Geographic Information System and Statistical Analysis to Face Drought
(ST) – The Ministry of Agriculture confirmed that it is proceeding with the development of scenarios to reduce drought. Eng. Ahmed Qadish, Deputy Minister of Agriculture clarified that the Ministry monitors the drought, which has negatively affected the country in recent years. During the last three months, the Ministry carried out a series of practical steps to encounter drought in the future.
He pointed out that the most prominent steps is the replacement of the electronic database project with an early warning system for drought and the electronic database was linked to the geographic information system and the statistical analysis program, developing the project website, providing the necessary supplies, carrying out training courses for a staff from the Directorate of Natural Disasters Reduction and the Effects of Drought and the branches of the Directorate in the provinces about the database and how to benefit of them.
Eng. Qadish noted that the project aims to monitor drought indicators and assesses the drought situation in the provinces and alert concerned bodies to drought situations early to take actions to reduce the damage and determine the affected region and the extent of harm to provide measures that must be taken and the participation in mapping out future plans to encounter the effects of the drought and how to recover from the effects resulting from it.
The project started in collaboration with the FAO in 2004 and continued in 2006 within the areas of the desert with the adoption of a national strategy for the management of the drought. In 2010 the second phase of the project was carried out in collaboration with FAO and the project was funded by the Swiss government. The project was expanded to include desert areas in nine provinces and regions of the third and fourth agricultural stability, whereas several valuable steps were implemented including the preparation of climatic and socio-economic data of targeted areas.
Sharif el Khatib