Strengthening food security in African agricultural systems : A new decision support system that promotes remote sensing

The AfriCultuReS consortium developed a regional-level (Africa) agricultural Geospatial Decision Support System that exploits Earth Observation (EO) resources in support of food security decision-making. The system (open via : https://africultures-platform.eu), provides access to a multitude of operational products and services on 7 topics : Climate, Agriculture, Drought, Land, Livestock, Water and Weather. It will contribute to improving the services provided by the current surveillance and early warning systems in Africa.

In this context, the Hammamet meeting due on September 1-2, 2022, will make it possible to all agricultural sector stakeholders to build their capacities for the operational use of said information system. Indeed, the participants in this two-day meeting will be able to have a better command of the AfriCultuReS platform and make better use of the different products and operational services on the aforementioned topics.

The GMV Aerospace and Defence SAU (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) representatives will conduct the sessions of the meeting.

Let us remind that 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.

AfriCultuReS is implemented through an innovative approach that combines methodologies and multi-source data and is one of the flagship projects that addresses the food security challenge 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.