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Spire Global Selected by GIST Research to Provide Soil Moisture Data for Climate and Conflict Early Warning Research in Ethiopia's Somali Region
Supported by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the project uses satellite-based...
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[{"type":"text","content":"Spire Global Selected by GIST Research to Provide Soil Moisture Data for Climate and Conflict Early Warning Research in Ethiopia’s Somali Region\n\n\n .bwalignc { text-align: center; list-style-position: inside }\n \n\n\n\n\n Supported by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the project uses satellite-based soil moisture insights to strengthen early warning systems in one of Africa’s most climate-exposed regions\n \n\n\n\n\n\n Spire Global, Inc.\n \n (NYSE: SPIR) (“Spire” or “the Company”), a global provider of space-based data, analytics, and space services, today announced it was selected by GIST Research (GIST), an independent research and advisory consultancy specializing in fragile and climate-affected contexts, to provide its Soil Moisture Insights for a study mapping climate-driven pastoralist movement in Ethiopia’s Somali Region. The data will feed into the International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) Transhumance Tracking Tool (TTT), a system designed by the UN Agency to observe herder movements and mitigate conflict risks.\n \n\n Supported by IOM, with funding from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), the pilot aims to strengthen early warning systems that monitor environmental and livelihood stress in one of Africa’s most climate-exposed regions, where scarce resources can heighten competition and foster tension between pastoralist communities. The resulting insights are expected to inform evidence-based policies, guide authorities and partners in their interventions, and contribute to conflict prevention efforts.\n \n\n Pastoral communities in Ethiopia’s Somali Region have long relied on mobility to sustain their herds, moving in search of rainfall, pasture, and water. Increasing climate variability is making these movements less predictable, with changing rainfall patterns shaping when and where herders travel.\n \n\n Utilizing five years of Spire’s high-resolution Soil Moisture Insights, GIST, in collaboration with IOM, combined in-depth field research and extensive on-the-ground consultations to map out conflict dynamics and trace how rainfall, water, and soil conditions influence pastoralist mobility across thousands of kilometers of rangeland. The findings highlight how soil moisture fluctuations shape herd mov...