The Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD), with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) awarded nine research grants to researchers from organizations in Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya, under the second phase of the SERVIR E&SA Small Grants Program, whose implementation started in April 2019. Through this support of local partners, the objective of the Small Grants Program was to expand the network of organizations who generate innovative ideas on the use of Earth observation (EO) data and geospatial methods/tools for development decision-making in the Eastern and Southern Africa region. The anticipated outcome of the grant activities was to improve the capacity of local organizations to use geospatial tools and information to translate science into sustainable policy and practice in order to address the development challenges posed by environmental and climate stresses. 

With support from the SERVIR Support Team (SST), RCMRD processed 41 applications from organizations in East Africa, based on the ability of their proposals to use EO data, GIS and geo-spatial analysis to address societal development challenges in four thematic areas: (i) agriculture & food security, (ii) land use/land cover & ecosystems, (iii) water resources & hydro-climatic disasters, and (iv) weather & climate. Ultimately, nine grantees were selected to implement work within a period of 9-12 months, summary details related to each grantee is provided in the following table:

Ardhi University and NAFIRRI were funded as in-kind grantees. The other six were fixed grant awards. Unfortunately, the grant to the Rwanda Forest Authority was cancelled due to unforeseen logistical and budgetary challenges associated with delays from COVID-19 restrictions and was unable to be completed. This was a result of circumstances outside of the grantee’s control and did not reflect in any way on the grantee’s performance in the proposed work. 

Having completed implementation of activities, the SST organized a virtual closeout workshop held on January 18, 2022, where the 8 grantees presented their findings and the outcomes of their interventions. Opening remarks were provided by the RCMRD Director General, Dr. Emmanuel Nkurunziza and USAID Kenya & East Africa’s Program Management Specialist (Climate Change and Resilience), Ms. Chihenyo Kangara. Other attendees included RCMRD staff and distinguished guests from USAID and NASA. During the workshop’s opening session, the SST Chief of Party Mr. Anthony Panella applauded the grantees for their relentless efforts in continuing to implement their grant activities during times of unprecedented challenges related to the global pandemic. He also acknowledged the support from the SERVIR project leadership at RCMRD, USAID and NASA. Ms. Kangara underscored the importance of implementing the findings from the grantees work, and also emphasized that USAID was committed to increasing the ability of African institutions to use Earth observation and geospatial technologies to improve the resilience of the region to the impacts of climate change and ensure sustainable resource management. Dr. Nkurunziza thanked the SST for successfully coordinating the grants work under a very challenging time throughout the world. He appreciated the support from USAID and NASA, and also commended the grantees for accepting to work with RCMRD and SERVIR to find solutions to challenges that are affecting the E&SA region under various livelihood sectors. The Director General also assured the grantees that as RCMRD partners, the organization would continue to make every effort to support the work they were doing to improve lives and livelihoods in member States. The eight grantees’ presentations during the closeout workshop are summarized as follows: The National Fisheries Resources Research Institute (NaFIRRI) grant increased the institution’s capacity to collect and use remote sensing data for monitoring key indicators of water and catchment conditions, to monitor water quality parameters such as algae and freshwater biodiversity. The PI also reported on the improved capacity to process data, produce maps and provide analysis to better predict aquatic habitat conditions and improve natural resource management. While the initial plan was to examine the influence of land cover change on aquatic habitat conditions & biotic communities and forecast future conditions using both remote sensing data and in-situ observations, the grant was modified to also support acquisition of equipment.