African Group on Earth Observations

AfriGEO was established to support GEO in downscaling activities to member states, to enhance intra and extra regional collaboration hence reducing duplication of efforts; to articulate regional and national challenges aligned to national and regional for prioritization within the Geo work program; increase the uptake of EO in decision making process whilst encouraging data sharing and open science.

• Project implementation based on priority action areas ( Agriculture and Food Security, Water Resource Management, Sustainable Urban Development, Sustainable Forest Management, Land Cover/ Land Degradation Neutrality, Health and Data and Infrastructure)
• Communication and Awareness Creation through communication media, annual Symposium, workshops and Webinars
• Exchange via Communities of practice
• Capacity development
• Data sharing through Webpage, Geoportal, GEOSS and the GEO Knowledge Hub
• Periodic needs Assessment;
• Partner collaborations to support implementation.

• Integration of GEOGLOWS ECMWF forecast with telemetric data to improve Flood Early Warning in Malawi
• Downscaling of crop monitors in 5 countries Rwanda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania
• GEO LDN Capacity building and adoption of MSC and Mphil programs to be hosted by UENR and massive online courses by RCMRD and hosting of the Reginal help desk.
• Database of EO SMMEs in Africa(2022)
• Landscape outlook of existing challenges, data, tools and available resources to address LDN in Africa,
• Collaboration with DE Africa to create knowledge packages discoverable through the GKH
• Open data cube women sprint 2021;
• Special edition on EO and Health Co-Hosted together with the GEO EO for Health community group focused on; Heat, air quality, infections diseases and environmental health;
• Support to Implementation of the Africa Earth Observation Challenges for 2021, 2022 and 2023
• Annual AfriGEO symposia:
  • 2016: 1st AfriGERO symposium held in Victoria Falls, Ghana
  • 2017: 2nd AfriGEO symposium held in Sunyani, Ghana
  • 2018: 3rd AfriGERO symposium held in Libreville, Gabon
  • 2019: Joint RCMRD International Conference and 4th AfriGEO symposium held at RCMRD
  • 2021: 5th AfriGEO Symposium held Virtually
  • 2022: 6th AfriGEO Symposium held in Accra, Ghana
  • 2023: 7th AfriGEO symposium to be held in Swakopmund, Namibia
• Industry showcase with Esri to demonstrate EO value in Agriculture, Health, Transport and Change Monitoring;
• Capacity building Sessions, Hackathons and Opportunities shared with the community based on the AfriGEO priority implementation areas
• National Coordination support to South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana,
• Support to the GEO Secretariat
• AfriGEO Portal supported by ESRI

AfriGEO activities contribute to Africa Agenda 2063 and are aligned to GEO’s priorities 4 areas: The UN Vision 2030 for sustainable development, the Paris climate agreement, Sendai framework for disaster risk reduction and Sustainable urban development

The operational plan below shows how the AfriGEO Secretariat interacts with itself and its external partners