UN-IFAD perspectives on EO information
Abukari, M
UN-IFAD, ITALY

The Gambia is a 300km by 50km large country heavily influenced by the Gambia river that crosses the country from East to West. It is one of the poorest countries in the World with soil erosion, land degradation, sea water salt intrusion, lack of good infrastructure and extreme poverty causing a multitude of problems. The United Nations Fund for Agricultural Development (UN IFAD) is working with the Gambian Government in the Gambia Soil and Water conservation project PIWAMP (Participatory Integrated-Watershed Management Project) and the National Agricultural Land and Water Management Development Project that will focus on poor rural people and their participation in local government and rural communities to implement strategies to improve agricultural production. ESA is through a contract with the Swiss company Sarmap helping IFAD and the Gambia Government by mapping the whole Gambia from space with radar satellites. The aim is to establish baselines, understanding current agricultural practices and document inter annual changes over the past years. As a part of this activity Sarmap is doing capacity building for the local community and GIS experts.