Irrigation Information Management System (IIMS)

The regions along the Shabelle and Juba Rivers are often described as the bread basket of Somalia. Before the civil strife, this region enjoyed a vibrant irrigation system that made it possible to produce tonnes of food both for local consumption and export. But many years of civil strife left the system in need of rehabilitation. To make meaningful and strategic rehabilitation possible, SWALIM and partners recognised the need for a central source of information on the irrigation infrastructure status, interventions and agriculture. This Irrigation Information Management System was developed to provide users with a platform to discover what is available, query the system for specific datasets, carry out basic analysis, print maps and also download and transfer data and information to typical desktop data processing and presentation applications. The system consists of four modules:

• Irrigation infrastructure module which captures data on canals, barrages, bridges and culverts.
• Agriculture module that consists of schemes, soil types and crops grown.
• Climate module that consists of location of weather stations.
• Intervention module  which consists of information on activities of various agencies involved in irrigation interventions in Southern Somalia.

This system is designed to run on Arc Reader and is provided on a DVD that installs the database and software. It is easy to install and a simplified user manual is included in the DVD. The database is updated by SWALIM with data provided by partners in the field. To request for a copy of the system please write to swalim@fao.org

Dynamic Atlas - (data moved to https://spatial.faoswalim.org)

To provide access to spatially referenced data without using GIS systems, SWALIM uses the FAO Dynamic Atlas software to publish digital atlases. This software is used because many of the institutions and organizations that utilize our information do not have Geographic Information System (GIS) software. Even in organisations with GIS, the majority of their staff do not work with the software on a daily basis. Currently, SWALIM has published four atlases - one dedicated to SWALIM’s water and land datasets while the other three cover a wide range of sectors in Somalia with data collected from different agencies.

The atlas is a stand-alone application, which does not need any GIS software or skills to use. It integrates maps, spreadsheets and text documents and is structured either by area or by topic. The atlas exports data to Microsoft’s PowerPoint and Excel to allow users to further analyse or publish data. Where necessary, users can export data to the ArcView GIS application and undertake additional GIS analysis. To facilitate the use of the Dynamic Atlas, SWALIM frequently conducts training in Nairobi and Somalia. We are also improving the process of collecting information for inclusion in the Atlas by identifying a contact person in each agency. All data submitted are properly cited and their copyright remains with the agency supplying them.