Institute Providing Geospatial Information that Benefit Farmers, Environment

Addis Ababa November 5/2021 (ENA) The Geospatial Information Institute said it has been providing accurate and vital geospatial information that have benefited farmers.

Institute Director-General Tulu Besha told ENA that the geospatial information about agriculture, environment, forest and climate change have benefited farmers in two sectors.

“In a project initiated to register rural lands, we have covered 43 percent of the land in the country with aerial photography. In the process, farmers in Amhara, Oromia, Tigray, and SNNP regions have been benefited.”

According to him, the information has enabled farmers to secure land ownership and motivated them to increase their agricultural activities and maximize productivity.

Tulu further stated that the geospatial information provided by the institute is also contributing vital data to cluster farming projects and irrigation development in Ethiopia.

Moreover, the institute has been providing annually geospatial information on forest coverage and climate change to the Forest and Climate Change Commission, it was learned.

“The institute supports the commission by providing information on the annual forest coverage changes and the Green Legacy Initiative every year,” the director-general stated.

The Geospatial Information Institute also provides information related to climate change, green house, and carbon emission for the commission.

These information are vital for the country as they provide updated information of Ethiopia on climate change and the emission volumes, which are reported to the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to get compensation payment based on the data, Tulu elaborated.

National Spatial Data Infrastructure Center Head at the institute, Berihu Alemayehu said on his part the geospatial information has to be implemented in an integrated way in the priority areas of socio-economic development in Ethiopia.

“Geospatial information is aligned to the socio-economic plans of the country,” he said, adding that “it’s generally important for planning, executing and reporting.”

Berihu noted that nationwide implementation of geospatial information in all sectors and development projects is beneficial to the country and its people,