Mauritania, July 29, 2025
Nouakchott hosted Mauritania’s 4th GMES&Africa national workshop, marking another step in strengthening the country’s use of Earth Observation (EO) for sustainable development. Organized by the University Center for Mapping and Remote Sensing (CUCT) at the University of Nouakchott, in collaboration with the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS), the event highlighted the progress and expanded the adoption of EO-based services in national decision-making.
A key focus of the workshop was the operational services developed under the project. These included:
- MISBAR, for monitoring agricultural production and water withdrawals;
- MISLAND, for assessing land degradation and desertification;
- GUETCROP, an early warning system for crop and pasture management;
- SAQIYA, a mobile application aimed at improving irrigation management and water use efficiency in agriculture.
The workshop opened with the remarks of Professor Ahmadou Mahfoudh, Director of CUCT, and Mr. Evence Zoungrana, OSS GMES Coordinator who both emphasized the growing role of EO technologies in enhancing agricultural planning and environmental governance and reaffirmed the Consortium’s commitment to tailoring services and training efforts in response to user needs.
The event gathered a diverse audience including decision-makers, technical officers, researchers, and students. Institutions represented included the University of Nouakchott, several national ministries (Agriculture, Environment, Higher Education, Scientific Research, Equipment, and Mines), the Pan-African Agency of the Great Green Wall, and national parks such as Diawling and Awleigatt.
Participants shared insights from using GMES services, provided concrete feedback, and suggested new use cases for critical zones such as the Lower Senegal River Delta, the Arguin strip (1,600 ha in the Moughataa of Oued Naga), Nouadhibou, and Guelb Moghrein. These contributions will help shape future deployments and strengthen institutional uptake.
The OSS used the event to highlight recent advances in institutionalizing EO services in Mauritania, notably the national hosting of MISLAND-Mauritania and SAQIYA-Mauritania on local servers. The CUCT, with the OSS support, reaffirmed its commitment to advancing these tools and working closely with national stakeholders to reinforce data-driven governance in natural resource management.