This technical workshop, organized by CRASTE-LF, a reference training centre based in Rabat – Morocco, brought together experts from national and regional Mapping and Remote Sensing agencies, designated by representatives of the GMES North Africa Consortium, including the CUCT in Mauritania, the LCRSSS in Libya, the CRTEAN in Tunisia, the CRASTE-LF in Morocco and the DRC in Egypt. The event kick-started with the speeches of Mr. Nabil Ben Khatra, Executive Secretary of the OSS and Professor Anas Emran, Director of CRASTE-LF. Both speakers highlighted the alarming situation of lacking water resources, climate change and rainfall variability in North Africa. They also underlined the need to have effective approaches and methods for developing efficient tools and solutions in order to inform decision-making for optimized use and management of agricultural water and to ensure food security and strengthen the resilience of the populations.
Experts in agronomy, geomatics and resources management, the participants in this meeting will have the opportunity to improve their knowledge on geospatial sciences, applications and technologies in the use and management of agricultural water. The training will focus on the optimized use of satellite data from drones and ground sensors for monitoring and management of smart irrigation. It will allow the participants to master innovative technologies such as Machine Learning and Cloud Computing, digital agriculture and smart irrigation. Once the training ends, experts will have to capitalize on the acquired knowledge, train the staff of the Ministries and supervisory institutions, as well as partners in their countries.