African Organization Spreads Technological Advancements

By Peter Denton

In late 2001, administrators from the Nyantonzi parish, which borders Lake Albert in rural Uganda, embarked on their first development project using an advanced mapping technique known as Geographic Information Systems (GIS). This sophisticated technology would not have been an option for these Ugandans were it not for the work of EIS-Africa, a recently established pan-African organization.

While policy makers in Western countries have used GIS and other environmental information systems (EIS) for nearly twenty years to manage natural resources, measure the environmental impact of projects, and better inform their decision-making processes, African nations have lagged far behind the technology curve. EIS-Africa is helping their continent understand the substantial environmental and social benefits related to the use of these sophisticated systems in their projects, programs, and policies.

The organization has created a new continental network for the cooperative management of environmental data and, through its monthly newsletter, EIS-Africa connects more than 2,000 experts in 50 African countries, Europe, North America, and Asia. The recent success of EIS-Africa is partly the product of years of hard work by people like Dan Tunstall, director of the World Resources Institute's Information Program.

"The formation and accomplishments of EIS-Africa are truly a remarkable story," said Tunstall. "It is relatively rare to find a fully-functioning African non-governmental organization, with a budget, a board, a work plan, and transparent elections, which includes members from the entire continent and serves as both a policy advocate and a job-hunting resource."

GIS enables users to combine multiple layers of seemingly unrelated information onto a single map, making the rapid analysis of a complex environment a routine step for planners and managers. The technology allows administrators grappling with issues such as water resource management and waste disposal to analyze and accurately determine the environmental effects of their actions. It has become an important element in their decision-making process.

In 1991, Tunstall helped convene an International Advisory Committee (IAC) of experts to encourage the implementation of GIS in African countries. Throughout the next decade, the group held numerous workshops and conferences that helped African scientists and researchers learn to compile, analyze, and present data using GIS software and bring this information to bear on policy issues.

"We were making progress, but the committee was overwhelmingly Western, and a number of us wanted to include more Africans in the process," said Tunstall. As the advisory group steadily integrated more African experts into their ranks, the effort to train more GIS professionals continued to escalate.

With assistance from development organizations and donors from Europe and North America, these newly-minted African GIS specialists acquired the necessary equipment to fully implement the systems and set out to convince policy makers in their native countries to use the technology to make environmentally responsible decisions.

In 1998, Tunstall and his colleagues at WRI and the US Agency for International Development formally created the Information Working Group for Africa (IWG), which sought to provide guidance and support on GIS issues to the budding group of African professionals. While the success of both the IAC and the IWG in training and promoting GIS in Africa was substantial, the hundreds of African GIS professionals scattered around the continent needed a home-grown organization to both champion their cause and network their talents and information.

EIS-Africa was created in 2000 to fill that void. While the IWG has advised EIS-Africa in their endeavors, the African group has flourished largely independently. EIS-Africa has developed a strong reputation as a go-to source for African environmental data due both to their effective studies and their ability to convene experts from all corners of the continent.

In November 2001, EIS-AFRICA and IWG released a joint report, GIS: Supporting Environmental Planning and Management in West Africa, that highlighted the impact of GIS data and analysis on West African policymaking. According to the report, EIS-Africa and GIS technology successfully helped to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of government operations, identify and guide needed action on environmental planning and management, and increase the transparency of the often cloaked decision-making process.

EIS-Africa documented the successful use of GIS applications in urban waste management, cholera eradication, land use planning, water resource allocation, more equitable taxation, better management of forest resources and forest concessions, and road and school construction and maintenance.

Policymakers from other developing countries have also been inspired by the work of EIS-Africa members. GIS analysis of water resources in Burkina Faso, for example, stimulated visitors from Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, and Togo to use the GIS model in their own water basin projects.

During a special session of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, the U.S. government wanted to highlight some of its most important emerging partnerships in Africa. They chose André Bassolé, chairman of EIS-Africa, to describe the successes of his organization to the Summit.

"The Information Working Group for Africa and EIS-Africa are prime examples of how the free flow of environmental information to policy makers and the public can positively impact both surrounding ecosystems and the lives of millions," said Jonathan Lash, WRI president.

As EIS-Africa continues to document success stories, train more African GIS experts, and mark gains in both members and political influence, the organization is primed to make the use of GIS by African leaders an essential part of any public and private program. (WRI Features, 868 words)