The Evolution of Kenya’s Drought Management System - Reducing Disaster: Early Warning Systems for Climate Change - page 209

Recovery
(reconstruction
activities)

Normal
(preparedness
activities)

Permanent functions:

1. Drought monitoring & early
warning systems
2. Policy, legal & institutional
reforms

3. Coordination

4. Knowledge management &
innovation
5. Investments in resilience

Alert
(mitigation
activities)

Emergency
(relief activities)

Alarm
(mitigation
activities)

Fig. 11.2 The drought cycle and drought management system in Kenya

11.4.2.1 Technology

Direct interaction on a monthly basis between the NDMA's fi eld monitors and herders
and farmers is central to the early warning system. This information is complemented
by data from other sources. For example, remote sensing data has become much
more accessible with advances in technology and gives a level of detail to environ-
mental indicators that could not be found from any other source. However, there is
a danger that increasing dependence on remotely sensed data may gradually sideline
the understanding of the early warning process of herders and farmers themselves
and remove them from any possibility of equal partnership in preparing the early
warning forecast. The NDMA is thus exploring ways to make more use of remote
sensing but without undermining the fundamental principle that villagers' percep-
tions should be at the heart of the information system.
With the support of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the NDMA is
also experimenting with using mobile phones to gather and transmit data from the
fi eld. Evidence thus far suggests that this is a more effi cient approach than the current
paper-based system, that it enables data to be transmitted more quickly and that
errors in data entry can be more easily identifi ed.