21st September 2025, Kathmandu
Flooding is a recurring and devastating threat to agriculture in Nepal, particularly in the fertile yet vulnerable plains of the Koshi River Basin.
From Drones to AI
Farmers in Saptari and Sunsari districts face immense challenges from annual monsoon floods, leading to significant crop loss and economic hardship.
In a move to combat this, FAO Nepal has launched a first-of-its-kind initiative: a high-tech Agricultural Flood Vulnerability and Risk Assessment that combines the power of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
A New Approach to Vulnerability Mapping
Traditional methods for assessing flood damage often rely on satellite imagery, which, while useful, can lack the fine-grained detail needed for effective, on-the-ground planning. The new FAO assessment bridges this gap by deploying UAVs to conduct a detailed survey of over 820 hectares of croplands across Hanumannagar Kankalini, Saptakoshi, and Harinagar Municipalities.
The drones are generating high-resolution spatial data, offering an unprecedented level of detail. This data allows for a precise “eye-in-the-sky” view of agricultural fields, enabling experts to:
Observe Crop Conditions: Identify the health and stage of crop growth with remarkable accuracy.
Assess Field-Level Vulnerabilities: Pinpoint specific plots and areas most susceptible to flooding due to elevation, drainage, or soil type.
Map Flood-Affected Zones: Clearly delineate the extent of inundation and the precise boundaries of damaged areas.
This level of precision is crucial for moving beyond broad, regional assessments to localized, actionable insights that can directly benefit individual farmers and communities.
Integrating AI for Smarter Solutions
The raw data collected by the UAVs is just the first step. The true innovation lies in the next phase: integrating this data with satellite imagery and leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) analytics. This combined dataset will be used to:
Accurately Quantify Agricultural Damage: AI algorithms will analyze the high-resolution imagery to calculate crop loss and damage with a level of accuracy previously unattainable.
Identify High-Risk Areas: By cross-referencing drone data with historical flood patterns and land-use information from satellite imagery, the system can create predictive models to identify areas most at risk of future flooding.
Understand Long-Term Impacts: The analysis will help assess the long-term effects on soil quality, land degradation, and overall land use in the affected areas.
Building a Resilient Agricultural Future
The ultimate goal of this project is to use this robust, integrated dataset to inform and strengthen Nepal’s climate resilience efforts. The findings will be used to:
Strengthen Early Warning Systems: Provide local governments and communities with timely and precise information to prepare for and mitigate the impact of floods.
Support Recovery Planning: Offer detailed damage assessments to facilitate more efficient and targeted post-flood recovery and relief efforts.
Improve Compensation Mechanisms: Provide data-backed evidence for fair and accurate compensation for farmers who have lost their crops.
Promote Climate-Resilient Practices: The insights gained will guide the promotion of agricultural techniques and crop varieties that are better suited to withstand flood events.
By adopting this cutting-edge approach, FAO Nepal is not only pioneering a new standard for agricultural risk assessment but also laying the foundation for a more resilient and secure agricultural sector in one of the country’s most vulnerable regions.
This initiative serves as a powerful example of how technology can be a vital tool in the fight against climate change and its devastating impacts on food security.
For more: From Drones to AI