• About
  • Contact
  • Donate/Support
  • Subscribe
Mansa Banko Online
Advertisement
  • Home
  • News
  • Agric
  • Business
  • Health
  • Politics
  • Science/Tech
  • More
    • Education
    • Human Rights
    • Sports
    • Energy
    • Environment
    • Migration
    • Opinion
    • Tourism
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Agric
  • Business
  • Health
  • Politics
  • Science/Tech
  • More
    • Education
    • Human Rights
    • Sports
    • Energy
    • Environment
    • Migration
    • Opinion
    • Tourism
No Result
View All Result
Mansa Banko Online
No Result
View All Result
Home FAO

New data allows us to see the forest and the trees

Africa’s world-first environmental data collection initiative bears fruit

Press Release by Press Release
September 27, 2021
in FAO, News
0
New data allows us to see the forest and the trees
0
SHARES
44
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Opinion piece by Abebe Haile-Gabriel, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa

with Moctar Sacande, Coordinator of the Action Against Desertification Programme in Support of Africa’s Great Green Wall, FAO’s Forestry Division and Danilo Mollicone, technical officer, FAO’s Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment.

In the midst of a very busy news cycle, a quiet revolution has taken place in Africa.

Data analysts across the continent have collected data on agriculture, land and the environment and for the first time we have a full picture of land use in Africa. It has found more forests and more arable lands than were previously detected, and has revealed 7 billion trees outside forests for the first time. We can see the forest and the trees.

The analysis also shows that 350 million hectares of cropland are cultivated in Africa, more than double that of the European Union. These findings confirm that Africa has enormous potential to be a production powerhouse, to grow enough food to feed its people and earn from exports, as other regions with a comparable land resource base do.

The initiative has made Africa the first continent to complete the collection of accurate, comprehensive and harmonized digital land use and land use change data. The release of these findings is particularly relevant during Africa Climate Week (26-29 September), when African countries and partners are coming together to discuss climate action in Africa.

The analysis has found that the area covered under Africa’s Great Green Wall initiative – which aims to restore arid and semi-arid lands – has 393 million hectares of land with restoration potential. Combined, that would be the equivalent size of India and represents a great opportunity for the large-scale restoration model led by FAO in support of the Great Green Wall.

The rich list of findings goes on, revealing among others that 17 million hectares of land have been turned into new cropland since 2000, representing a 5 percent increase over the period. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has the largest forest area (155 million hectares) followed by Angola (66 million hectares). Nigeria has the most cropland (50 million hectares), followed by Ethiopia (29 million hectares). Only 10 percent of cropland across the continent is irrigated.

Innovation for Africa’s future

The Africa Open DEAL initiative, where DEAL stands for Data for Environment, Agriculture and Land, was led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the African Union Commission (AUC), with funding from the European Union, Germany, Turkey and FAO’s Technical Cooperation Programme. The huge data collection operation was carried out between 2018 and 2020, with the support of the PanAfrican Agency for the Great Green Wall, the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and 30 African countries.

Analysts used Collect Earth, a free, open-source tool developed by FAO with the support of Google. It allowed users to zoom in on areas of land to about 0.5 hectares, using very high resolution imagery, enabling them for the first time to count individual trees and to see farmlands, wild fires, infrastructure and other land use. Importantly, places with difficult field accessibility were able to be analysed, which led the team to discover the 7 billion previously-unrecorded trees.

Now, the findings are freely available for any researcher – they are embedded within FAO’s Hand-in-Hand Initiative geospatial platform and are accessible to anyone through EarthMap.org. It means users can detect where deforestation is happening, where settlement land is encroaching on cropland or grassland and where wetland is being lost. Countries can monitor and report against climate change instruments and agreements, including the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and the Sustainable Development Goals’ indicators.

FAO supports the transformation to MORE efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable, agri-food systems for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind. We believe that science and innovation can provide real solutions to many of the problems the world faces, and this initiative helps to light the way forward.

ENDS

Word count: 616

Photo caption

Photo: ©FAO

The Africa Open DEAL initiative has made Africa the first continent to complete the collection of accurate, comprehensive and harmonized digital land use and land use change data. It provides a detailed snapshot of the continent, captured through more than 300 000 sampling plots of 0.5 ha each.

Pull quote

“These findings confirm that Africa has enormous potential to be a production powerhouse, to grow enough food to feed its people and earn from exports,” – FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa Abebe Haile-Gabriel.

Find our more:

The Africa Open DEAL analysis is available in English and French.

 

 

 

Tags: AfricaDataenvironmentFAOSustainable Development Goals’ indicators
Previous Post

The ECOWAS Commission has held a 3-day ECOWAS Informal Cross Border Trade (ECO-ICBT) / MoveAfrica-Traffic Light System program planning retreat in Accra Ghana.

Next Post

TROPICS BUSINESS SUMMIT LAUNCHES ITS FIRST TROPICS DEAL

Press Release

Press Release

Press Release(s) published herein do not represent Mansa Banko Online views in any way. Nothing posted here should be considered official or sanctioned by my employer or any other organization Mansa Banko Online is affiliated with.

Related Posts

Two Women Leaders to Unveil Amazon Best-Selling Book on Modern Leadership in The Gambia
News

Two Women Leaders to Unveil Amazon Best-Selling Book on Modern Leadership in The Gambia

by M.E Njie
May 11, 2025
EU YOUTH EMPOWERMENT PROJECT (YEP) – TOURISM AND CREATIVE INDUSTRIES LAUNCH TO CREATE JOBS FOR WOMEN AND YOUTH
News

EU YOUTH EMPOWERMENT PROJECT (YEP) – TOURISM AND CREATIVE INDUSTRIES LAUNCH TO CREATE JOBS FOR WOMEN AND YOUTH

by Press Release
February 17, 2025
GYIN Gambia and Doorways to Train 30 Youth Entrepreneurs on Personal Initiative (PI)
News

GYIN Gambia and Doorways to Train 30 Youth Entrepreneurs on Personal Initiative (PI)

by Press Release
February 14, 2025
COMHAFAT and COMAIP Sign Memorandum of Understanding to enhance sustainable fishing in Africa
News

COMHAFAT and COMAIP Sign Memorandum of Understanding to enhance sustainable fishing in Africa

by M.E Njie
February 5, 2025
Sunu Reew, Silicon Valley African Film Festival collaborate to bring health and promote arts in Gambia
News

Sunu Reew, Silicon Valley African Film Festival collaborate to bring health and promote arts in Gambia

by M.E Njie
February 4, 2025
Next Post
TROPICS BUSINESS SUMMIT LAUNCHES ITS FIRST TROPICS DEAL

TROPICS BUSINESS SUMMIT LAUNCHES ITS FIRST TROPICS DEAL

Latest Post

Two Women Leaders to Unveil Amazon Best-Selling Book on Modern Leadership in The Gambia

Two Women Leaders to Unveil Amazon Best-Selling Book on Modern Leadership in The Gambia

May 11, 2025
RUFORUM SEEKS TO BOOST AFRICAN UNIVERSITIES WITH CUTTING-EDGE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

RUFORUM SEEKS TO BOOST AFRICAN UNIVERSITIES WITH CUTTING-EDGE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

May 6, 2025
EU YOUTH EMPOWERMENT PROJECT (YEP) – TOURISM AND CREATIVE INDUSTRIES LAUNCH TO CREATE JOBS FOR WOMEN AND YOUTH

EU YOUTH EMPOWERMENT PROJECT (YEP) – TOURISM AND CREATIVE INDUSTRIES LAUNCH TO CREATE JOBS FOR WOMEN AND YOUTH

February 17, 2025
GYIN Gambia and Doorways to Train 30 Youth Entrepreneurs on Personal Initiative (PI)

GYIN Gambia and Doorways to Train 30 Youth Entrepreneurs on Personal Initiative (PI)

February 14, 2025
Sunu Reew Medical Mission donates medical equipment to EFSTH

Sunu Reew Medical Mission donates medical equipment to EFSTH

February 11, 2025
COMHAFAT and COMAIP Sign Memorandum of Understanding to enhance sustainable fishing in Africa

COMHAFAT and COMAIP Sign Memorandum of Understanding to enhance sustainable fishing in Africa

February 5, 2025
Sunu Reew, Silicon Valley African Film Festival collaborate to bring health and promote arts in Gambia

Sunu Reew, Silicon Valley African Film Festival collaborate to bring health and promote arts in Gambia

February 4, 2025

Browse by Tags

AfDB Africa Agriculture Banjul business Children Climate Change Covid-19 COVID19 Development ECOWAS Education EU European Union FAO Farmers Finance Food Food Security Gambia Garden Government GYIN Gambia Health Human Rights IFAD Market Migration National Assembly Nigeria People Poultry Poverty Project Rice Rural Senegal The Gambia Trade United Nations Water Women World Bank YEP Youth

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Categories

  • Agriculture
  • Business
  • Crime
  • Education
  • Energy
  • Environment
  • FAO
  • Health
  • Human Rights
  • IFAD
  • Migration
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Press Release
  • Science/Tech
  • Security
  • Sports
  • Tourism
  • Youth

Browse by Tag

AfDB Africa Agriculture Banjul business Children Climate Change Covid-19 COVID19 Development ECOWAS Education EU European Union FAO Farmers Finance Food Food Security Gambia Garden Government GYIN Gambia Health Human Rights IFAD Market Migration National Assembly Nigeria People Poultry Poverty Project Rice Rural Senegal The Gambia Trade United Nations Water Women World Bank YEP Youth

Recent Posts

  • Two Women Leaders to Unveil Amazon Best-Selling Book on Modern Leadership in The Gambia
  • RUFORUM SEEKS TO BOOST AFRICAN UNIVERSITIES WITH CUTTING-EDGE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
  • EU YOUTH EMPOWERMENT PROJECT (YEP) – TOURISM AND CREATIVE INDUSTRIES LAUNCH TO CREATE JOBS FOR WOMEN AND YOUTH
  • About
  • Contact
  • Donate/Support
  • Subscribe

Facebook Page

Facebook Page
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

© 2020 Mansa Banko Online | Powered by Faalen Technologies.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Agric
  • Business
  • Health
  • Politics
  • Science/Tech
  • More
    • Education
    • Human Rights
    • Sports
    • Energy
    • Environment
    • Migration
    • Opinion
    • Tourism

© 2020 Mansa Banko Online | Powered by Faalen Technologies.

Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?