Digital Earth Africa and the National Remote Sensing Centre sign formal partnership

Zambia is building the infrastructure it needs to turn satellite data into national decisions. On 18 March 2026, Digital Earth Africa and the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) Zambia signed a Memorandum of Understanding, a formal commitment to work together on Earth observation (EO) for Zambia’s development priorities.

The partnership brings together DE Africa’s open-access platform and analysis-ready data with NRSC Zambia’s national mandate to advance remote sensing across the country. The focus is practical: connecting Zambia’s institutions, researchers, and early-career professionals with the tools and data they need to act on the challenges they already know are there.

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The MOU sets out four core areas of collaboration.

The first is co-developing EO applications. NRSC is building a national Crop Monitoring System, and DE Africa’s data products will be integrated directly into it thus supporting crop health monitoring, yield estimation, and agricultural productivity forecasting. The partnership will also generate Zambia-specific use cases that demonstrate what the data can do on the ground.

The second is research and knowledge sharing. Both organisations will promote EO-based innovation and create pathways for sharing findings that support Zambia’s national development agenda and regional priorities.

The third is capacity building. Training programmes will target students, youth, early-career professionals, and Zambia GEO stakeholders, building technical skills in accessing and applying EO data through DE Africa’s platform.

The fourth is stakeholder engagement. DE Africa and NRSC will facilitate dialogue to surface new collaboration opportunities and strengthen EO adoption across Zambia and the wider region.

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DE Africa will provide access to analysis-ready EO data, analytical tools, and continental services. It will offer technical and advisory support on priority thematic areas, support virtual capacity-building programmes, and amplify Zambian EO success stories through its communications and partner events.

NRSC will lead national coordination and ensure the collaboration aligns with Zambia’s strategic development priorities. It will identify national use cases, develop EO applications using DE Africa’s tools, mobilise stakeholders for training, and contribute to joint initiatives.

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The MOU runs for three years and will be reviewed annually. It joins a growing network of DE Africa partnerships across the continent, each one focused on making open Earth observation data useful at the national level, in the hands of the people who need it most.