COINS Agri-Water Hackathon

About this course

Good decisions in agriculture and water management depend on good data. This course introduces three complementary ways to collect it: measuring directly in the field, observing land from space, and assessing biodiversity in farming landscapes. Real case studies from Ghana, Kenya, Burkina Faso and Senegal show how low-cost and freely available tools can be used where data are scarce.

What you will learn

Lesson 1 – Advanced technologies for in-situ data collection
Why field data matter and how to collect them. You will learn about participatory mapping, measuring field boundaries with a smartphone (Northern Ghana), and building simple monitoring setups with low-cost sensors and microcontrollers such as Arduino, Raspberry Pi and ESP32. The lesson includes a water turbidity study from wetland reservoirs in Kenya.
By the end, you will be able to explain the value of in-situ data, list tools for collecting it, and evaluate the strengths and limits of a data collection process.

Lesson 2 – Remote sensing-based vegetation mapping
How satellite imaging works, what spectral signatures are, and how the vegetation index NDVI is used. Two examples apply it: drought monitoring in Burkina Faso and verifying crop insurance claims for rice farms along the Senegal River. You will also compare field surveys with satellite mapping.
By the end, you will be able to name basic remote sensing terms, apply a vegetation index to monitor crop damage, and judge where remote sensing works well and where it doesn’t.

Lesson 3 – Biodiversity assessment
Key concepts of biodiversity and how rapid biodiversity assessments work, including surrogates and morphospecies. A case study from Northern Ghana examines whether Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) can support biodiversity on farmland.
By the end, you will be able to define core biodiversity concepts, set up a simple monitoring framework, and collect, process and analyse the data.

Who is this course for?
Students, researchers and practitioners working in agriculture, water, land management or biodiversity, and everyone taking part in the COINS Agri-Water Hackathon.

What to expect

• 3 lessons with 23 short topics
• Text with diagrams, images and real-world examples, interactive content blocks, links to free tools, two downloadable PDF guides and a satellite time-lapse video
• A short quiz at the end of Lessons 1 and 2 (7 and 5 questions, no time limit). One open reflection question is reviewed by the course team.
• Self-paced: your progress is saved, so you can stop and continue later. Work through the topics in order and confirm each one to move on.

How long does it take?
About 2 to 2.5 hours in total: roughly 30–45 minutes each for Lessons 1 and 2, and 45–60 minutes for Lesson 3. You don’t need to finish in one sitting.