Smart weather app helps Kenya's herders brace for drought
Tuesday, 16 February 2021 12:52 GMT
A young man at Merille Livestock Market in northern Kenya receives a call to alert him of the week’s weather forecast transmitted through the myAnga app, Merille, Kenya, on Feb. 2, 2021. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Kagondu Njagi
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* App gets forecasts from virtual weather stations
* Information can save herders scouting as far as 120 km
* Illiteracy and low smartphone access limit app's reach
By Kagondu Njagi
MERILLE, Kenya, Feb 16 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Sitting under a low tree to escape the blazing Kenyan sun, Kaltuma Milkalkona and two young men hunch intently over the older woman's smartphone - but they are not transfixed by the latest sports scores or a trending internet meme.