Satellite-based assessment of yield variation and its determinants in smallholder African systems

Significance Improvements in agricultural productivity in developing countries are thought to play a key role in poverty reduction. Unfortunately, such productivity remains poorly measured throughout much of the world, hampering efforts to evaluate and target productivity-enhancing interventions. Using high-resolution satellite imagery in combination with field data we collected from thousands of smallholder plots in Kenya, we show that satellite imagery can be used to estimate and understand yield variation at the field scale across African smallholders. Our results suggest a range of potential capabilities, including the inexpensive measurement of the impact of specific interventions, the broader characterization of the source and magnitude of yield gaps, and the development of financial products aimed at African smallholders.