Scaling Community-Sensing and Recalling of Historical Climate Impact Data

A major challenge in finding planetary solutions for climate change is engaging the marginalized communities who are most affected. One striking example is the hundreds of millions of smallholder farmers particularly vulnerable to climate hazards. They make up most of the 768 million people facing hunger, yet 95% of research is irrelevant to them, and few studies include their data or voices. Using iKON, a low-cost, scalable tool that harnesses SMS and gamification, this project redefines how climate impact data is generated, positioning smallholder farmers as active contributors to climate intelligence. These data will improve the accuracy of crop modeling, early warning systems, and climate risk tools. Beyond scaling and better articulating community and remote sensing sources, the project supports behavioral and institutional shifts, builds climate literacy among marginalized rural groups, and equips policymakers and researchers with more timely, community-informed insights to design local interventions.