Somalia faces a significant challenge in obtaining accurate, up-to-date, and disaggregated agricultural, environmental, and climate change data. This challenge is compounded by limited technical capacity and Earth observation capabilities. To address this challenge, Digital Earth Africa (DE Africa) partnered with the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD) and launched a pilot project to enhance national capacity for environmental monitoring and improve data and information availability, timeliness, sharing, and use.
GPSDD and DE Africa worked closely with the Somali government to develop and implement a project that meets the country's specific needs. The project has had a positive impact on Somalia's ability to monitor environmental SDG indicators and build capacity among its institutions.
The project used a three-stage model to engage with the Government of Somalia:
- Understanding the landscape: The project team engaged with key stakeholders to understand the social-political context, identify priority thematic areas of challenge, and develop problem statements to inform use case development.
- Capacity building: DE Africa delivered a series of training workshops on the use of EO data and geospatial tools to monitor environmental SDG indicators. The training was tailored to the specific needs of the participating institutions.
- Consolidating results into a reusable model for scaling engagement: The project team worked with national stakeholders to showcase the project's achievements and generate interest in its capabilities among other countries in the region.
Project was a first step to positively impact Somalia's ability to monitor environmental SDG indicators. For example, some staff at the Somali National Bureau of Statistics (SNBS) is now using DE Africa's platform to generate weekly maps of land cover change. This The information is helping the SNBS to track deforestation and other environmental changes.
The project has also helped to build capacity among Somali institutions. Over 100 government officials have been trained in the use of EO data and geospatial tools. It is hoped that this training will help the government to better manage its natural resources and address environmental challenges.
Benefits of the project
The project has had some benefits for Somalia, including:
● Improved access to accurate, up-to-date, and disaggregated environmental data
● Enhanced capacity of Somali institutions to monitor environmental SDG indicators
● Increased awareness of the value of EO data and geospatial tools for environmental management
● Strengthened collaboration between international and national partners
Conclusion
The project demonstrated the potential of EO data and geospatial tools to support sustainable development in Africa. The project's success is a testament to the power of collaboration between international and national partners. The Global Partnership and DE Africa are committed to working with other African countries to replicate the project's success.
For information on the project read the full report available here. [insert a link to PDF of full GPSDD Report]
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