On August 19 – 24, 2019, the Vital Signs progarm successfully trained 20 personnel of Resilient Food Systems Nigeria to effectively monitor the project’s biophysical indicators Including land cover changes, improvement in land productivity, water usage and quality, soil organic carbon and potential carbon sequestered within the project sites among other metrics.
Data Processing, Monitoring & Evaluation, Forest and Agricultural Officers drawn from 7 states in the country received hands-on training in Abuja on landscape monitoring tools including Trends.Earth, Resilience Atlases and Google Earth Engine as well as Vital Signs protocols.
Participants also got practical lessons on using spatial analytical tools to assess administrative and project sites-and employ open-source QGIS software to view, edit and analyze geospatial data. The training was conducted by Vital Signs technical experts including Dr. Peter Alele, Everline Ndenga, Monica Noon and Tom Kemboi.
A pre and post-training assessment indicated that trainees had gained sufficient knowledge to measure and monitor project indicators, data collection protocols and analysis, both physically on the ground and through Geographic Information System (GIS) technologies. In addition, they expressed commitment to apply the skills in their work with communities.
The project team agreed to generate baseline data for the major indicators they intend to measure including size of land under suitable land management, status of land use and land cover in the selected states and project communities, and generate statistics and maps on land degradation.
The RFS Nigeria project works with 70 communities to enhance sustainable land and water management and climate-smart agricultural practices to boost commercialization of eight targeted commodities—groundnuts, maize, rice, sorghum, cowpea, yam, poultry, dairy— but also fruit trees and aquaculture.
It’s implemented by UNDP in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and is part of the 12-country Resilient Food Systems Funded by the Global Environment Facility. Vital Signs manages the monitoring component of the project.
For more information, please write to Dr. Peter Alele palele@conservation.org