Alliances and data for climate change

Rwanda is a country from Eastern Africa characterized by its green mountain landscape. Although this country is only a few degrees south of the equator, the elevation provides a subtropical climate to the area, composed of two rainy seasons and two dry seasons. The mountain scenery attributes this country with the nickname "a land of thousand hills."

Rwanda is also the home country of Kundan Kumar, a Doctor of Philosophy and Ph.D. in Information Technology from the 2020 Atlantic International University class. For Doctor Kumar, information technology is a tool to be used for advancement and progress.

It's all about the data

Approximately 60% of Rwanda's soil is fertile, making agriculture a pillar for the nation's development. 30% of their GDP comes from agriculture, a significant economic sector that employs 70% of the population.

However, climate change is threatening. Three-quarters of Rwanda's crops belong to smallholder farmers, and natural disasters and drought menace the sustenance of the already vulnerable population.

All these reasons caused Doctor Kumar to take a big step and join KUBERU, a multinational team (formed by nationals of India, Kenya, and Rwanda) that won the 2018 Design-a-thon Climate App Hackathon of Rwanda Meteorology Agency sponsored by UNDP.

The project's main goal was to develop an interlinked communication technology that would provide accessible climate-related information to farmers and agronomists, allowing them to make timely decisions for the plantations in the region.

Doctor Kumar's efforts are an initiative towards fighting big menaces for Rwanda, like poverty and climate change, contributing directly to achieving some of the goals listed by the United Nations in their 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

An informed and better future

The information technology system developed by Kumar and his team, offers better chances for the farmers in Rwanda. The system tracks information and generates predictions on weather conditions and distributes this information with minimal effort to agronomists and farmers alongside the region. This way, the crop owners can make decisions to prevent unexpected disasters.

The alliance formed by the UNDP and institutions in Rwanda for the 2018 Design-a-thon Climate App organization -and Kumar's multinational team- are a great example of what Partnership for the goals means. Also, by helping this strategic sector in Rwanda, Kumar's efforts point to achieving the Reduced poverty and Zero Hunger goals while also generating data for Climate Action. Using I.T., Kundan Kumar is making a change in the world.

How can you make this a better world? Enroll with Atlantic International University and guarantee a better future.

Tags:
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Rwanda, Agriculture, Climate Action, Climate Change, Big data, Information Technology, Meteorology

References:
Kundan Kumar - Rwanda Atlantic International University - AIU 2020