Report of Project Evaluation Mission to the Department of
Agricultural Engineering and Land Planning,
Botswana College of Agriculture, Gaborone Botswana
August 9-13, 2003
On behalf of the
UNESCO crosscutting project on the Application of Remote
Sensing for Integrated Management of Ecosystems and
Water Resources in Africa
By
Dr. Jimmy Adegoke
Department of Geosciences
University of Missouri-Kansas City
Kansas City MO 64110 USA
Tel: + 816 235-2978; Fax: + 816 235-5535
Email: adegokej@umkc.edu
Itinerary
9 August, 2003
12.20 pm – arrival from New York
10 August 2003
1.00 pm – 4 pm
- meeting with Dr. Rejoice Tsheko
- project overview; programme plan; itinerary
- tour of Gaborone
11 August, 2003
9.00-11.00 am – meeting with faculty members of the Department of Agricultural Engineering and
Land Planning:
- tour of Department
11.00-12.00 pm – meeting with Mr. Naran: - Overview of the Botswana NSDI project
Director Government Computer Bureau
12.00-1.30 pm – meeting with Mr. Ilkic:
- Project Data Requirements
Head of Geoinformatics Division, Department of Surveys and Mapping
2.30-3.00 pm – meeting with Mr. Kemsley, Principal of BCA (Debriefing)
3.30-4.00 pm – meeting with Dr. Chabo, Dean, Faculty of Agriculture (Debriefing)
4.30– depart Gaborone with Dr. Tsheko for Selibe/Phikwe. Arrived at 9 pm.
12 August, 2003
7.00-11.30 am – project site visit (Motlhabaneng)
12.00– depart project site for Gaborone. Arrived at 5 pm.
7.00-8.30 pm – final review and wrap up meeting with Dr. Tsheko at BCA
13 August, 2003
7.00 am – depart for airport.
Geo-Informatics and Remote Sensing in Botswana
The introduction of GIS and RS technologies in Botswana is a relatively recent development. One of
the early functional remote sensing projects completed in the country was a satellite receiving station
acquired in 1996 for the Department of Meteorological Services (DMS) with funding from the
Overseas Development Administration (ODA), now called Department of International Development
(DFID) in the United Kingdom. Through this project, a system capable of receiving NOAA
Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) and METEOSAT was installed and some
local staff members of DMS received training on the analysis of satellite data and maintenance of the
system. The project subsequently evolved into the Remote Sensing Unit (RSU) of the Meteorological
Service. METEOSAT data from the RSU receiving station is mostly used for weather forecasting
while the NOAA data is routinely used for Veld fire monitoring and biomass mapping by the
Ministry of Agriculture. The Geological Surveys has also conducted a number of RS projects on
water resources mapping, ground water recharge and salinity mapping.
Although many similar RS projects have been conducted in Botswana in the last few years, local
expertise in the use of GIS/RS technologies remains very low as many of these projects were
contracted out to foreign contractors. Less than 30 individuals in the entire country of Botswana were
identified as having a “working knowledge” of RS. Courses in remote sensing applications are
offered at a number of Departments at the University of Botswana but there is no formal degree in
remote sensing either at undergraduate or graduate levels.
Project Title: Use of high-resolution satellite data and geographical information system for soil
erosion mapping in Eastern Botswana
Principal Executing Institution: Botswana College of Agriculture (BCA)
Collaborating Agencies: UNESCO, Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), University of Botswana (UB)
and several partners.
Project Summary: The project aims to develop a framework for the application of satellite remote
sensing and GIS technologies for environmental resource monitoring and assessment in Botswana
through national and regional collaborative research activities. The initial focus of the collaboration
will be the production of soil erosion susceptibility maps for the Bobonong sub-district in Eastern
Botswana to aid local and national efforts in mitigating land degradation from erosion processes. The
proposed project will strengthen the UNESCO-NATURA Chair on Extension Strategies for Rural
Development at BCA and also add value to existing national and regional initiatives such as the
Global Environment Facility (GEF)/United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) funded
project, which is addressing environmental degradation and natural resource management issues in
desert margins areas in nine African countries. This project will constitute a major component of
BCA’s contribution to the desert margins project and other regional initiatives.
Department of Agricultural Engineering and Land Planning, BCA
Personnel and RS Research Facilities
The Department of Agricultural Engineering and Land Planning (AEL) at BCA was set up to train
middle-level technical manpower to support agricultural production in Botswana. AEL is therefore
an undergraduate engineering department, primarily. With the return several young faculty members
after obtaining PhDs in various universities in the U.S., Canada and the UK the emphasis of the
department has broadened to include environment monitoring and management. Faculty members
who have expertise in the analysis of digital image data and GIS include Dr. R. Tsheko (project
leader), Dr. B. B. Mmolawa, and Dr. M. Tapela. Each faculty member has a Pentium II machine on
their desktop running a host of image processing utilities and software. Campus wide facilities
include a 25 seat teaching laboratory and a second 25 seat general purpose labs (See Figure 1 below).
The laboratory facilities at AEL include an irrigation technology laboratory and a Land Surveying
laboratory, which also serves as the RS teaching laboratory.
Course Offerings and RS Education at BCA
To accommodate the various expertise of faculty members the AEL Department has revised it’s
curricula and plans to introduce additional undergraduate courses in GIS/RS and a graduate/post
graduate Diploma in Environmental management and Remote Sensing Applications. There are no
teaching computing facilities within the Department to support the current and future RS courses.
This Land Surveying lab (Figure 2), which also serves RS students, consists of just tables and stools.
In the absence of computers students are only trained on image processing techniques using hard
copy images from various satellites. This is clearly inadequate given the urgent need in Botswana to
develop competent manpower with expertise in GIS/RS.
Baseline Data Requirements
The data requirements of the project were reviewed and discussed with Mr. Dusan Ilkic, Head of
Geoinformatics Division in the Department of Surveys and Mapping during my visit to Gaborone.
As a result of our discussions, Mr. Ilkic agreed to provide all the baseline topographic data and
boundary files covering the project area free of charge to Dr. Tsheko. This is a significant benefit to
the UNESCO project at BCA. A draft letter of appreciation from the Network Project Manager to
Mr. Ilkic is attached as appendix 1. A clean copy should be prepared signed and faxed to him in
Gaborone.
Additional data required for the project include AVHHR-based NDVI data and LANDSAT MSS and
TM scenes at 5-yearly intervals over a 30 year period (1973-2003). Efforts to acquire some of these
data at reduced rates are currently under way.
Project Site Visit and Assessment
The project site was about 5 hours by road from Gaborone on the North Eastern region of Botswana.
Dr. Tsheko, a BCA driver and I went on this trip. We took along GPS units and recorded ground
control points for use in image registration and rectification during the analysis phase of the project.
The natural vegetation of the project site is mainly dense scrubland dominated by the Mophane tree,
which typically grows to about 18-25 feet (Figure 3). We observed significant signs of land cover
degradation associated with overgrazing (Figure 4). The region also experienced devastating
droughts during the previous couple of years. The remains of livestock that succumbed to the
drought in large numbers were evident in many places (e.g. Figure 5).
Recommendations: Research Project
1. Following the field visit and detailed examination of the project site, I recommend that
the focus of the project shift slightly from soil erosion mapping to land cover
characterization over time for the assessment of land degradation. I discussed this
extensively with Dr. Tsheko during the field visit and in his office during our final wrap
up session. Dr. Tsheko appreciated the need for the recommended change in the project
focus and agreed with my recommendation. It may be necessary to change the project title
to reflect this new focus. The Network Project Manager will have to decide on the
appropriateness of formally changing the title of the project to more accurately reflect the
work that is will be accomplished under this new focus. This should not entail any major
changes in the TOR as the same set of activities proposed earlier by Dr. Tsheko will still
have to be carried out.
2. The final land degradation maps from this study may later become input into another
project on the assessment of erosion potential in the North Easter corridor of Botswana.
3. An additional study on the impact of meteorological drought on the ecosystem of the
region using a combination of NOAA NDVI data and station climate data would be a
useful and complementary study to complete.
4. A multi-sensor (LANDSAT MSS & TM) multi-date approach is recommended for the
land cover characterization component of this project. Satellite data should be acquired at
5-yearly intervals beginning in the mid 1970s for peak wet season (Sept/Oct) and peak
dry season (May/June) months. Change metrics should be determined from the satellite
data and used to assess the severity of land degradation in the project area.
Recommendations: BCA Students and Facilities
1. A major impediment in RS education at BCA is the complete absence of dedicated
computers and software for the use of students offering RS courses in AEL. GIS/RS is
best taught in an interactive environment where students have ample opportunities to
work with satellite data and conduct laboratory exercises designed to challenge and
motivate them at the same time. I strongly recommend that UNESCO provide seed
funds of about $10, 000 and use this to challenge the Principal of BCA and the Dean
of the College of Agriculture to provide matching funds of an equal amount as a
condition for the release of UNESCO funds. If successful, the entire amount of
$20,000 should go into establishing a dedicated RS laboratory at AEL to support GIS/RS
instruction at the College.
2. I also recommend that at least 2 undergraduate students should be engaged as research
assistants in the current UNESCO funded project and provided significant opportunities
to gain valuable experience by actively participating in the project.
Recommendations: Post-Project Training
1. I recommend that all the data pre-processing and analysis steps be carefully documented
and published as training manual for employees at various government agencies involved
in natural resource conservation and or management. I further recommend that the
UNESCO project implementation office should look into requiring all other projects
funded as part of this cross cutting program to produce a fully documented training
manual, including original data sets, pre- and post processing steps and details of
software used for their analysis. An award recognizing the best training manual
should be created as additional incentive. The training manuals will serve as a
lasting legacy of this crosscutting initiative long after the official termination of the
project.
2. Lastly, BCA is encouraged to develop a project website be developed, which can be
linked to the main UNESCO project website and other network projects to create
awareness about the project in Botswana and highlight the growing expertise of AEL in
resource management and GIS/RS applications.
Appendix I: Draft Letter to Head of Geoinformatics, Mapping & Surveys, Gaborone
Mr. Dusan Ilkic
Principal Surveyor
Head of Geoinformatics Division
Department of Surveys and Mapping
Gaborone, Botswana
September 22, 2003
Dear Mr. Ilkic,
I write at the instance of Dr. Jimmy Adegoke, who was recently in Gaborone on a UNESCO
advisory mission relating to a project being undertaken by Dr. Rejoice Tsheko at the Botswana
College of Agriculture (BCA) as part of the UNESCO sponsored crosscutting project on the
application of remote sensing for water resources and ecosystem management in Africa. I
understand that your office has agreed to assist BCA in the implementation of this project
through the provision of very valuable geo-spatial datasets, including the 1:250,000 digital data
for Botswana at 100% discount (i.e., no-cost basis).
I wish to thank you very much for this very kind gesture of support and cooperation. Our hope is
that all the projects sponsored by UNESCO as part of this initiative will promote and strengthen
collaboration among Remote Sensing and Geoinformation professionals in various countries in
Africa and thereby accelerate the deployment of geospatial technologies for natural resource
conservation and management throughout Africa. UNESCO is grateful for the leadership and
commendable example that you have shown in this regard.
Sincerely,
Justin Ahahanzo
Project Manager
UNESCO crosscutting project on the application of remote sensing for water resources and
ecosystem management in Africa.
UNESCO HQ, Paris