TECHNOLOGY-AFRICA: High Tech No Longer Restricted to Rich Nations

By James Hall Reprint | | Print |

James Hall

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, May 23 2003 (IPS) - Satellite imagery and other high tech innovations are no longer restricted to rich developed countries, but are finding applications throughout Africa.

The high tech professionals in Africa use the imagery and innovations to address social, environmental and other needs with state of the art technology.

"Geoinformation," where data on a variety of subjects is displayed on maps to show locations, is being employed by governments and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

"Geoinformation systems have been evolving toward grassroots community involvement, even as we move towards virtual communities (where like-minded people communicate over the Internet) that have made national borders almost irrelevant," says K.Y. Amoako, Executive Secretary of the Addis Ababa-based U.N. Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

"There is now greater understanding that all economic development and administrative processes eventually ask a ‘where’ question: Where are the resources? Where are the electorates? Where should we be focusing our attention? Geoinformation provides the answer to the ‘where’ question," he says.

Geoinformation officials concluded a meeting in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, to find ways to apply new computer technology to Africa’s needs at the third meeting of the Committee on Development Information (CODI) last week.

An expanding network of satellites that is mapping every square metre of the earth’s surface is making vital information available at increasingly cheaper costs. Satellites can take infrared and other sensory information to probe beneath the surfaces of rivers and landmasses, assessing pollution levels and discovering ground water supplies and mineral deposits.

Weather patterns so important to farming are better understood, and "remote" areas become as accessible as the middle of urban centres, thanks to orbital eyes that do not need roads to look into mountain ranges or desert wastelands.

"We put every type of data you can think of – superimposed – over a map. Population density and demographic data, like gender and age groups, poverty and literacy levels, and the result is a 3-D illustration of a society," Martins Chodota, senior surveyor for the Regional Centre for Mapping of Sources for Development, based in Nairobi, Kenya, told IPS.

The Nairobi-based U.N. Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) has become reliant on geo-information to better understand African living conditions, and ways to improve these.

"Many Africans live in informal settlements on the fringes of urban centres, or in township slums within the towns themselves. These are often not indicated at all on formal maps of cities. But hundreds of thousands of people reside there. Geoinformation, by photographing cities from the air, allows us to locate these settlements, and we can even count the houses. >From that point, on the ground surveyors can do a census of the home occupants. The data we come up with is then written onto the map," explains Andre Dzikus, a Human Settlement Officer for UN-Habitat.

Data is not literally written over a map. With so much information, the map itself would become layered with data, and become unreadable. Rather, coloured dots are placed at strategic spots of interest. On a computer screen, a mouse arrow directed onto a dot would then bring up a box filled with data, such as the population of an area and proximity to schools, whether there is sewage connection, and the prevalence of diseases such as malaria or cholera.

"It is just a matter of time before Africa’s political parties use this technology to get a 3-D representation of party membership. Neighbourhoods can be instantly seen to show which percentage may be party supporters or opposition supporters," says Chodota.

Currently, geoinformation is used for development purposes. In Mozambique, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has used geoinformation to accurately pinpoint all geographical features in the country. It is now in the process of assembling satellite photographed maps of the entire country from Tanzania down to South Africa.

Of particular interest are depictions of Indian Ocean coastal areas, environmentally sensitive spots where large quantities of coral reefs flourish. Developers in the tourism sector are keen to build resorts along the coast. Geoinformation is essential for environmental impact studies, to ensure development does not compromise areas of endangered aquatic species.

"Satellite imagery also shows the flow of rivers, and can trade pollution from its source, as well as showing how it spreads," says Dzikus.

In Ghana, the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) is using geoinformation to "map" the country in order to pinpoint a variety of data, such as the location of medicinal plants that grow in wilderness areas that are vulnerable to urbanisation and development.

"In our study of artesian fisheries, we are geo-positioning all of the fishing villages along the lake shore of Volta," says John Mesfin of the UNDP.

Another project is to colour-code a map of Ghana by the location of rural banks, credit unions and other financial institutions. It is to give policy makers an instant overview of micro financing available for small community-based development projects.

"With this data, an NGO or community can go to parliament, and say, ‘This is the situation. You can see clearly where the needs are. Let us work to come up with a policy based on this data," says Chodota.

Geoinformation technology applied to Ghana’s forests resulted in legislation that regulated the usage of woodlands to ensure the sustainable harvest of firewood for villagers.

A series of satellite images taken over the years, and set together to create a "motion-picture" effect clearly showed how wilderness areas and woodlands that sustain villagers were being over harvested and killed off by people from outside these areas. These people took indigenous trees back to urban areas for use in handicraft, home construction and firewood.

Because of increased affordability, African governments are commissioning geoinformation providers to do more studies for easily understood information maps for use in policy decisions.