A distinguished scholar at the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), Professor Francis Akinniyi of the Department of Remote Sensing and GIS, has secured a prestigious international grant as part of a groundbreaking research initiative on flood awareness in Africa.
The grant was awarded by the Independent Research Fund Denmark (DFF) for the project titled “Space-based Free Flood Awareness System for Africa (SFAS).”
The SFAS project, set to run from May 2025 to July 2027, is a collaborative effort led by Professor Ehsan Forootan of Aalborg University, Denmark. This multidisciplinary initiative aims to develop advanced flood inundation and water resource early warning systems, using freely available satellite data to tackle flood challenges in data-scarce regions. The Niger River Basin has been chosen as a key demonstration site.
In a letter announcing the grant approval, Professor Forootan acknowledged the contributions of Professor Akinniyi and the research team, stating: “I am writing to inform you that our joint research proposal entitled ‘Space-based Free Flood Awareness System for Africa (SFAS),’ submitted to the Independent Research Fund Denmark (DFF) within the Thematic Green Research call 2024, has been granted. I would like to thank you very much for your great contributions and support, which helped to formulate a strong research project. I am very glad that we can collaborate within the frame of this research project. I would like to express my full support for your involvement in the SFAS project.”
Congratulating Professor Akinniyi, FUTA Vice-Chancellor, Professor Adenike Oladiji, hailed the achievement as a testament to FUTA’s academic excellence and its global contributions to research and innovation.
“This grant underscores the immense research contributions of FUTA staff both in Nigeria and globally. We are proud of Professor Akinniyi’s feat, and we urge him to be a worthy ambassador of FUTA, further cementing our reputation as a leading research-intensive institution in the global academic arena,” she stated.
The SFAS project represents a significant step towards enhancing flood prediction and management in Africa, leveraging cutting-edge space technology to mitigate the devastating impacts of floods across the continent.
