WASCAL DONATES SEVEN (7) AUTOMATIC HYDRO SENSORS TO BENIN GOVERNMENT

©Prof. Kehinde O. Ogunjobi

After the Gambia and Cabo Verde, WASCAL, through the Competence Centre has officially handed over seven (7) Automatic Hydro Sensor to the Republic of Benin for the benefit of the Department of Water Resources. The ceremony took place at the conference room of the Department for water resources, Coutonu, Benin.

Speaking on behalf of the Water Resource Agency, the Director General, M. Saïd K. HOUNKPONOU, expressed joy and appreciation to WASCAL and the Federal Ministry of Research and Education (BMBF) for the donation. He also identified the unrelenting support of the two institutions in strengthening the capacities of national water institutions and agencies in addressing climate change data gap’’ across the West African sub-region.

Prof. Flora Chadare, WASCAL Board member representing Republic of Benin stressed the importance of data to water resource management.

‘’The hydrological data to be generated from the sensors will close the existing data gap in the country and will undoubtedly assist the Agency in achieving its mandate of improving water resources capability in Benin’’, she said.

Prof. Kehinde Ogunjobi, the Director of Research at the WASCAL Competence Centre, reiterate the invaluable contribution the donation will make in facilitating the work of the network of Water Resources Department.  

‘’The new equipment will strengthen the network of the Water Resources Department with accurate and quality assured data, bridge the gap in hydrology data availability in the region, contribute to preparing the early warning system for water resource availability for agricultural purposes, and portable water availability’’, he concluded.

The Director of the GSP Climate Change and water resources, Abomi Calavy University, Prof Julian Adounkpe, said the data generated from the Automatic Hydro Sensor will be useful for research and climate services for the stakeholders, students and scientists in the country. He further reiterated the strong collaboration between the GSP Benin and the Department of Water Resource.

The team from WASCAL also paid an official visit to the Meteorological services of Benin and the technical team in partnership with staff of the MET carried maintenance activities on the Automatic Weather Stations in Benin.