Four experts from Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD) visited Finland from 7 to 17 September 2014. They participated in a training program which was aimed at creating capability to introduce and operate a grid-based weather data collection system in Kenya.
This knowledge and facility is not in place in Kenya for the time being but is essentially needed for the development of a model for prediction of aflatoxin risk in maize. Development of the model is one of the activities of FoodAfrica WP5 which aims at measuring and mitigating the risk of aflatoxin in maize and dairy products in Kenya.
In addition to data on aflatoxin levels in maize, the model development requires reliable data on weather conditions, such as daily mean temperature, relative humidity, rainfall and evapotranspiration. This information can be collected accurately with the satellite-guided grid system covering 1×1 km land areas. The statistical model will be tested in 2015 in selected study areas in Kenya.
The training was organized by MTT Agrifood Research Finland and the Finnish Meteorological Institute. During the training the experts visited MTT headquarters in Jokioinen where they were hosted by Professor Hannu Korhonen and Mr. Timo Kaukoranta and the Finnish Meteorological Institute, where they got deeper knowledge on grid-based weather data collection and analysis by Mr. Juha Aalto.