Partners:
Governments: Senegal, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Mali, Namibia, Mozambique, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Nicaragua, Panama, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Jamaica, and Italy. International Organizations: UN Office for Outer Space Affairs, UN Institute for Training and Research, UN Environment Program, UN Economic Commission for Africa, Foreign Agricultural Organization, International Fund for Agricultural Development, World Bank, International Fertilizer Development, and the International Center for Research in Agro-Forestry Development
Civil Society: EIS Africa, World Wildlife Fund, OPEN GIS Consortium, World Resources Institute
Private Sector: Earth Sciences Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI)

For a complete list of partners, please visit http://www.opengis.org/gisd.

Partnership Targets

Training

• Provide training on the use of geo-spatial data, remotely sensed data, and decision support tools in Africa and Latin America.
• Provide carbon sequestration methodology training for at least three western African country teams annually, comprised of government, research, and civil society experts, in collaboration with regional agro-climatic organizations.

Governance

• Establish an African Geo-Spatial Forum for Sustainable Development, to define shared principles of partnership coordination and collaboration.
• Establish an African Geo-Spatial Forum Secretariat in 2004, to coordinate communication and meetings with partners including establishment of a regional website to provide a calendar of events and local points of contact, as funding is identified.
• Promote spatial data infrastructure and standards in Africa and Latin America.

Collaboration

• Promote the effective use of geo-spatial data sharing in Africa.
• Establish a US-Italy geo-spatial information framework.

Progress Against Targets

Training:

• In 2003, GISD held eight training courses in Senegal, Uganda, South Africa, and Ethiopia, and two in Panama covering Central America and the Caribbean region on the use of geo-spatial and remotely sensed data, and decision-support tools. Technical experts were trained in the use of data and decision support tools that enable the development of natural resource management and business plans. Courses were also provided to policy makers on the spatial data infrastructure to ensure access and inter-operability of national data sets.

• In November 2003, at the Africa GIS Conference in Dakar, Senegal, the U.S. and the UN Office of Outer Space Affairs and the UN Environment Program co-hosted an experts’ meeting on the use and distribution of landsat data sets donated by the USG and UN Environment Program. The session resulted in an agreed set of principles on the distribution of the landsat data set. In addition, the University of Maryland and the Global Observation for Land Cover Dynamics (GOFC/Gold) under the Tropical Rainforest Information Center TRFFC program volunteered to make these data available to organizations and the public via the Internet. (http://bsrsi.msu.edu/trfic/data_portal.html), and the UN Office of Outer Space Affairs agreed to develop and provide regional courses on the use of these data.

• In 2003 the U.S. Geological Service provided the complete set of landsat data to three regional remote sensing centers located in Niger, Kenya and Zimbabwe.

• In March 2003, carbon sequestration methodology training was provided in Senegal for experts from Senegal, Ghana, Mali, Kenya, Benin, and Namibia. A second training course will be held in May 2004 in Niami, Niger for experts from Sahelian countries at the Regional Agri-climatolgical and hydro-meteorological center (AGHRYMET). The meeting will be held in collaboration with Foreign Agricultural Organization and the Italian Istituto Agrinomic per l’oltremare.

• In February 2004 the Sahalian International Council for the Fight Against Drought in West Africa (CILSS) will host a conference on soil carbon sequestration in Bamako, Mali. The conference will be hosted in partnership with the SOILS collaborative research support project funded by USAID and NASA. The purpose of this conference is to review approaches for soil carbon sequestration, and methodologies for its verification.

Collaboration

• In 2002, the initiative funded 12 projects in four target regions in Africa: Upper Niger, East African Great Lakes, Kenya-Tanzania Coast, and Limpopo/Zambezi Basin. For a comprehensive description, please visit http://www.opengis.org/gisd.

• GISD sponsored a study by the US National Research Council’s Geographic Foundation for Agenda 21 on opportunities for and obstacles to the use of geographic information tools and technologies to promote sustainable development. The report reviewed the state of the art and proposed recommendations for the effective use of geo-spatial information in support of sustainable development in Africa (www.nap.edu/books/0309084784.html).
• USAID and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs signed U.S.-Italy Framework Agreement in June 2003, and an implementation plan was completed in November 2003. In spring 2004 the partners will meet to approve the plan. Collaborative efforts include soil carbon sequestration and harmonization of land use/land cover change data standards.

Governance:

• Geo-spatial Forum drafted (2002) and approved (February 2003) its membership principles, which promote collaboration among various geo-spatial information programs and access to data.

Next Steps

• Summer 2004 training course in Africa on the use of dynamic systems modeling for natural resource management.
• August 2004, Conference and training on the use of land use/land cover data for Africa, Florence, Italy.

Resources:
The U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. Department of State has played a leading role in organizing the alliance. Since its inception, the USG has contributed nearly $4 million dollars for training, capacity building, and equipment.

USG Primary Points of Contact: Agency for International Development: Paul Bartel (Phone: 202/219-0249 E-mail: pbartelafrsd.org ). Department of State: Fernando Echavarria (Phone: 202/663-2395; E-mail: echavarriafr@state.gov).

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