CMSR in Kenya

Dejan Prešiček, Director of CMSR met with partners and representatives of company SPACE-SI, the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia and the Ministry of Environment, Climate and Energy of the Republic of Slovenia at the Jomo Kenyatta University in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, to discuss the progress and common goals of the project "Supporting river basin management through satellite technology and digital models". With a population of 48 million, Kenya faces enormous challenges in managing its water resources. 85 per cent of the country is classified as arid or semi-arid. Water sources are very unevenly distributed. A third of water resources are located outside the country and their management is a source of inter-state conflict.

Climate change is causing increasingly severe floods and droughts resulting in reduced agricultural production which accounts for a relatively high 22% of GDP and employs up to 75% of the workforce. Based on the satellite images obtained by Sentinel and Nemo-HD, the project will prepare their digital twins for critical areas of the ecosystem.

The twin satelites will form the basis for monitoring and multi-sectoral river basin management in key river basins in Kenya, including the Omo, Mara, Lumi and Dawa Rivers and around Lake Victoria and Lake Turkan. The project will develop three pilot technology demonstrations for three basic ecosystem types in mountainous areas at the headwaters of rivers, floodplains and degraded areas of water reservoirs.

The aim of the project is to provide appropriate satellite technologies and digital models that will enable decision-makers to access the most objective environmental data possible and to carry out comprehensive analyses of ecosystems.

Project objectives:

- Provide an advanced water resources management tool
- Enable sustainable management of water resources
- Climate change mitigation

International development cooperation is being implemented in developing countries, particularly in priority areas of the Western Balkans, the European neighbourhood and sub-Saharan Africa, with a focus on the least developed countries.