In Kenya, unmanaged extraction of sand and aggregates has potentially serious long-term and wide-ranging impacts.  The EO4SAS project provided Kenya with an understanding of the sand extraction within the country, together with demonstrating the role Earth Observation (EO) data could play in monitoring this activity alongside ideas on how the country might improve the management of its sand resources.   The final service aims to deliver comprehensive sand management system combining an EO satellite data monitoring tool underpinned by a resource management and governance toolkit; providing insights into sand extraction sites and rates, flows to market, environmental changes associated with extraction activities, best practice policies and procedures. This will provide Kenya with a solution to improve the monitoring and regulation of sand extraction, supporting progress towards sustainable sand management

The EO4SAS Discovery Phase successfully demonstrated the feasibility of using EO techniques as the basis of a sand management system in Kenya together with understanding the potential usability and acceptance of such a service. The project documented the sand management context, landscape and user needs in Kenya, through a combination of desktop research and in-country (virtual) stakeholder engagements. Whilst nationally, like most other countries, sand is not considered a strategic resource, however, at a county level it is considered of great importance – although the maturity of the sand management regimes varies from county to county. In parallel, the project explored potential user needs for an EO-based sand extraction monitoring solution with national and local stakeholders using user-centred design techniques and rapid prototyping to develop a set of clear using requirements. The project also developed, implemented and tested a number of demonstrator products using EO satellite data to meet the user needs