Nigeria’s National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) and its partners have called for reliable irrigation cropland data in the country using space technology to boost food security. The partners made the call at the opening of a three-day workshop on Irrigation Earth Observation (IrrEO) project in collaboration with University of Delaware and University of Manchester in Abuja last week.
The workshop, themed ‘Advancing Satellite-Based Tools to Map Irrigated Croplands in Nigeria,’ sought to harness earth observation technology to generate accurate, highresolution data for irrigation development and agricultural planning nationwide. #
Speaking at the workshop, director-general of NASRDA, Dr Matthew Adepoju, described the initiative as a timely intervention to address longstanding data gaps in Nigeria’s agricultural sector. Noting that insufficient and out-dated irrigation data remained a global challenge, Adepoju said earth observation technology offers an unprecedented opportunity to bridge that gap.
“The goal of this project is to harness the potential of earth observation to provide reliable, high-resolution data at national scale that can be regularly updated to support decision-making in irrigation and agricultural planning,” he said. According to him, beyond technology development, the four-year project will focus on practical applications by working with public institutions, private sector actors and development partners to ensure real impact.
The DG added that the initiative would promote knowledge exchange with other case-study countries, including Kenya and Ethiopia, while strengthening Nigeria’s technical capacity in satellitebased agricultural monitoring. Also speaking, the director of Manchester’s Environmental Research Institute, Dr Timothy Foster, said the collaboration would deepen satellite-based agricultural monitoring in Africa.
“By gaining a better understanding of how irrigation is developing, we can tackle food security and livelihood challenges. “Irrigation improves crop yields, strengthens resilience and increases farmers’ incomes,” he said.
