Data (and access to data) is becoming more and more important in our information society, especially with the increased use of artificial intelligence and machine learning. You can write a book about it, but the short version is that we need this data to effectively tackle societal challenges.

Not surprisingly, there are many initiatives that focus on data, with a prominent role for geospatial data. For Europe and the agricultural sector, the Partnership Agriculture of Data is an example, with as slogan “Unlocking the potential of data for sustainable agriculture”: https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2023-08/AgData%20SRIA%20final_version.pdf. In a modest way, this initiative is also supported by the Agriculture Action Group of the European coordination mechanism of the Group on Earth Observations, in short EuroGEO. An inventory of how data and other actions benefit agriculture was made for the Knowledge Centre on Earth Observation (KCEO) of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) last year and is available through the Knowledge Hub of the Group on Earth Observations: https://doi.org/10.60566/8qm1q-wet67.

Data is not only a priority for the European Union itself, but is also an important part of international cooperation on research and innovation between European Union and Africa, Africa being the continent that can benefit most from the increased availability and use of data. One example of this cooperation is the TEMBO Africa project that is dedicated to making in situ weather, water and climate data available, and providing products and services based on these data https://temboafrica.eu/.

TEMBO Africa delivers the following products as a contribution to GEO: rainfall maps, soil moisture maps, open water information, river discharge information and floodplain mapping and bathymetry. These are not static maps, but should be seen as a form of dynamic data provision for selected areas in Sub-Saharan Africa. Of course, this doesn’t come cheap and as a way to cover this financially TEMBO Africa does not only cooperate in the form of public-private partnerships (PPPs), but also generates revenue through the provision of services on flood early warning, dam reservoir management and agricultural germination insurance to enable the delivery of the free products.

Getting this off the ground in Africa is not easy. Fortunately there are similar initiatives that face the same challenges under difficult circumstances and that are increasingly linking and working together towards the same goal. Just to mention one example: the Digital Innovations for Agro-Pastoralists in Niger (IDAN) series of projects, where information and advice is provided that increases income and reduces risk for pastoralists and smallholder farmers through a cooperation of development organisations, a mobile network operator and government agencies (https://www.snv.org/project/digital-innovations-agro-pastoralists-niger-idan). 

What the final results will be of all this remains to be seen, but that there are so many initiatives following a similar approach is hopeful. Back to TEMBO Africa: to get more insight in the practical aspects, have a look at the recording of a WMO webinar or the presentation on hydrological information for Africa that was held on January 20, where TEMBO partners explain their innovative approach towards bathymetry (https://wmo.int/events/meeting/webinar-results-of-open-profile).