In a sudden-onset emergency, World Food Program uses an amphibious truck that looks like a tank with inflatable wheels. It is called a Sherp — a name that suggests the fortitude of one who scales Mt. Everest loaded with a pack.
After field-testing two Sherps in the Democratic Republic of Congo and three in South Sudan in 2018, WFP included two of the Ukraine-made vehicles in the response to Cyclone Idai in Mozambique. Before the Sherp could proceed, however, crucial navigational information is needed. Sherps can’t climb a vertical wall, so the driver needs to know where the slopes tapered off. It is important to avoid rapids. A drone is used to get a bird’s eye view of the area.
Images from the drone are broadcast onto the phone screen of the pilot driving the vehicle, so he could ‘see’ past the tree tops and the swamp, and is able to navigate the area.
In 48 hours, 26 metric tons of food were moved into Buzi, one ton at a time, the drone leading the Sherp across the unpredictable river.
Once the operation in Buzi was completed, the amphibious vehicles were moved back to Beira, ready to assist in the next flooded area. With two Sherps warehoused in the Southern Africa region, WFP and the Mozambique National Institute of Disaster Management (INGC) now have more cost-saving options for reaching stranded populations.
Source: The humanitarian monster truck. By Tej Rae