VIDA vs. COVID — planning for the pandemic in developing countries

Developing countries urgently need to plan for the COVID-19 pandemic and its disruptive effects on livelihoods, food systems and the economy. With our Village Data Analytics (VIDA) tool we bring together satellite imagery, big data and AI to help decision-makers in developing countries. With these skills, we want to contribute to the COVID-19 response. As an example, we have created an analysis for health care in Ethiopia. Both data and our code are open source.

Population at risk

In a first step, we looked at the population distribution, estimated travel times and the accessibility of hospitals and rural health centers. This gives an indication about where at-risk population clusters might be.

Off-grid hospitals

In a second step, we looked at hospitals that are not on the grid. They might be able to fully function in a pandemic. That would put additional strains on grid-connected hospitals and increases the population at risk.

Electrifying rural health centers

We estimate the location of around 2,000 rural health facilities that are also off-grid. They should be electrified as a priority to enable them to administer tests and immunization. If each requires a 1kW solar plus battery system, the total cost could be around $10m — which is highly feasible.

TFE Energy continues to explore how VIDA can be made useful to decision-makers. The above analysis has already been expanded to Nigeria and can be run for all of Sub Saharan Africa.

If you are interested in learning more about how VIDA can help fight COVID, reach out to our team on www.villagedata.io. You can find the full Ethiopia report here.

-Tobias Engelmeier