Authors: APET Secretariat

This is the 5th post in a blog series to be published in 2021 by the Secretariat on behalf of the AU High Level Panel on Emerging Technologies (APET) and the Calestous Juma Executive Dialogues (CJED)

Natural disasters in Africa such as drought, earthquakes, epidemics, extreme temperatures, floods, insect infestation, volcano, storms, and wildfires, among others, negatively impact numerous African countries yearly.[1] As a result, when such disasters occur, there is a need for African governments and responsible public and private institutions to effectively observe, monitor, and mitigate such disasters across the continent. Fortunately, earth observation applications and emerging technologies are increasingly being developed and adapted for disaster management, preparedness, and mitigation efforts during disasters. Furthermore, these technologies are being developed to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of first responders’ aid through advanced technology-based disaster response and relief aid. In addition, African governments’ rescue teams and aid agencies are adopting emerging technologies such as drones, to conduct rescue missions and support disaster-affected communities.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, are progressively being deployed on emerging disaster situations.[2] This is because drones are portable, reliable, and increasingly affordable. Most importantly, their application in combating disasters is becoming imperative. Moreover, drones are being incorporated in rapid situational awareness with mapping technology and imagery of affected areas. As such, drones are helping firefighters identify hot spots and assess property damage in inaccessible areas. For example, South Africa utilized drones during the 2017 fire disasters that devasted the Western and Eastern Cape provinces.[3] During the rescue missions, firefighters and emergency crews relied on drones to assess the damage and identified the hot spots of the raging fire disasters. In addition, drones were utilized to generate imagery for reporting purposes. Consequently, such imagery assisted rescue missions’ efforts in communicating accurate information during the fire disasters when helping and searching for survivors. Most importantly, drones are also being used to generate aerial maps that can be utilized to compare the before and after images of impacted areas.

Additionally, during Cyclone Eloise in January 2021, drones were utilized to help and search for survivors in affected parts of Mozambique, Malawi, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, and South Africa.[4],[5] Thus, the incorporation of drones in the rescue missions, has helped save numerous survivors, who stood no chance of surviving when the disaster struck. Moreover, telecommunication, water, and electricity companies are also adopting drone technology to assess their utilities’ integrity and infrastructural damage.[6] This is more especially relevant in remote and inaccessible areas. Furthermore, drones are used in Africa to combat hunger by distributing humanitarian assistance to the disaster impacted areas.

In trying to harness the drone technology for disaster management, the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has developed the African Drone and Data Academy. This programme is an initiative that is operational in Malawi. This programme helps reduce the waiting times for Human Immune Deficiency Virus (HIV) testing among children. Furthermore, the initiative utilizes drones to transport Dried Blood Spot (DBS) samples from hard-to-reach communities directly into relevant testing laboratories.[7] Drones are also used in delivering medical supplies to remote communities and to monitor crops and map out disease outbreaks.[8] Additionally, the academy is a technology-friendly center serving local and international drone companies through-which they could test their drone-related solutions for local communities. Apart from Malawi, countries such as Rwanda, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Morocco, and Cameroon have developed their own localized drone technologies by using local technologies.

The African Union High-Level Panel on Emerging Technologies (APET) has recommended drone technology (see report: Drones on the horizon: Transforming Africa’s Agriculture[9]) as a transformative technology for Africa’s agriculture. However, APET has acknowledged the sluggish uptake and adoption of drones in Africa because of the prevailing barriers. These barriers are preventing Africans from accessing this technology in numerous African countries. These barriers to the adoption of drone technologies include their high costs, incompatible infrastructure, unskilled manpower and restrictive regulatory frameworks.[10],[11] Therefore, Member States are encouraged to consider the drone technology adoption towards mitigating impacts of disasters through enabling regulatory and infrastructural frameworks.

Featured Bloggers – APET Secretariat

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[1] https://www.preventionweb.net/english/countries/statistics/index_region.php?rid=1.

[2] https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/01/1082972.

[3] https://www.enca.com/life/drones-assist-during-western-cape-fire-season.

[4]https://globalnews.ca/video/7597972/cyclone-eloise-drone-footage-shows-devastation-in-mozambique-as-thousands-displaced-from-flooding.

[5] https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/cyclone-eloise-to-affect-parts-of-kzn-on-sunday-saws/.

[6] https://www.pwc.com.au/pdf/clarity-from-above-leveraging-drone-technologies-to-secure-utilities-systems-pwc.pdf.

[7] UNICIF Office of Innovation. From flying dried blood spot (DBS) samples to upskilling a new technology workforce. Accessed on February 5, 2021. https://www.unicef.org/innovation/AfricanDroneAcademy

[8] UNICEF Malawi. The African Drone and Data Academy in Malawi

Drones and Data for Good. Accessed on February 4, 2021. https://www.unicef.org/malawi/african-drone-and-data-academy-malawi

[9] https://www.nepad.org/publication/drones-horizon-transforming-africas-agriculture

[10] http://www.fao.org/e-agriculture/news/drones-horizon-transforming-africa%E2%80%99s-agriculture

[11] http://www.fao.org/e-agriculture/news/drones-horizon-transforming-africa%E2%80%99s-agriculture