May 5, 2009
At the recent CSI-AGCommons-WhereCampAfrica event in Nairobi we interviewed some of the participants to get their perspectives on why maps are important, on their role in the response to climate change, on their use in recent crises….
Why maps? is a video produced by a Nairobi-based crew to help highlight the value of geospatial technology in agriculture.
April 15, 2009
CJ Terborgh
An interview with Carmelle J. Terborgh, Federal/Global Affairs team lead, ESRI at the Africa Geospatial technology for Agriculture week in Nairobi
Context:
Launched 40 years ago as a consulting and research firm, ESRI created the first commercial geographic information software, ArcInfo. Since then, geographical information system (GIS) solutions have found use in at least 40 industries– from environmental management to epidemiology; agriculture to transportation; disaster response to demining.
ESRI and the CGIAR centres enjoy a close and longstanding relationship. It’s easy to see how the CG benefits: The memorandum of understanding with ESRI provides CGIAR centres with a number of licenses for software, plus technical support, training and professional development opportunities for a fraction of their commercial cost.
In her interview, ESRI’s Carmelle Terborgh describes, among other things, the arrangement from her company’s point of view.
Q: Why focus on GIS?
A: Our founder and president, Jack Dangermond, likes to say: When humans first developed a microscope, we could see things smaller than we could otherwise. GIS is a “macroscope.” Now we can see bigger parts of the world than we could without it. You can only see 13 miles on flat terrain. But the macrosocope gives you a way to understand the world in a way you could never experience from one location. You can sit in Nairobi, say, and see the world.
Q: How do you view the CGIAR?
We want to support people working in agriculture, food security, livestock—their work is critical, and we can’t do it ourselves. We support a number of conservation, humanitarian, educational programs.
As far as the CGIAR goes, we feel honoured that CGIAR centres are using this.
Jack and Laura (Jack’s wife and VP) have a passion for seeing these tools applied for really good purposes. When you see a huge need, you just have to respond.
Q: Any big event coming up for geospatial specialists to get together?
A: We like to convene the people who are using our software and give them a forum. We host the ESRI International User Conference–this year it’s July 13-17 in San Diego. It’s a really good professional development opportunity for CG staff. Usually representatives from about five CG centres come.
A few years ago we focused on poverty mapping. I’d love to do another one focused on food security. That’s an offer we can make to the CG.
Q: What’s a favorite example of using GIS for agriculture?
A: One of our customers, USAID, had a project in Ghana called TIPCEE. It was really innovative in that they had women using GPS to go out and map the size of farmer fields. One thing they found was that plots were generally considerably smaller than people had thought. So farmers had been wasting money paying extra money for fertilizer and plowing. Also, they were buying too much fertilizer, so it was likely running off into the groundwater.
Another result was that since they had good maps of where the cash crops are grown, they had a better idea of where cooperatives and warehouses should be. Better location of those facilities could mean faster processing for export and shipment.
In addition, the maps helped them get organic certification by European markets. For that certification, you need a map to show you’re not, say, in a protected area, or surrounded by farms using chemicals.
Q: How did you get into this?
A: I’m a geography geek. When I was a kid, I used to read a Time Magazine atlas of the world at night, under the covers with a flashlight.
In college I was a forestry major –I wanted to be working out in the field. But then I developed horrible allergies to trees. So I went back to my first love and did my Master’s and PhD in geography.
Also…my father’s blind, and I think his lack of vision made me passionate about seeing the world. I got pretty good at describing the world to him as we walked together, and as we traveled. And geography is the art of describing our world.
April 10, 2009
A conversation with Meshak Nyabenge, GIS Unit Manager, WorldAgroforestry Center (ICRAF) Nairobi at the CSI-AGCommons meeting in Nairobi
Q: What sparked your interested in GIS?
A: As a kid, I was always imagining I could develop a boundary map of my village. I don’t know why–maybe ‘cause I was good in geography. I thought why not have a map of our own place, know where it begins and ends.
At the University of Nairobi I studied surveying and photogrametry—how to interpret aerial photos. Fortunately a professor impressed on me the benefits of geographical information. So now I’m a GIS analyst instead of surveying people’s plots and getting into land conflicts over where somebody’s property ends and where somebody else’s begins.”
Q: What are some of the cool things happening with GIS at ICRAF?
A: One is mapping of rainwater harvesting and potential in Africa. We estimated
how much rainwater can be harvested in a particular place based on rainfall and use of a specific technology—roof catchment, rock catchment, runoff, other methods. people can see how much water they’re likely to capture in a local area, with which technologies. It’s being used by the rainwater network in Kenya and at ICRAF.
Also, ICRAF wanted to scale up their agroforestry programs. So we developed suitability maps as way of targeting where to scale up use of, say, fodder trees, like caliandra, glyricidia.
Third is, for GTZ and an energy company, we mapped where 11 key biofuel crops could be grown in Kenya. We looked at jatropha, croton, caster, coconut, cotton, sorghum, sugar cane, sunflower, rapeseed (canola) pagamia…. The oil crops would be for producing biodiesel, and the others, like sugar cane, for bioethanol.
Q: What’s next?
A: We’re now combining the biophysical and agronomic data with socioeconomic data—population, labour availability. Then we’ll know where it’s most suitable to invest in biofuel crops—and what the potential returns would be.
GTZ and the Government of Kenya plan to use this information for planning and as the basis of investment discussions.
We’ve now received funding to map four more countries: Ethiopia, Rwanda, TZ, Uganda for biofuel potential.
We’re also working with a Kenya-based NGO—the Vanilla Jatropha Development Foundation—to do biofuel mapping, specifically for potential for plantations of jatropha, the “oil tree.”
Q: What do you like most about working with GIS?
A: I use it to conceptualize the human dream. And I can manipulate options to come up with scenarios, applied in different fields. Basically, I’ve always worked with geographic information, and can’t imagine not doing so.
Q: So how about that village map?
A: Until now I still haven’t done it…. There have been a lot of other things to do!
April 2, 2009
We want to make sure we let you know what is happening in Nairobi. We are twittering from the AGCommons meeting at www.twitter.com/ictkm and we are preparing a number of interviews with the participants. We want to hear from ‘those around the table’, we are giving them a space to talk…. stay tuned….you will read their stories here.
April 2, 2009
On the third day of the joint CSI and AGCommons workshops is AGCommons Day. Today the focus shifts from looking mainly at the CSI community to looking at the broader AGCommons project.
On the agenda will be:
Looks like a long and exciting day ahead.
Check out our social reporting on this blog, on our Flickr site, Twitter and Yammer (for CGIAR staff)
April 1, 2009
In April 2008 we held a very interesting CSI meeting . Here is the group picture we took then
CSI meeting 2008
Yesterday we took a group picture for the CSI meeting in 2009
CSI meeting 2009
No…location is not the difference..both are taken in Nairobi… so…what is the difference?
April 1, 2009
The second day of the CSI and AGCommons workshop is now underway with a theme of ‘Spatial Solutions’. The day will involve presentations from almost all of the CGIAR Centres plus other organisations who have come to participate in this event-all presenting the work they are doing in terms of finding spatial solutions.
During the presentations the participants have been asked to consider what the ‘big issues’ are that are coming out across the clusters of presentations. Participants have been asked to write these on cards which will be grouped and put up on the wall throughout the day as a set of building blocks to guide the deliberations on what should be done as future activities.
Cluster 1:
Cluster 2:
Cluster 3:
Cluster 4:
ICT-KM Program 