What is the EOCapacity: Madagascar Project?
Digital Earth Africa, in collaboration with the Australian Embassy in Mauritius, are implementing an Earth observation (EO) initiative in Madagascar, which aims to empower sustainable development through geospatial training. The EOCapacity Madagascar project demonstrates how a diverse range of government, research and industry partners can harness freely available Earth observation data on the DE Africa platform to support sectors such as environment, resource management, agriculture and water management.
EOCapacity Madagascar is funded by the Australian Government’s Direct Aid Program, and the Helmsley Charitable Trust. The Project is implemented by Digital Earth Africa, and coordinating partners, the University of Antananarivo, the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA), Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA)
Who will benefit from the EOCapacity Madagascar project?
EO Capacity Madagascar is aimed at:
- Enhancing awareness and understanding of the DE Africa platform across a broad range of government and research organisations, including the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development and the University of Madagascar.
- EOCapacity Madagascar places special emphasis on the inclusion and empowerment of women and youth and will have dedicated workshops with academia supported by the University of Madagascar.
- Strengthening institutional capacity to effectively utilise geospatial data for evidence-based decision-making, resource management, and research, and increased collaboration and knowledge sharing among stakeholders, fostering a geospatial community of practice in Madagascar.
What results are expected from the project?
EOCapacity Madagascar will produce a comprehensive assessment report highlighting the geospatial capacity development requirements for Madagascar. This report will suggest tailored training programs designed to address the identified capacity gaps and empower a diverse range of participants in the country with geospatial skills and knowledge. This report will be made public and will inform future initiatives that support the use of Earth observation data in the country.
Digital Earth Africa
Digital Earth Africa aims to improve livelihoods across the African continent by translating Earth observations into insights that support sustainable development.
Our platform and services enable African governments, industry and decision makers to track changes across the continent in unprecedented detail. This provides valuable insights for better decision making across many areas, including flooding, drought, soil and coastal erosion, agriculture, forest cover, land use and land cover change, water availability and quality, and changes to human settlements.
Learn more about the impact of Digital Earth Africa, so far, in our impact stories.
We are built on partnerships with African governance and in-country expertise to build capacity. Digital Earth Africa is working with the African and international community to ensure that Earth observation data is analysis ready, rapidly available and readily accessible to meet the needs of our users. Learn more about our partners here.
Digital Earth Africa has demonstrated that it has the technology, capacity, development capability and established partnerships in this space to support food and water security at continental, regional, national and local scale.
Australian Aid
The objective of Australia’s development program is to support peace, stability and prosperity through sustainable development and lifting people out of poverty.
Australia’s aid investments are used to tackle regional challenges like poverty, economic growth, healthcare, infrastructure investment, climate change and gender equality.
It achieves this by investing in locally led solutions, creating local jobs and economic opportunities and building genuine, respectful partnerships.
Learn more about Australia’s international development program
Project Updates
Training Needs Assessment
As part of the preparation for the in-person training, DE Africa conducted a training needs analysis to identify the types of participating institutions, the gender of participants and the EO capabilities of the target audience. This information allows the DE Africa team to tailor the training to the needs and capabilities of the participants in Madagascar.
DE Africa identified potential organisations and individuals to participate in the training through the support of Prof Solofo from the University of Antananarivo, the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA), Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA). Key stakeholders including governmental, academic, nongovernmental and private institutions were identified and invitations were sent out to each organisation notifying them of the training and requesting the completion of the needs assessment form. DE Africa developed a Training Needs Assessment Form (TNAF) to understand the existing capacities of potential participants, and other information in preparation for the training.
Click here to access the Training Needs Assessment Report for Madagascar
Workshop Dates
Dedicated workshops with government officials, academia, research institutions have been planned as follows:
- Government officials and NGOs on Monday 11 and Tuesday 12 March 2024
- Academia and research institutions on Wednesday 13 and Thursday 14 March 2024
All training workshops will be supported by the University of Antananarivo and take place at the ibis Antananarivo Ankorondrano.
Media Contact
We have reserved space for the media at the workshops. If you are a member of the media and interested in covering this program, please contact the Digital Earth Africa team at communications@digitalearthafrica.org.