Tunis, Tunisie, 5-7 mai 2026.
The Sahara and Sahel Observatory, in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), organized an in-person training workshop in Tunis from May 5 to 7, 2026, dedicated to the WorldCereal crop mapping system. The opening session featured remarks by Mr. Mustapha Mimouni, Director of the Information Technology and Remote Sensing Department at OSS, and Mr. Koen De Vos, expert at VITO, both of whom highlighted the importance of technological innovation in agricultural monitoring.
The event brought together around thirty in-person participants, as well as more than 50 remote attendees. Participants mainly came from institutions and technical departments of Tunisia’s Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries, particularly experts and specialists involved in monitoring agricultural campaigns and in the process of producing agricultural statistics.
Participants were able to gain hands-on experience with Earth Observation data processing systems -particularly time series- within the WorldCereal tool in a cloud computing environment, enabling them to generate thematic mapping products useful for crop monitoring, the production of reliable agricultural statistics, and decision-making at various scales.
The workshop also included practical sessions, fieldwork, and discussion sessions aimed at consolidating knowledge and identifying concrete opportunities for integrating these tools into crop mapping production systems.
This event reflects the commitment of OSS and its partners, ESA and VITO, to promoting innovative solutions based on Earth Observation and cloud computing, in order to improve the production of national agricultural statistics and support sustainable agriculture for food security.