Drone Mapping in Mozambique Helps Find Flood Victims, with AI Assistance

The Mozambique National Institute for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction (INGD) and World Food Programme (WFP) built the case for drones' capacity to give all responders an accurate picture of cyclone damage and flooding extent. Two back-to-back cyclones battered Mozambique in 2019, destroying more than 800,000 hectares of farmland during harvest season. The devastation to crops and livelihoods left nearly two million people facing acute food insecurity. The United Nations (UN) World Food Programme (WFP) responded quickly, with two helicopters to ferry supplies and rescue stranded people. Given flooded roads, the air support was crucial but not nearly enough to distribute food and find stranded people across such a wide area of impact.