Close collaboration between ITTAS and GMES&Africa to build the capacities of experts from the Ministries of Water and Agriculture

A training workshop bringing together water resource managers is being held in Tunis from July 31 to August 4, 2023. It is organized by the OSS within the framework of the “Improving Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), knowledge-based management and governance of the Niger Basin and the Iullemeden-Taoudéni/Tanezrouft aquifer system | NB-ITTAS project” which covers Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria and Tchad. This event aims to reinforce the participants’ ability to use Earth Observation tools and techniques as well as geospatial technologies and tools in support of the sustainable management of water resources, in particular the monitoring of water withdrawals for agricultural use, the irrigated areas mapmaking and the establishment of hydrogeological models. Besides, these water resource managers have been trained to effectively use the various platforms developed by the OSS and its partners within the framework of GMES&Africa and which allow the access, visualization and interpretation of Earth Observation (EO) data and derived indicators, including MISBAR and GuetCrop.

Thanks to the demonstrations carried out on the pilot sites, the participants were able to reinforce their knowledge, with the prospect of defining concrete use cases in regions of specific interest. They will have the opportunity to train their colleagues. The ITTAS/GMES&Africa cross-fertilization has thus promoted the optimized use of EO to better monitor water resources and sustainable agriculture and ensure food security.