The Challenge

Land degradation and coastal erosion affect the lives of millions of people, causing significant economic, environmental, and social impact. It leads to loss of land, property, and infrastructure. Although erosion is a natural process, it is exacerbated by human activity, such as infrastructure construction and vegetation removal. 

Coastal erosion has already caused major displacement in West Africa, where shoreline degradation has collectively cost local economies billions of dollars.

It is estimated that around 45 percent of Africa’s land is impacted by degradation, reducing agricultural productivity and increasing vulnerability to natural disasters.  

The Solution

Digital Earth Africa provides two Continental Services designed to inform strategies to manage land degradation and coastal erosion.

Effective management of coastal changes and mitigation of risk, as well as sustainable coastal zone management, rely on consistent and regularly updated data.  Addressing this need, Digital Earth Africa’s Coastlines Monitoring Service provides comprehensive data to monitor, analyse, and understand changes along Africa’s coastline.

For land areas, Digital Earth Africa’s Fractional Cover Service splits landscape observation data into three parts enabling measurement of green vegetation, dry vegetation, and bare ground, providing insights into not only vegetation, soil and water, but also land, crop and grazing management. Available on an annual basis this continental service provides a long-term record for monitoring land cover changes and understanding environmental conditions.