Space4SDGs
2024 SPACE UNGANA Forum
The Omni Africa Space Research Education and Training Ungana (SPACE UNGANA), organised by the Space Futures Forum, will be held on-site and virtually between 20 and 30 July 2024 at All Nations University (Main Campus), Ghana.
The forum gathers academics, advocates, policymakers, technocrats and industry leaders interested in advancing African space development. SPACE UNGANA aims to explore opportunities and challenges in the space industry ecosystem and identify strategies for building capacity to advance the African Space Agenda and Africa Union (AU) 2063
Forum Themes
- Building Foundational Capacity;
- Space for the SDGs;
- Space Settlement;
- Space Tourism; and
- Space Traffic Management.
Temidayo Oniosun, Managing Director, Space in Africa, will be speaking on Roundtable II– Business, Law & Policy Matters on Day 1 - Monday, July 22 at 03:00 - 04:30 PM GMT.
For more information, click here.
Employing Space Technologies to Realise SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
The United Nations embraced a global call to action in 2015 to protect the environment with a comprehensive framework for global sustainable development. This motion birthed the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a collection of 17 interwoven global goals meticulously designed to balance social, economic, and environmentally sustainable development across the world by 2030.
The SDGs aim to be relevant to all nations – poor, rich and middle-income – to promote prosperity while protecting the environment and tackling climate change. They have a strong focus on ending hunger, poverty, HIV/AIDS, and discrimination against women and disadvantaged populations in particular so that no one is left behind.
SDG - 12
The UN defines sustainable consumption and production to be about promoting resource and energy efficiency and sustainable infrastructure. It also includes providing access to essential services, green and decent jobs and a better quality of life for all. Its implementation helps to achieve overall development plans. Furthermore, it will reduce future economic, environmental and social costs, strengthen economic competitiveness and reduce poverty.
SDG 12 calls for a comprehensive set of actions from businesses, policy-makers, researchers and consumers to adapt to sustainable practices. It envisions sustainable production and consumption based on advanced technological capacity, resource efficiency and reduced global waste. Realising economic growth and sustainable development requires promptly decreasing our ecological footprint by altering how we produce and consume goods and resources. Agriculture is the biggest user of water worldwide, and irrigation now claims close to 70% of all freshwater for human use.
Managing shared natural resources and toxic waste disposal are essential targets to achieve this goal. Encouraging industries, businesses, and consumers to recycle and reduce waste is equally necessary, supporting developing countries to move towards more sustainable consumption patterns by 2030. A large share of the world population is still consuming far too little to meet their basic needs. Halving the per capita of global food waste at the retailer and consumer levels is vital for creating more efficient production and supply chains. This can help with food security and shift us towards a more resource-efficient economy.
Here are the 11 targets for the 12th Sustainable Development Goal
- Implement the 10-year framework of programmes on sustainable consumption and production, all countries taking action, with developed countries taking the lead, taking into account the development and capabilities of developing countries
- By 2030, achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources
- By 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses
- Achieve the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle, in accordance with agreed international frameworks, and significantly reduce their release to air, water and soil to minimise their adverse impacts on human health and the environment by 2030
- By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse
- Encourage companies, especially large and transnational companies, to adopt sustainable practices and to integrate sustainability information into their reporting cycle
- Promote public procurement practices that are sustainable, in accordance with national policies and priorities
- By 2030, ensure that people everywhere have the relevant information and awareness for sustainable development and lifestyles in harmony with nature
- Support developing countries to strengthen their scientific and technological capacity to move towards more sustainable patterns of consumption and production
- Develop and implement tools to monitor sustainable development impacts for sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products
- Rationalise inefficient fossil-fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption by removing market distortions, in accordance with national circumstances, including by restructuring taxation and phasing out those harmful subsidies, where they exist, to reflect their environmental impacts, taking fully into account the specific needs and conditions of developing countries and minimising the possible adverse effects on their development in a manner that protects the poor and the affected communities
How space technologies can help to achieve SDG-12
According to The United Nations Office for Outer Space Activities, space can assist the realisation of SDG 12 through
- Natural resources management
- Food and dangerous goods traceability
- Monitoring of endangered species trafficking and products of human slavery
- Smart Agriculture by combining Earth observation, satellite telecommunications and Global Navigation Satellite Systems
- Spin-offs of In-situ resources utilisation (ISRU), such 3d printing technologies to create structures in orbit, could have applications on Earth
In the Gambia, farmers are suffering from crop losses due to irregular rainfalls, soil erosion, degradation and sea-water intrusion from the Atlantic Ocean. To address these crop losses, The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Swiss Earth observation service provider, Sarmap, are leveraging radars on multiple satellites to map the entire country. The projects include observations from Japan’s ALOS satellite, the Cosmo-SkyMed mission, and ESA’s Envisat historical data.
Together with Sarmap, ESA supports the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) by mapping the whole country using radars on multiple satellites. These include observations from Japan’s ALOS satellite, the Cosmo-SkyMed mission, and ESA’s Envisat historical data. Under these projects, IFAD and The Gambian government are focusing on poor, rural communities and their participation in local government. This also includes improving agricultural production while safeguarding the environment.
These activities can take Africa closer to sustainable consumption and production via satellite technology. Furthermore, ESA, Sarmap and IFAD are also working with the locals to build capacity. This involves educating field technicians on collecting crop information for validating space-based maps to ensure their accuracy. This ensures that the locals can ensure sustainable production of food.
XY Analytics South Africa has also developed a technology-enabled application that is transforming the food system in the country. They created a herd management tool that leverages geospatial data to monitor livestock’s health, movement, reproductive status, and location. This ensures effective monitoring of livestock to prevent avoidable their easily avoidable death. Steps like this ensure the sustainability of African livestock, and consequently, consumption.
Furthermore, Kenya is leveraging satellite data for natural resources management and monitoring its endangered wildlife. For example, the black rhino is now an endangered species in Kenya, with only 650 left out of 20,000. This is due to climate change, poaching and illegal hunting. Thus, Kenya uses satellite data to monitor weather and seasonal cycles and detect suitable grazing lands for the rhinos. The team responsible for the efforts utilises the Africa Regional Data Cube (ARDC) to look back over 20 years of satellite data. They use this to identify changes in rainfall and the vegetation state of the grazing land.
By leveraging the data cube, the team can observe and predict trends in vegetation conditions. This will help them identify suitable plots for the rhinos and develop grazing plans to prevent land decimation.
Geodata for Agriculture and Water (G4AW) also instituted a project - CROPMON - to develop and provide an affordable information service. The information provides farmers with information that helps them make better farm management decisions during the growing season. This improves the farmers’ crop productivity by ensuring that correct decisions are taken. The project provides information on:
- The actual crop condition;
- The most probable crop growth-limiting factor (climate, soil fertility, water supply, etc.) when crop development drops;
- And advice on how to remedy or reduce the limiting factor by adjusting farm management.
Koolboks also intends to leverage geospatial applications to solve Africa’s food wastage problems. According to the company, over 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa lack access to electricity and refrigeration. Furthermore, when they have refrigeration, the cost of owning one is usually an uneasy task. To address this, Koolboks created an off-grid solar refrigerator that can generate refrigeration for up to four days. The solar generator can generate refrigeration in the absence of power, and even in limited sunlight. The initiative uses the IoT tech(Internet of things) for a GIS system. This makes it possible to monitor a refrigerator’s temperature from anywhere in the world. It also helps them determine the fridges’ location anywhere in the world.
Leveraging Space Technologies to Achieve SDG 2 - Zero Hunger
In 2015, the United Nations embraced a global call to action to protect the environment with a robust framework for global sustainable development. This motion birthed the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a collection of 17 interwoven global goals carefully designed to balance social, economic, and environmentally sustainable development across the world by 2030.
The SDGs or Global goals were developed as a Post-2015 Development Agenda to improve the activities carried out in Millennium Development Goals, which ended in 2015. The global indicator framework for Sustainable Development Goals was developed by the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on SDG Indicators (IAEG-SDGs) and agreed upon at the 48th session of the United Nations Statistical Commission held in March 2017.
On July 6, 2017, the SDGs were made more actionable by a UN Resolution adopted by the General Assembly. The resolution identifies each goal and indicators that are used to measure progress toward each target. The timeline for each target is usually between 2020- 2030, while other targets are to continue in perpetuity.
SDG 2 - Zero Hunger
SDG 2 aims to end hunger, increase food security, end malnutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture. This requires sustainable food production systems and resilient agricultural practices, land use mapping, disaster management, and international cooperation on investments in infrastructure and technology to boost agricultural productivity.
The UN has since developed 14 indicators and eight targets to measure the progress of SDG 2, and these targets are then divided into the outcome targets and the methods of achieving the targets.
These methods include:
- Enhancing international cooperation in rural infrastructure; a substantive increase in investment enhances agricultural productive capacity, especially in developing and underdeveloped countries.
- Reforming and preventing trade restrictions in world agricultural markets; through the parallel elimination of all forms of agricultural export subsidies and all export measures with equivalent effect, following the mandate of the Doha Development Round.
- Adopting measures to improve the food commodity markets and their derivatives and facilitate timely access to market information to help limit extreme food price volatility.
Hunger and malnutrition Scale in Africa
The World Bank estimates show that about 24.8% of Africans are malnourished, with 45% of people in sub-Saharan Africa living on less than USD 1.25 a day. This makes the sub-Saharan region the most impoverished area in the world.
The number of people dying from famine is increasing rapidly, particularly in the sub-Saharan region. Since 2010, Africa has been the most affected continent in the world. This is due to the numerous challenges facing the continent - economic challenges, drought, extreme weather, etc.
On the African continent, 257 million people are experiencing hunger, which is 20% of the entire population.
According to the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2020, three key indicators are used to calculate the GHI scores, ranging from 0-100. These indicators are; undernourishment, child underweight, and child mortality.
Chad has been a regular on the global Hunger Index since 2017. The ongoing effects of climate change in the country have contributed to widespread food insecurity, compounded by the influx of refugees from the conflict-torn Central African Republic, Nigeria and Sudan. At 44.7%, Chad’s undernourishment rate is the highest in this report, with a child stunting rate of 39.8%. This contributes to a mortality rate of about 12% of children under 5. This makes Chad one of the few countries in the world where more than 1 in 10 children dies before their fifth birthday.
Several African countries are not included in the GHI due to insufficient data to support their GHI scores. However, based on available data, it was estimated that the following countries would rank somewhere between Chad and Madagascar in terms of hunger levels: Niger, South Sudan. Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
How space technologies can help achieve the mandate of the SDG-2
In recent times, the adoption of Space-based technologies in precision agriculture has improved how farmers, agronomists, food manufacturers, and agricultural policymakers treat crops and manage fields to enhance production and profitability.
Crop Breeding
Space environment provides the means to uncover the hidden potential in crops, commonly referred to as space breeding. This involves combining agricultural sciences with astronautics. Seeds are sent into space via spacecraft. In the space environment, the seeds may undergo mutation, and after returning to Earth, mutated seeds are selected and planted to breed new varieties with overall improved qualities.
The joint venture between the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nation and the International Atomic Energy Agency (FAO/IAEA) Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture have ventured into some projects in this field.
The FAO/IAEA Mutant Variety Database documents the extensive use of mutation induction for crop improvement, including more than 3,346 officially released mutant varieties from 228 different plant species in more than 73 countries globally.
Also, over 1,000 mutant varieties of major staple crops - yam, rice, cassava, etc. cultivated on tens of millions of hectares enhance rural income, improve human nutrition and contribute to environmentally sustainable food security globally.
Furthermore, approximately 10kg of the Pokkali rice variety was sent into space by a Chinese spacecraft to observe heritable alterations in these seeds’ genetic framework and planting materials. These alterations were induced by the effects of cosmic rays, microgravity, and magnetic fields in space. Upon return to Earth, the seeds were planted in the greenhouse at the FAO/IAEA Agriculture and Biotechnology Laboratory in Seibersdorf, Austria, to evaluate viable seeds with overall improved quality.
Biodiversity and Desertification
Earth observation and characterization of agroecological zones is an essential asset for informing decision-makers. This is done by assessing the state of conservation of biodiversity for food and agriculture and estimating the health status of ecosystems, among other things.
Satellite imagery can also provide essential data used for quantifying and modelling biodiversity. Space technologies can also provide additional value by integrating images and mapping abilities into existing information systems on genetic resources for food and agriculture.
The Weather Risk Management Facility, a joint initiative of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme, started a research project on the use of satellite data to show when crop stress occurs on smallholder farms.
Ultimately, this data could enable the broader adoption of weather index-based insurance for farming households that lose their crops to severe droughts and other extreme weather events. Unlike traditional crop insurance, weather index insurance eliminates the need to track individual farmers’ crop losses. It allows for timely assistance that can help boost the resilience of rural people affected by desertification. In addition, satellite imaging is an essential tool that drives the decision of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). They facilitate more effective action by providing reliable data about weather conditions and crop yields in regions at risk.
Drought
Drought, desertification and land degradation deprive people of food and water and force millions to leave their homes searching for greener pasture. The Drought Resilience Impact Platform (DRIP) helps prevent and minimize drought impacts on Ethiopia and Kenya’s local communities. It monitors the water supplies of three million people via sensors installed on groundwater pumps across hundreds of sites in both countries. The sensors alert the DRIP network if a pump is failing or needs routine maintenance. The DRIP team has developed models for groundwater demand using NASA Earth Observations satellite imagery, including data from satellite missions that use gravity to measure changes in water amounts on Earth’s surface.
The Energy and Tenure Division of FAO uses composite imagery from Meteorological Operational Satellite-Advanced Very High-Resolution Radiometer (METOP-AVHRR) to monitor agricultural areas with a high likelihood of drought.
Flood control
Many African countries have adopted space technologies to give early warnings regarding the regions within Africa, which are peculiarly powerless against seaside disintegration and flooding.
For example, the Space Climate Observatory has embarked on projects in lake Chad and Senegal to acquire more information and raise awareness among all concerned institutions of the impending dangers in the region. Data from satellites such as Copernicus, Sentinel 1, 2, 3, SPOT6-7, the Pleiades, and many others have helped achieve this.
Also, mapping floodplains and areas at risk of landslides with high-resolution satellite imagery and detailed elevation models can reduce the vulnerability or exposure of urban and rural populations across Africa.
Land-cover mapping
Land cover and land-use mapping help to break down the different types of material on the earth’s surface. This information is vital for understanding changes in land use, modelling climate change extent and impacts, conserving biodiversity, and managing natural resources. The European Space Agency’s Climate Change Initiative (CCI) Land Cover project developed a map using high-resolution imagery from the Copernicus Sentinel-2. The resulting data and maps of status and trends help decision-makers formulate policies for sustainable development in rural areas.
In-depth analysis of high-resolution satellite images improves real-time monitoring of crop vegetation indices for different fields and crops and identifies and monitors the dynamics of crop development. In addition to crop health, space-based applications provide inputs for comprehensive environmental and soil analysis. When these numerous techniques are compiled and integrated into decision-making models, specific agricultural interventions in particular field zones will improve.
Supplementary data- remotely sensed data is a critical component in the effective monitoring of agricultural production. Satellite imagery incorporated with field surveys allows the aggregation of areas planted and harvested during different crop seasons, and this earth observation data is now used to regularly monitor the crop season to improve productivity.
Acornhoek Physics Summer School is Accelerating Space Education in South Africa
Acornhoek Physics Summer School is a summer school that is hosted every year to improve understanding of Physics and Mathematics. The summer school started in 2016, with the first classes being held at Magwagwaza high school, South Africa, from December 5 to 15, 2016 and January 2 to 6, 2017. Since then, the summer school has been taking place every year during December and January holidays. During the summer school, classes are held on Physics, Mathematics, while career guidance is provided and other fun activities are involved. Grade 11 students are taught Grade 12 Maths and science, and every year, alumni of the school come back to support the next batch. This summer school was founded by Sibusiso Mdhluli a current student of the University of Northwest & Cape Town and Shepherd Mpolwane a student of the University of Limpopo.
This year’s summer school will be held from 7 to 18 December 2020. Due to Covid-19, it will combine e-learning with physical learning i.e. students will learn from home for some days and learn at the venue on other days. A new course in Astronomy and Programming (Python) has been added, to provide early exposure to students to skills which are fast becoming essential for the 4th industrial revolution.
Fundraising of about R100,000 ($6,040) is needed to cover the purchase of 21 tablets (20 for students and 1 for teaching) which will be used for e-learning, data bundles, transport, meals during physical lessons, stationery, pay tutors and other safety product which may be needed for Covid-19.
In this interview, Sibusiso talks about the growth and impact of the summer school since inception and the present challenges faced.
Can you tell us about yourself, interests and your background?
My name is Sibusiso Mdhluli and I am based in South Africa. I am currently finishing my Master’s in Astrophysics at the University of the Western Cape. My interest is more into Machine Learning which is the area of Artificial Intelligence and this is part of the work I’ve been doing for my Masters. My other interest involves looking at ways of improving the education system in rural areas.
What was the inspiration behind Acornhoek Physics Summer School?
The summer school started when I noticed that many students where I come from are having challenges in terms of Physics and Maths. Since it’s more like a remote area, we don’t have many industrial materials to bring motivation to the students so they can see the need to do Science and Maths. After my friend, Shephard Mpulwane, and I finished our undergraduate (studies) in 2015, I suggested that we start a summer school in 2016 where we get students in grade 11 and teach them grade 12 physics and Maths during December holidays.
This also came from my own experience. When I finished my grade 11, I decided to spend my December time studying grade 12 physics and mathematics, and I realised how much it helped me. By the time I started my grade 12, I was almost ahead of all the other students and was part of the top students. When I saw how much it worked for me, I suggested to my friend, that we can follow the same pattern for summer school. And since then we have never looked back.
Every year we train grade 11 students for three weeks in December, give them career guidance and this year, we decided to integrate Astronomy into the curriculum. This will make them the first high school students in the country to study Astronomy.
What is the mission and vision of the Summer school?
The mission of the Summer school is to help students from rural areas to perform better in Maths and Science and expose them to various career opportunities.
How has been the program so far, and how many students have benefited in this impactful program?
So far, this is the number of students we have worked with:
2016 – 5
2017 – 17
2018 – 8
2019 – 22
For this year, we plan to host 20 students.
You're a student set on a great mission to impact lives, how have you been able to fund the program so far?
When we started in 2016, the students were contributing something minimal to sustain the program. For the first time last year, we got funding from the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of the Western Cape, which was approved by Prof Roy Maartens. We also got another funding from IDIA – Inter-University Institute for Data-Intensive Astronomy, University of the Western Cape, which was approved by Prof Carolina Odman. Friends and colleagues also came through for us for last year’s summer school, and we were able to raise over R30 000, which we used to fund last year summer school.
How has Covid-19 affected the Summer School?
Since the pandemic started this year, we were not sure if we will be able to hold the summer school. What we finally decided on is to change the mode of the summer school so as to minimize social contacts between students and tutors and abide by the Covid-19 social distancing rules.
The plan is that the summer school will be a mixture of online and onsite classes. To make this possible, we have to provide students with tablets. Presently, we are trying to raise funding of about R100,000 ($6,040) to acquire the necessary materials needed for them to attend the training online.
The alumni of the Summer School, what have they grown to become. Highlight notable success stories of the alumni?
Almost all of our alumni are at various levels in universities pursuing different degrees. Some of our first set of students will be finishing their undergraduate degrees this year. The network is developed by giving the alumni the chance to come back and tutor at the Summer School.
Where do you see the Summer School in 5 or 10 years to come?
We would like to train more students intensively, accommodate them for that period of three weeks; since for now they attend and leave the same day. We would like to be able to provide bursaries for university studies to all the students who participated in the summer school. We also look forward to extending this project to other places in the country because we have seen the great impact it has created in this location.
How UNOOSA is Contributing to Space Development in Africa
The advocacy for increased utilisation of space in Africa has in recent years started yielding positively. However, there’s still a wide gap to cover. This gap is evident in the fact that Africa owns only 25 active satellites out of the 2,666 active artificial satellites orbiting the Earth. This figure shows that less than 1% of active satellites belong to African countries. As part of its contribution to encouraging the utilisation of, and the exploration of space, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) is providing dividends of space technology to developing nations through its ‘Access to space for all’ initiative. This initiative connects veteran space actors and emerging space players in order to facilitate their usage of space and space technologies in achieving the SDG goals.
The initiative is providing developing economies with space exploration opportunities through partnership programs like: Bartolomeo Platform, Dream Chaser, DROPTES Programme, ESA Centrifuge, KIBOCUBE Programme amongst others.
Of particular importance to the Africa space development, is the Kibocube program. In September 2015, UNOOSA announced a partnership with the Japanese Aerospace Agency (JAXA) for the ‘KIBOCUBE’ programme, to sponsor the launching of cube satellite (CubeSat) developed by selected education or research institutions on the continent. The CubeSats are launched via KIBO (the Japanese experimental module of the International Space Satellite) into low earth orbit. The Kibocube has had five recipients since inception, of which two are from Africa. The first was a team of researchers from the University Of Nairobi Kenya while the second was the Mauritius Research and Innovation Council.
Researchers from the University of Nairobi under the Kibocube program launched Kenya's cubesat satellite (1KUNS-PF) to space. 1KUNS-PF, the country's first satellite, was deployed to space in May 2018. The launch of this cubesat was a significant milestone in Kenya's space exploration journey. The satellite was widely used for data collection on biodiversity, weather forecasting, disaster management, and food security.
Like Kenya, the Mauritia Research and Innovation Council (MRIC) got her first opportunity to launch a satellite to space via the Kibocube program. MRIC was selected in June 2018 to develop their MIR-SAT1. The MIR-SAT1 which was developed in collaboration with ‘AAC-Clyde space’ exposed Mauritian engineers to the process of manufacturing their satellite locally. Currently, the satellite has completed a pod fit check and is to be launched in February 2021. When deployed, data obtained from the satellite would be used for research on how to solve national problems. The opportunity created by the CubeSat projects is a door for several African countries to experience space technology.
Aside from the ‘Access to space for all’ initiative, UNOOSA also supports member nations with disaster risk reduction and management through the UN-SPIDER initiative. This initiative provides assistance in the form of technical advice, information sharing and capacity building.
Established in December 2006, UN-SPIDER has carried out a number of projects, one of which was the Technical Advisory Mission (TAM) in Tunisia earlier this year. The Mission which held in consonance with the Tunisian National Office of Civil Protection (ONPC), featured a capacity-building workshop. The workshop trained selected Tunisians on the procedures of obtaining mapping data from the SENTINEL-1 satellites using software like google earth, SNAP and QGIS. The training also educated participants on how to use satellite data and remote sensing to identify flooding patterns in the country.
Other initiatives of UNOOSA that are bridging space utilisation and exploration gap includes; the space4health initiative, space4youth initiative, space4SDG initiative, amongst others. These initiatives by the space office have and could assist African countries with space utilisation opportunities. Rather than wait for the government to provide funds, research and educational institutions in Africa could leverage these opportunities to utilise space and space technologies.
Therefore, to bridge the space utilisation gap, more African countries (and space institutions) can key into any of the aforementioned initiatives by UNOOSA, as these initiatives would help reduce the cost of space exploration.
