Background
The National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) at the Namibian Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry (MAWF) and the Polytechnic of Namibia (PoN) both host satellite receiving stations which were installed with assistance from the AMESD SADC-THEMA Programme. The Polytechnic is the Namibian training partner of the Programme. The NFP-Fire is Dr. Johan le Roux from the NRSC, while Ms. Celeste Espach (NFP-Drought) and Mrs. Marina Coetzee (NFP-Agriculture) are staff members of the PoN. Mrs. Coetzee, Dr. Le Roux, Mr. S. Mukumbira and Mr. B. Mhango (the last two are staff members of the PoN) attended the AMESD SADC-THEMA Regional Training in Pretoria in February-March 2011.

• National Workshop: ‘Symposium on Earth Observation Applications in Namibia’ – 6 July 2011
• Policy/Decision-makers Awareness Event: ‘Inauguration of EOSA-RTC’ – 6 July 2011
• AMESD National Training: Short Course on EOSA-RTC Products – 1–3 November 2011

AMESD National Training – 1–3 November 2011

The Polytechnic hosted a very successful three-day course on 1-3 November 2011. The course aim was to give a deeper understanding on a variety of the satellite image products received and processed by the EOSA-RTC (collaboration between the Polytechnic and AMESD, the Polytechnic’s Earth Observation and Satellite Applications Research and Training Centre), for the evaluation of the condition and changes in soil moisture, crops and rangeland and the monitoring and mapping of fires.

Namibia AMESD National Training

The course should enable trainees to do their own value-addition to images in future. Seven PoN staff members and 14 end-users of the products were trained in the use of the products for fire, agriculture and drought assessment and monitoring. This activity is in line with the role of EOSA-RTC and the PoN, as a centre of knowledge and technological innovation. By building capacity both within PoN and in the broader Namibian agricultural and environmental community to use this technology, the course contributed to the sustainable use of natural resources and to informed decision-making. It also contributed to the public profile of the PoN and led to closer collaboration with the agricultural and environmental sectors