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WaPOR, remote sensing for water productivity

Stakeholder meeting and pilot area selection in Tunisia

13/01/2023

In the framework of the WaPOR 2 project activities in Tunisia, a validation workshop of the intervention sites and the 2023 action plan was organised on 15 December 2022 at Carthage Thalasso Resort in Gammarth.  

This workshop took place over 3 sessions with the involvement of the national and international partners of the project. The first session was dedicated to a general presentation of the project as well as the state of its progress and to the presentation of the 3 proposed intervention areas. The latter was made by the national partners, namely the National Institute of Field Crops (INGC), the Planning and Hydraulic Balance Office (BPEH) and the Regional Centre for Research in Oasis Agriculture (CRRAO) on Jendouba, Kairouan and Tozeur respectively. During this session, the steering committee of the project as well as the national partners validated the choice of the intervention sites, namely Jendouba and Kairouan for the 30 m resolution and Tozuer for the use of PyWaPOR.  

The second session allowed to present and validate the project activities proposed by the steering committee which can be grouped in five themes as follows: (i) development and provision of high resolution data on the intervention sites, (ii) national capacity building in sustainable water resources management, (iii) support to the improvement of irrigation systems performance, (iv) support to the improvement of water resources management and (v) inventory of user-centred solutions and practical tools.  

The last session was dedicated to the planning of the 2023 action plan and the identification of needs and implementation processes. The national partners defined the activities to be carried out during the year 2023 which are related to

  • the development and provision of high resolution data on the intervention sites identified with the national side,
  • strengthening national capacities in sustainable water resources management, and 
  • support to improve the performance of irrigation systems.

At the end of the workshop, the participants agreed on the finalisation of the 2023 action plan and the submission of this proposal to the steering committee by mid-January for final validation, and then to share it with the international partners for discussion and to set deadlines for the implementation of this plan.