Building Earth observation capacity in Africa
GeoVille and ITC supported by partners from the EO4SD Agriculture cluster held a 5-days capacity building workshop in Marrakech (Morocco) at the Direction Regional de l´Agriculture (DRA) from 12 to 16 March. The aim of the workshop was to inform participants on how the EO4SD services can provide key information for agricultural development in domains such as sustainable land management, agricultural production or irrigation suitability mapping, among many other topics.
EO information is exceptionally well suited to support the implementation of long-term and large-scale development programs and projects resolving the data and information gaps concerning the status and change in land use, vegetation cover, agricultural production and water productivity. Therefore, the EO4SD Agriculture and Rural cluster wants to ensure an increased engagement and awareness of EO capabilities among staff working for Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), their client countries and the various (inter)national governmental and non-governmental organisations involved in projects in Morocco and Burkina Faso. During the workshop the opportunities and benefits of using EO-based information services were demonstrated, so that they become an integral part of the planning, operational, monitoring and evaluation phases of projects.
About 20 participants attended the workshop including participants from the Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture, the Sahara and Sahel observatory (OSS), as well as World Bank and IFAD project responsibles in Morocco and Burkina Faso. Further EO4SD workshops will take place in the upcoming months with the purpose of continuing to assist potential users to sustainably build up their decision-making and monitoring capabilities as well as skills in EO data exploitation for agriculture and rural development.
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