Additional Resources | Geospatial Data & Agriculture Risk Management

E-Learning:

Case Studies & Country Examples:

What countries are active and using this as a part of planning?

Websites, Tools & Resources

  • CIAT – Spatial Disaggregation and Spatial Downscaling Data Portal 
  • DeNitrification-DeComposition (DNDC)- is a computer simulation model of carbon and nitrogen biogeochemistry in agro-ecosystems.   
  • Esri
  • FAO Crop Calendar
  • FutureClim.info 
  • Humanitarian Early Warning System – World Food Program
  • Harmonized World Soil Database 
  • IWMI: World Water and Climate Atlas
  • National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis: Ecological and Spatial Data Sources
  • Spatial Production Allocation Model
  • University of East Anglia released the CRU-TS 3.1 Climate Database - The BADC holds the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) TS3.0 dataset for the period 1901-2006 and now the new CRU TS3.1 datasets for the period 1901-2009. TS (time-series) datasets are month-by-month variation in climate over the last century or so. These are calculated on high-resolution (0.5x0.5 degree) grids. They allow variations in climate to be compared with variations in other phenomena.
  • WMO Global Information System Centres
  • WorldClim Process

Articles and Print Material

  • Geospatial World | Hosts a database of several articles and abstracts related to geospatial data and:

  • How Do Satellite Images and Airborne Imagery Relate to Agriculture and Forestry?
    • This article simply answers the question of how satellites and airborne images are used in agriculture production and forestry today. Read More 
  • USAID | Geographic Information Systems: Applications and Practices for USAID Natural Resources Management Programs
    • This report by the Natural Resources Information Clearinghouse (NRIC) assesses the use of GIS within all programs funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). This assessment had several objectives: (1) to identify how USAID uses geospatial data and information for natural resources management; (2) to summarize challenges; and (3) to suggest opportunities for improving the use of GIS throughout the Agency. Although the Agency has invested heavily in geospatial information and related technologies, it has not documented many of its activities. Furthermore, missions, regional programs, and central USAID offices, increasingly use GIS to plan, monitor, and communicate their portfolios. While these initiatives demonstrate vital first steps toward tapping available technology for development, USAID would benefit from developing a strategy to improve and implement GIS use throughout the Agency.

Projects & Initiatives:

Feeding the world: Can global crop production meet future demands?
Esri (July 2012) | This new Story Map by Esri addresses the issue that crop production will have to double by 2050 in order to fulfill the needs of a growing and increasingly affluent population. Meeting this challenge will be difficult but not impossible, according to the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment. The interactive Story Map shares geospatial information from around the globe on current crop yields, closing yield gaps, increasing water use efficiency, and changing crop use and diet. 

CGIAR Consortium for Spatial Information  

The fifteen CGIAR International Research Centers have pioneered the application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) for sustainable agricultural development for more than a decade. In May 1999, they formed the Consortium for Spatial Information (CGIAR-CSI) which links the all of the CGIAR's GIS/RS laboratories, and the many geospatial scientists and researchers within the CGIAR system, with scientists and institutions from around the world. Together, these laboratories, scientists and researchers constitute a formidable assemblage of technical ingenuity, scientific expertise, and practical experience in spatial analysis.

CGIAR: Developing new cropland extent spatial data

Reliable global data sets of cropland extent would seem to be a key resource for many different purposes.  For example, the future agricultural potential of tropical areas will play a critical role in meeting the challenge of future food security.  While crop yield can be estimated with some reliability using a limited sample of ground observations, reliable crop acreages and their spatial distribution are rarely available. Different remote sensing products are available, but comparison work (see, for example, Fritz et al. (2010), “Comparison of global and regional land cover maps with statistical information for the agricultural domain in Africa”, International Journal of Remote Sensing 31 (9), 2237-2256), indicates that some products do better in some places and some in others.  The work here seeks to produce a hybrid product that combines the best of the available information.

CGIAR: Application of non-linear techniques for daily weather data reconstruction and downscaling coarse climate data for local predictions

The objective of this work is to develop the proof of concept of a downscaling statistical model based on wavelet-multifractal (WMF) cascade approaches. Phase 1 will see the completion of time series daily rainfall at different spatial resolutions, to be used for developing downscaling parameters and building a daily weather generator.  In phase 2, the WMF approach will be applied and evaluated, and a proposal developed for global application of the approach. 

FAO Climpag 

Climpag is aimed at bringing together the various aspects and interactions between weather, climate and agriculture in the general context of food security. As per FAO basic texts, the word agriculture includes crops and grasslands, livestock husbandry, forestry and fisheries. Climpag contains methodologies, tools for a better understanding and analysis of the effect of the variability of weather and climate on agriculture as well as data and maps.

o   Climate and Climate Variability

o   Agrometeorology

o   Food Security 

FAO GIEWS Country Briefs 

Provide up to date information on the food security situation of developing countries. The Country Briefs include information on current agricultural season and the harvest prospects for main staple food crops and livestock situation. In addition, the briefs provide estimates and forecasts of cereal production and imports together with food price and policy developments. Other topical information may be included when relevant. The Briefs are updated no less than four times per year. 

FAO Global Spatial database of agricultural land use statistics 

Agro-MAPS is an interactive web-based information system on land use which contains statistics on primary food crops, aggregated by sub-national administrative districts, on crop production, area harvested and crop yields. The database was originally developed as a joint initiative by FAO, IFPRI (the International Food Policy Institute), SAGE (The Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment) and CIAT (The International Center for Tropical Agriculture) to support a variety of applications being developed separately by the three institutions. Agriculture is a major source of employment and use of land in many developing countries. The raw statistics and directly derived information available through Agro-MAPS therefore represent a limited, yet very important component of land use.

HarvestChoice

A research initiative, which generates information to help guide strategic investments in agriculture aimed at improving the well‐being of poor people in Sub-Saharan Africa through more productive and profitable farming. The initiative is coordinated by the International Food Policy Research Institute and the University of Minnesota and is supported by a grant to IFPRI by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

NASA Data Products for Agriculture

o   Crop Model Products

o   Land Surface Reflectance

o   Tools

o   Precipitation

SAGE

SAGE aims to improve our understanding of the global environment, and how it is being affected by human activities. To achieve this goal, we have been developing maps, computer models and datasets to describe the behavior of Earth’s terrestrial ecosystems, hydrological systems, and climate. We have developed a new generation of global ecosystem (IBIS) and terrestrial hydrology (THMB) models, as well as fully coupled climate-vegetation models (GENESIS-IBIS and CCM3-IBIS). In addition, we have created new datasets of global ecosystems, historical land use, and land cover change, datasets specific to the Amazon Basin.

Spatial Data Infrastructure

GIS is now essential for many technical experts in development. Its unique integrating capabilities make GIS a powerful tool for monitoring development outcomes. As organizations using GIS need to integrate data from different sources, it is essential to create an environment that supports ready access and wider use of spatial data. This can be done by establishing sound SDI practices.  The Spatial Data Infrastructure for Development (SDI4MDGs) project will synthesize lessons from global experience on how this powerful tool can help to monitor and achieve the Millennium Development  Goals. 

United Nations Initiative on Global Geospatial Information Management (GGIM)

The UN initiative on Global Geospatial Information Management (GGIM) aims at playing a leading role in setting the agenda for the development of global geospatial information and to promote its use to address key global challenges. It provides a forum to liaise and coordinate among Member States, and between Member States and international organizations.

USDA Foreign Agriculture Service

Global Crop Production Analysis (link contains several contacts for various areas of expertise!) Weather, Soil Moisture, and Satellite Image Maps and Data (Crop Explorer)

USDA Geospatial Data Gateway | The Geospatial Data Gateway or Geo-Data Gateway provides easy and consistent access to natural resource data. You can search for available data by  geographic area such as county or state, use our point and click map tool to find your area of interest; using a gazetteer, or by entering latitude and longitude coordinates. You can also search for data by theme, such as digital ortho imagery, digital elevation models (DEMs), or soils. You can then view a thumbnail, or sample of the data you've chosen to know if you want a copy of the data. If you do, you can either download the data directly onto your machine, pick it up via our FTP site, or order it on media such as CD. 

World Resources Institute: Download Kenya GIS Data

You can carry out your own analyses on poverty and ecosystem services with the GIS data made available, some of them being publicly released for the first time. All data are accompanied by metadata. Find links to the GIS Data below:

  • Population & poverty
  • Agriculture
  • Land cover & land form
  • Base data
  • Elevation
  • Rainfall
  • Biodiversity & wildlife
  • Tourism
  • Water, irrigation, & hydropower
  • Other data