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\begin{document}

\title{Building Capacity for Decision Makers in Ghana for Sustainable Land Use
Planning using Earth Observations and Open-Source GIS Tools}



\author[1]{Changjie Chen}%
\author[2]{Jasmeet Judge}%
\author[1]{Gregory Kiker}%
\author[1]{Julie Peeling}%
\author[1]{Olivier Walther}%
\author[1]{Aditya Singh}%
\author[1]{Isabelle Walther-Duc}%
\affil[1]{University of Florida}%
\affil[2]{Center for Remote Sensing, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Florida}%


\vspace{-1em}



  
  \date{May 25, 2024}


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\begin{abstract}
The total population of Ghana has tripled between 1960 and 2015. During
the same period, the urban population, however, grew more than 11 times.
Rapid urbanization and large increase in population dramatically changed
the land cover of the West African country. For example, agricultural
land expanded from occupying 13\% in mid-1970s to more than a third of
Ghana's total land area today. In the meantime, forests and savannas
face a huge pressure of being converted to agricultural or urban land
uses. The Ghana Land Use Project (GALUP) aims at enhancing the country's
capacity in dealing with these challenges. The project engages both
institutions and government agencies in Ghana to deliver a series of
training workshops focused on remote sensing and geospatial technologies
that can facilitate the formulation of sustainable land use plans.
In-person workshops were planned initially, but because of travel
restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the first GALUP
workshop---Land-Use Suitability Analysis with QGIS Tools---was conducted
online. Such means of capacity building presented an exceptional
opportunity to explore novel methods for transferring knowledge while
also forging strong partnerships that are easier with in-person
meetings. The 3-month long workshop was delivered in a hybrid mode
featuring synchronous and asynchronous components. This hybrid mode was
unusual for both trainers and the 41 trainees from four organizations
including the Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority (LUSPA), the
Center for Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Services (CERSGIS),
the International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics
(ICRISAT) and the Agro-Hydrological and Meteorological Centre (AGRHYMET)
in Niger. The synchronous component involved weekly meetings and
discussion session, and the asynchronous component consisted of a GitHub
repository. The repository contained (a) fourteen open-source GIS tools
developed for land-use suitability modeling, (b) a discussion channel
for Q\&A and idea-sharing, and (c) four modules of training materials,
each equipped with customized videos and multiple exercises to boost the
learning process. The repository has received over 13,000 views since
the beginning of the workshop.%
\end{abstract}%



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