AIR Holds Regional Training Workshop for Satellite-based Crop Monitoring Using CropWatch System
Aug 24, 2023
The “Regional Training Workshop for Satellite Crop Monitoring using the CropWatch System” was held in Mauritius on 7-10 August, 2023. It was jointly hosted by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Alliance of International Science Organizations (ANSO) and the Aerospace Information Research Institute (AIR) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
Organized by the Food and Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (FAREI), Mauritius, the workshop brought together 26 representatives of agriculture departments of government or scientific institutions from 11 countries, including Mauritius, Nigeria, Algeria, Kenya, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Cameroon, Lebanon, and Syria.
Mrs. Leela Devi Dookun Luchoomun,Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Mr. Chunli Bai, ANSO President, Mrs. Moheenee Nathoo, Senior Chief Executive at the Ministry of Agro Industry and Food Security, Mr. Joyker Nayeck, Secretary for Foreign Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Regional Integration and International Trade, Ms. Shamika N. Sirimanne, Director of the Division of Technology and Logistics of UNCTAD, Ms. Lisa Simrique Singh, UN Resident Coordinator for Mauritius and Seychelles attended and addressed the opening ceremony. Mr. ZHU Liying, Ambassador of P.R. China to the Republic of Mauritius, Ms. Micheline Seenevassen Pillay, FAREI CEO, Prof. S.K. Sobhee, Vice Chancellor University of Mauritius, and representatives of relevant United Nations organizations in Mauritius also attended the opening ceremony.
Welcome Address at the Opening Ceremony.
Mrs. Leela Devi Dookun Luchoomun, Vice Prime Minister of Mauritius, announced the opening of the training workshop. In her welcome speech, she said that this training workshop will provide an exceptional platform for learning the experiences from other countries and get participants to draw parallels with the challenges who are facing, and to see the opportunity to seek specific policy recommendations. It will enable us to harness the transformed potential of technologies in achieving sustainable agriculture goals through international cooperation and knowledge sharing.
Mr. BAI Chunli, President of ANSO, thanked the co-organizers to prepare the training workshop. In his speech, he expressed his great pleasure at learning that the CropWatch-ICP project, which was initiated with his efforts a few years ago, had now become a major program of impact and benefits to some countries in the Global South. It was hoped that the training, with its concept of "teaching people how to fish", will truly benefit the agro-needs of Mauritius and other African countries, contribute to African countries to reduce their dependence on imports for food, increase resilience to natural disasters under the climate change, and help to improve agricultural diversification and sustainability.
Ms. Sirimanne said in her speech that this week marks the first time we have brought participants together for training in person since the COVID-19. It gives her great hope to see a higher-than-expected number of participants and countries joining us this week. The CropWatch program is a model of South-South cooperation. It focuses on long-term sustainable implementation by participating countries and represents a true transfer of knowledge and technology. CropWatch shows us how a frontier technology, when applied in a thought-through manner with well-focused efforts to develop the necessary skills, can be highly relevant to address development problems. This programme will surely serve as a shining example for future projects for years to come.
Prof. WU Bingfang, head of the CropWatch team from AIR, introduced the background, objectives and expectations of the CropWath-ICP project, the progress and achievements so far, and the purpose and contents of the training workshop. He hopes that the participants from Africa and Middle East countries will be able to master and use the CropWatch cloud platform to carry out agricultural monitoring in their respective countries and regions, and benefit more stakeholders, so as to serve the national agricultural policies and food security, and to facilitate the implementation of SDGs.
Introduction to CropWatch-ICP Project by Prof. Wu Bingfang.
After four days of training, the trainees from different country acquired a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the CropWatch technology and platform. The Nigerian delegate expressed the view that CropWatch will not only benefit Nigeria, but also more African countries. They will organize regional CropWatch training to benefit more stakeholders. The Cameroonian delegate acknowledged the easy accessibility of the GVG software, the functionality of the CropWatch platform, and hoped that the platform could be put into practice in their country as soon as possible.
During the closing ceremony on August 10, Prof. WU Bingfang summarized the training workshop, and clarified the next steps of the work plan, the requirements and expectations for the participation of the countries chosen for demonstration. Finally, Prof. Wu Bingfang, together with Ms. Zhang Liping, Chief of Science, Technology and Innovation for development section, Technology and Logistics Division of UNCTAD, and Ms. Xu Shuwen, Project Manager of ANSO, presented the CropWatch training certificates to all the trainees, marking the end of the training workshop.
The ground survey training using GVG.
CropWatch cloud system training by CropWatch team.
The closing ceremony of the training workshop.
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