SERVIR Profile of Nouhou Koutcha Mariama
Name: Nouhou Koutcha Mariama
Affiliation: SERVIR-WA
Role/Title: Program Assistant
Year you joined SERVIR: 2017
Please introduce yourself. What are you passionate about?
My academic background includes a degree in Agricultural Engineering and a master's in Business Administration Management, both obtained at Abdou Moumouni University, Niamey (Niger). In addition, I have a master's in Climate Change and Sustainable Development from AGRHYMET Regional Center, Niamey (Niger), and a PhD in Climate Change and Land Use from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi (Ghana), obtained with an excellent mention as well as the award of the best student.
My previous professional experience includes project management, workshop facilitation and expertise on research action projects, with a special focus on the diagnosis of projects that deliver information services to end-users. As part of this analysis, I helped to identify constraints and bottlenecks in the process flows and made suggestions for how to improve the implementation of these types of projects on the country level.
I joined SERVIR - West Africa team as Program Assistant 5 months ago. Outside of work, I enjoy gardening, watching movies and spending time with my family.
What initially attracted you to this field of work?
My previous experience (delivering information services to users) fits well with the objectives of SERVIR - West Africa. As I was already working at the country level, joining SERVIR-West Africa was a great opportunity for me to work in my area of interest, but at a higher level. I also like the idea of research for development, what SERVIR-West Africa is currently doing.
What SERVIR activity are you currently working on?
As Program Assistant, I work with both the User Engagement/Knowledge Management and Data Science Leads. I support the User Engagement Lead to develop terms of reference for field missions of locust monitoring, ephemeral water bodies monitoring and land use land cover change monitoring at the commune level of services. I also provide support to update SERVIR-West Africa's database on Google Drive. I support the Data and Science Lead with logistical preparation for trainings. I'm also currently working on a thought piece in preparation for a conference we are organizing on land classification and methodologies in West Africa.
How does your work generate positive change?
The services we are working on at SERVIR- West Africa contribute to improve livelihood of rural communities. Our work will:
- enhance the resilience of agro-pastoralists and increase their productivity in response to climate change;
- reduce locusts' invasions and secure potential agro-sylvo-pastoral production systems to ensure food security, preserve biodiversity and protect physical and socio-economic environment;
- increase access of farmers to irrigation water and improve food security and nutrition in this area;
- lead to better land management policies through the reduction of wood fuel extraction from natural landscapes, which in turn will lead to the improvement of rural livelihoods;
- contribute to better development planning at the commune and local levels.