The AfricaGIS conference and Exhibition series have become a flagship Geospatial information marketplace in Africa. For the past 20 years, the series has contributed immensely to developing skills and institutional capacity in geo-information across the continent. Furthermore, the events have served as platforms for bringing together hundreds of key stakeholders, including professionals, government officials, development agencies, policy and decision-makers, to deliberate on innovation in the field of geospatial information technology and its potential contribution to development, share knowledge and experience on applications, advancements in assisting to address developmental challenges.
As part of the programmes for the AfricaGIS 2021 conference, EO AFRICA R&D Facility, GMES and Africa and Centre Universitaire de Recherche et d’Application en Télédétection (CURAT) organised a three-day hackathon from November 22 to 25, 2021. The participants had the opportunity to work with the latest cloud technologies to exploit Copernicus satellite imagery on the EO AFRICA Innovation Lab and collaborate with colleagues from all over the continent. In addition, forty participants from 17 African countries were accepted to participate in the hackathon. Furthermore, they were divided into ten groups. Also, each group developed innovative solutions/products on how earth observation can assist local, regional, or continental scale challenges in food security and water resources.
Below are the participants and their respective solutions:
| TEAM | SOLUTION |
| Â 1 | Monitoring Food Insecurity and Vulnerability using Earth observation data for Awash Basin in Ethiopia |
| Â 2 | Crop Condition On-Demand (CCOD) |
| Â 3 | Coastal monitoring-ship detection |
| Â 4 | Detecting and mapping lineament in basement areas using EO tools |
| Â 5 | Linking conflict-affected communities with adequate food supply |
| Â 6 | Estimation of conflict-induced decrease in agriculture production using Sentinel 2 imagery in Mali;Â an object-based approach |
|  7 | Detection and prediction of Aflatoxin contamination in cereals in the Poro region of northern Côte d’Ivoire (West Africa) in a context of climatic disturbance |
| Â 8 | Hydrocarbon pollution in marine environments (a case study of kula in Bayelsa state) |
|  9 | Contribution of satellite imaging in the detection of wetlands for the improvement of agricultural production in the Zuénoula department in the centre-west of Côte d’Ivoire |
| Â 10 | Automated wetlands monitoring with EO data and cloud technology |
In addition, the participants presented their final hackathon projects during the main conference sessions on 25 November 2021. After the presentation, three teams with the best solution were selected as the winners. The teams include
- First position – Team 10
The team designed a solution that automatically monitors wetlands with EO data and cloud technology. The team members include Ibrahim Salifou (Cote d Ivoire), Tchana Elisée (Cameroon), Jolaiya Emmanuel (Nigeria) and Caroline Edinam Doe (Ghana).
The team members won:
- Three months access to EO AFRICA Innovation Lab resources
- invitation to the GMES Africa Forum 2022 to present your project (fully sponsored by GMES and Africa Program)
- preferential acceptance to three EO AFRICA Space Academy courses (face-to-face or online)
2. Second position – Team 6
The team designed a solution that evaluates the conflict-induced decrease in agriculture production using Sentinel 2 imagery in mali using an object-based approach. The team members include Buyungo Jesse (Uganda), NJEUGEUT MBIAFEU Amandine Carine (Cote d Ivoire), Lassine Sanankoua (Mali) and Jagila Jantiku (Nigeria).
Team 6 won
- two months access to EO AFRICA Innovation Lab resources;
- preferential acceptance to two EO AFRICA Space Academy courses (face-to-face or online)
3. Third position – Team 1Â
For their project, this team designed a solution that utilises Earth observation data to monitor food insecurity and vulnerability using Earth observation data for the Awash Basin in Ethiopia. The team members include Abdou Babaye Maman Sani (Niger), Tinebeb Yohannes GELASSIE (Ethiopia), Rejoice Ini Eshiet (Nigeria) and Beugre Kossou Yves B (Cote d Ivoire).
The team won
- one month access to EO AFRICA Innovation Lab resource
- preferential acceptance to one EO AFRICA Space Academy course (face-to-face or online)
In his closing remark at the AfricaGIS 2021, the GMES & Africa support programme coordinator, Dr Tidianne Outtara commented that the AfricaGIS 2021 was a great success, highlighting three great feats.
Firstly, he commented that the AfricaGIS 2021 brought together people from different African countries that collaborated to design solutions to address different challenges. Also, during the AfricaGIS 2021, ten teams comprising 40 participants from 17 African countries participated in the hackathon, where three teams emerged as winners. He then mentioned that apart from their winnings at the hackathon, the AUC would give grants to all the hackathon winners to attend the 2nd Continental GMES and Africa Forum, which will be held from 6th to 10th December in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Furthermore, Dr Tidianne noted that the three winning teams would also participate in implementing the second phase of the GMES and Africa programme alongside the 13 consortia.
Lastly, Dr Tidianne commented there was a lot of female participation at the AfricaGIS 2021, which is something that the African Union has been particular about.
