"The agency, which is called 'Monitoring for Environment and Security in Africa (MESA),' assists 48 African countries through the provision of space-based observation data," MESA Communication Officer Hailu Wudineh told The Anadolu Agency.

"The service was designed for sub-Saharan Africa and excluded northern Africa," he said. "But the agency has evaluated its performance and is planning to include North African countries."

The program is financially supported by the European Union, which has provided 37 million euros for the scheme for the period from 2013 to 2017.

"We hope the EU will continue to support the program," Wudineh said.

He added that the program would help African policymakers become more aware on issues such as climate change, drought forecasts and water resource management.

"The project also builds the capacity of local meteorologists," he said.

"MESA uses space-based earth-observation data to enable an improved management of the environment and security at the continental, regional and national levels in Africa," he added.

According to the official, data produced by the program can help policymakers shape their strategies in the fields of climate studies and climate change assessment and mitigation, as well as in fisheries management.

The MESA project was first proposed by the AU Commission, the African Caribbean and Pacific Secretariat and the African Regional Economic Communities.