The minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources in Rwanda, Dr Gerardine Mukeshimana, had a meeting with the CEO and co-founder of Planet Labs, Dr Will Marshall, to discuss the use of satellite imagery to aid Rwanda’s environmental, agricultural and disaster management.

Planet Lab, a United States of America (US) based company, pioneered revolutionising the earth observation (EO) industry by using EO solutions in non-traditional spaces such as agriculture and defence. The stakeholders from Rwanda who were in attendance included; Honourable Paula Ingabire, Minister of ICT and Innovation, Honourable Marie–Solange Kayisire, Minister of Emergency Management, Honourable  Jeanne d’Arc, Minister of  Environment and officials from the Rwanda Space Agency.

The potential partnership would entail leveraging Planet Labs’ highest frequency data to scale operations. Moreover, it would increase efficiency and mitigate risk, developing novel solutions to address pressing challenges.