now extending the work for cashew mapping and traceability for the USDA Prosper program in Côte d’Ivoire. We are also looking at using this capability for a cashew carbon sequestration project in Mozambique, and to map other tree species such as mango.
Mapping smallholder cashew plantations to inform sustainable tree crop expansion in Benin
The University of Minnesota and TechnoServe published a research paper “Mapping smallholder cashew plantations to inform sustainable tree crop expansion in Benin” in Remote Sensing of Environment, the leading peer-reviewed journal on remote sensing technologies and applications.
The work is the culmination of three years of joint work between TechnoServe Labs, the USDA BeninCajù program and the University of Minnesota to develop a machine learning algorithm that interprets satellite imagery to identify cashew growing areas in Benin with 85% accuracy.
University of Minnesota presented the UMinn/TNS research at the American Geospatial Union –
