The Sahara and Sahel Observatory partnered with Aerospace and Defence S.A.U. (GMV) and the University of Sheffield, to organize a training workshop on the AfriCultuReS platform, in support of monitoring agricultural campaigns in Tunisia.
The opening session was provided by Mr. Adel Zriba, representative of ONAGRI and marked by the speech of Mr. Louis Evence Zoungrana, the AfriCultuReS project Coordinator in Tunisia.
The sessions of this two-day workshop will be moderated by Mr. Mustapha Mimouni, the GMES&Africa project – OSS/North Africa Consortium Coordinator, and led by the representatives of the project implementing Consortium, in particular : Aerospace and Defence S.A.U. (GMV), the University of Sheffield (USFD), the University of Rome La Sapienza (SIA), the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), the South African National Space Agency (SANSA), the AGRHYMET Regional Centre, and the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS).
The representatives of national and regional institutions will have the opportunity to learn about the AfriCultuReS platform and have a perfect command of the different products and operational services on : Climate, Agriculture, Drought, Land, Livestock, Water and Weather.
This system promotes the Earth Observation (satellite remote sensing) resources in order to improve the current monitoring and early warning services in the agricultural field. It is hosted by the « AfriCultuReS Platform », which provides access to a variety of services and products useful for decision-making and monitoring of agricultural campaigns, especially, the cereal production.
For the record, AfriCultuReS « Enhancing Food Security in African Agricultural Systems with the support of Remote Sensing » - is a regional project funded by the European Union (H2020) and implemented in 8 African countries by a consortium of 17 African and European organizations and universities. This project aims to set up an integrated surveillance and early warning system to support decision-making in agriculture and food security in Africa.
The project activities in Tunisia are coordinated by the OSS in close collaboration with three national reference institutions involved in the development of remote sensing products in support of agricultural campaigns and food security monitoring, namely : the National Center for Mapping and Remote Sensing (CNCT), the National Research Institute for Rural Engineering, Water and Forests (INRGREF) and the National Observatory for Agriculture (ONAGRI).
The project has already engaged in its last stage and in the capitalization of achievements and capacity building phase.