On 17 July 2026, the West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL), a partner in the TRANS-SAHARA project, conducted a field visit to the project’s Ghana demonstration Living Lab in the Tindongo community, located in the Talensi-Nabdam District of Ghana’s Upper East Region.
The visit aimed to support the planning and deployment of the TRANS-SAHARA sensing infrastructure and included a series of meetings with local stakeholders, together with technical assessments of the demonstration site.
WASCAL team meeting the Tindongo Community land Custodian
The programme began with an introductory meeting with Mr Sumaila S. Saaka, Executive Director of the Forum for Natural Regeneration (FONAR), the NGO responsible for implementing Living Lab activities in Tindongo. This was followed by a courtesy visit to the Tindongo land custodian to present the planned field activities and seek his continued support and guidance for the project’s engagement with the local community.
The WASCAL team also held an introductory meeting with members of the Living Lab local committee, including the Assembly Chairman and local government representative Mr John Nagroug, committee member Mr Williams Bugbil Naoh, FONAR representative Mr Christopher Nyzuk Pubeng, and Mr Edward Mbanfagbin Ndandin, representing Ghana’s National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO).
The technical activities carried out during the visit included:
- inspection of the main pilot site for WEFE Nexus activities;
- identification of the optimal location for installing the professional market-ready weather station to be procured through WASCAL’s technical support;
- assessment of suitable installation sites for additional professional market-ready sensors, including groundwater level and soil nutrient sensors, as well as the project’s Made-in-Africa sensor prototypes;
- identification of locations providing the best line of sight between the sensors and the LoRaWAN gateway to support reliable wireless data transmission.
Demarkation of the potential point of installation of the Automatic Weather Station at the Tindongo Community living lab
The visit represents an important preparatory step towards the deployment of the sensing infrastructure within the Ghana Living Lab and reflects the close collaboration between project partners, local authorities and community representatives.
WASCAL team at the Tindongo Living Lab implementation site
Orientation discussions during the field visit
The Ghana Living Lab is one of the demonstration sites of the TRANS-SAHARA project, which is developing innovative Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems (WEFE) Nexus-based approaches to support sustainable agroforestry management in the Greater North African Region. The project combines technical and non-technical innovations with community-led engagement to test and validate solutions in real-world settings across Africa.
Read more about our Living Lab in Ghana
