TY - JOUR

T1 - Developing capacity for impactful use of Earth Observation data

T2 - Lessons from the AfriCultuReS project

AU - Pritchard, Rose

AU - Alexandridis, Thomas

AU - Amponsah, Mary

AU - Ben Khatra, Nabil

AU - Brockington, Dan

AU - Chiconela, Tomás

AU - Ortuño Castillo, Jesús

AU - Garba, Issa

AU - Gómez-Giménez, Marta

AU - Haile, Menghestab

AU - Kagoyire, Clarisse

AU - Kganyago, Mahlatse

AU - Kleine, Dorothea

AU - Korme, Tesfaye

AU - Manni, Alemu A.

AU - Mashiyi, Nosiseko

AU - Massninga, Jadwiga

AU - Mensah, Foster

AU - Mugabowindekwe, Maurice

AU - Meta, Vivianne

AU - Noort, Mark

AU - Pérez Ramirez, Patricia

AU - Suárez Beltrán, Juan

AU - Zoungrana, Evence

N1 - Funding Information: Our sincere thanks to everyone who participated in the AfriCultuReS user workshops in 2019 for sharing their time and expertise. The AfriCultuReS project received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Framework Programme under grant agreement No. 774652. The funder had no involvement in the design of this specific study or in the writing of this paper. Funding Information: Our sincere thanks to everyone who participated in the AfriCultuReS user workshops in 2019 for sharing their time and expertise. The AfriCultuReS project received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Framework Programme under grant agreement No. 774652 . The funder had no involvement in the design of this specific study or in the writing of this paper. Publisher Copyright: © 2021

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - An increasing number of products and services based on satellite Earth Observation (EO) data are being developed for use by decision-makers in African agricultural contexts, providing information such as weather and climate forecasts, crop yields and water availability. Capacity development to support impactful use of EO data is a key component of many EO-for-development initiatives, but there is little consensus over where or how capacity should be developed. Our goal in this piece is to provide a critical perspective on the capacity development required to support the creation of more impactful EO data services. Drawing on a capacity needs assessment carried out as part of the AfriCultuReS project (a major EO-for-development initiative), we identify proximate factors which inhibit the success of EO data services such as flawed communication strategies, low relevance in African agricultural contexts, duplication of existing products, and lack of financial sustainability. We link these proximate challenges to deeper issues such as unequal access to funding and resources, fragmentation in the EO field, and relational asymmetries of power, all of which combine to exclude important forms of knowledge from decision-making. Based on this needs assessment, we argue that capacity development requires broader systems-based approaches which develop the capacities of all actors (including those in the Global North) to respect different forms of knowledge, use and participate in co-design approaches, and recognise and challenge the asymmetries of power which currently limit the involvement of certain groups in processes of EO data service design.

AB - An increasing number of products and services based on satellite Earth Observation (EO) data are being developed for use by decision-makers in African agricultural contexts, providing information such as weather and climate forecasts, crop yields and water availability. Capacity development to support impactful use of EO data is a key component of many EO-for-development initiatives, but there is little consensus over where or how capacity should be developed. Our goal in this piece is to provide a critical perspective on the capacity development required to support the creation of more impactful EO data services. Drawing on a capacity needs assessment carried out as part of the AfriCultuReS project (a major EO-for-development initiative), we identify proximate factors which inhibit the success of EO data services such as flawed communication strategies, low relevance in African agricultural contexts, duplication of existing products, and lack of financial sustainability. We link these proximate challenges to deeper issues such as unequal access to funding and resources, fragmentation in the EO field, and relational asymmetries of power, all of which combine to exclude important forms of knowledge from decision-making. Based on this needs assessment, we argue that capacity development requires broader systems-based approaches which develop the capacities of all actors (including those in the Global North) to respect different forms of knowledge, use and participate in co-design approaches, and recognise and challenge the asymmetries of power which currently limit the involvement of certain groups in processes of EO data service design.

U2 - 10.1016/j.envdev.2021.100695

DO - 10.1016/j.envdev.2021.100695

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85123700133

VL - 42

JO - Environmental Development

JF - Environmental Development

SN - 2211-4645

M1 - 100695

ER -