Alex Orenstein

Drought Specialist

Dacarte

Climate Tech

Food & Agriculture

GovTech & Public Sector

About Me

Alex is a drought specialist working with livestock herders in Africa- notably in the Sahel and Horn of Africa. His work focuses on using satellite imagery to provide meteorological information to farmers and herders to help them anticipate droughts and climate shocks. Since 2014, he has been the livestock and GIS specialist for GARBAL, a call center that provides agricultural and meteorological information to farmers and herders in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. Over the past 15 years, Alex has developed a series of tools that use satellite imagery to model food insecurity that have been used by NGOs, UN Agencies and several governments in Africa. In 2024, Alex developed the first comprehensive map of seasonal livestock movements in Somalia in over 40 years.

Hear My Insights

Democratizing Data: Growing Food in a Planet Under Pressure

Climate conditions combined with the current inflation has further exacerbated the food crisis worldwide. Yet, time and tech has proven that data can be a powerful tool in reversing this trend. From climate resilience planning to supply chain analysis, solutions to the data scarcity gap and transition to climate-smart agricultures, require a holistic approach is essential for food security and sustainable development. How can we overcome data scarcity in developing countries to produce high-resolution weather forecasts? How can we ensure open access to this information on-site? How can we improve our agricultural supply chains considering the current climate crisis? How can financial institutions and agritech startups collaborate to bridge the digital divide in agriculture?