Food Security

A Vital Sustainable Development IssueFOOD SECURITY

Food Security

CURRENT SITUATION• Around805mnpeopleintheworldsufferfromchronicundernourishment.

• That’saboutoneinninepeopleofthe7.3bn globalpopulation.

• 13.5%ofthepopulationofdevelopingcountriesdoesn’tgetenoughtoeatonadailybasis.

• Thereare11mnundernourishedpeopleinthedevelopedworld.

• Theglobalnumberislikelytoincreaseasthepopulationgrowsto9bnby2050

Food Security

FEEDING THE HUNGRY• Feedingtheglobalpopulationof9.1bnin2050wouldrequire

raisingfoodproductionbyaround70%between2007and2050.

• With69%oftheglobalpopulationexpectedtobeurbanby2050,thelandunderagricultureisshrinkingatafasterrate.

• Accurateagriculturalinformationisaprerequisiteinunderstandingsustainableagriculturaldevelopmentandfoodsecurity.

Food Security

GEOSPATIAL TECH TO THE RESCUE• Feedingtheglobalpopulationof9.1bnin2050wouldrequireraisingfoodproduction

byaround70%between2007and2050.

• Geospatialtechnologyhelpssurveytheglobalstatusofcropproductionatalltimesanddeliversthatmessageacrossadiversesetofstakeholders

• Accurategeoinformationhelpsrealizerequiredfoodproduction• ThelaunchofLandsatin1972usheredinthemoderneraofgloballand

observationsandmonitoring.• Sincethenremotesensinghasbeenanintegralpartofagricultureandfoodsecurity

programsofgovernmentsandagenciesaroundtheworld.

Food Security

CURRENT PRACTICES• Geoinformationtechnologiesplayacrucialroleindevelopmentofdigitalterraindatabase.

• Theavailabilityofremotesensing-basedtopographicdatasetshasopenednewvenuesforhydrologicandgeomorphologicstudies.

• Locationtechnologiesplayacriticalroleinthegenerationofspatialdatalayersandtheirintegrationtoestimatesoillossbyadoptingsuitablemodels.

• Therearefewinnovativeandwell-demonstratedremotesensing-basedoperationalprojectsindrylandareas.

• Satellitedataisanalyzedwithground-basedinformationonagro-meteorology,andmarketeconomicstoestimatecropacreageandproductionmuchbeforetheharvest.

Food Security

INITIATIVES: NASA• NASA’sSocioeconomicDataandApplicationsCenteroffersa

varietyofinterdisciplinarydata.• Theagricultureandfoodsecuritythemespansglobaldata

holdingsandresourcesthattouchontheproportionofcroplandandpasture.

• TheSEDACportalprovidesaccesstoseveralglobalagriculture-relateddatasets.

• Thisincludesglobalagriculturallandsthatshowtheproportionoflandareausedascroplandandpasture.

Food Security

INITIATIVES: ESRI• Geoinformationtechnologiesplayacrucialroleindevelopmentofdigitalterraindatabase.• IncooperationwithUSGSandAmazonWebServices,Esriisprovidingeasyaccesstotemporalmultispectral

Landsat8imagery.• TheWebservicesenableanyorganizationtoquicklyaccessthelatestLandsat8imageryforvisualization

andanalysis.• Itprovidesvaluabletrendanalysisofagricultureapplications.• Foranylocation,varioustemporalindicesandbandcombinationscanbedirectlyaccessed.• Theservicesprovideon-the-flyprocessingbasedonArcGISImageServicesrunningonAWScloud

infrastructure• ItisaccessiblethroughArcGISOnline.• Eachday,newLandsat8scenesareaddedtotheservicetosupportthepreviousscenesfrom2015anda

largecollectionfrompreviousyears.

Food Security

INTRODUCING FEWS NET• FamineEarlyWarningSystemsNetwork,isaleadingproviderofearlywarningandanalysisonacutefoodinsecurity.• CreatedbytheUSAgencyforInternationalDevelopment,FEWSNETprovidesobjective,evidence-basedanalysisto

helpgovernmentdecision-makers.• FEWSNETanalysts,spreadinmorethan35countries,continuouslygatherevidenceofthecurrentfoodsecurity

situationinareasofconcern.• Dataiscollectedfromavarietyofsources,including

USscienceagencies,nationalministriesoftradeandagriculture,andNGOs.

• Thenetworkhas20‘presence’countries,wherelocally-basedanalystsworkfull-timefromanationaloffice.

Food Security

• FAOwillneedtofundprojectstomakegeospatialinformationmoreaffordableandreadilyavailablefortheenduser.

• Asopen-accesspoliciesforsharinggeospatialinformationandtechnologybecomeanintegralpartofsolvingthefoodsecurityequation.

• Geospatialtechnologies,suchas,remotesensing,GNSSandGISwillkeepexpandingtoprovidepowerfultoolsinalmosteveryaspectoffoodsecurity.

• Feedingapopulationof9billionby2050willnotbeeasy,butrobustmonitoringprogramswithtimely,reliableinformationwillcertainlybeanimportantasset.

THE ROAD AHEAD

Food Security

Geospatial World • October • 2015

50 PICTURE THIS

T he Abruzzo region of central Italy is known as "the greenest region in Europe". But, let us show you how it

looks in red. The European Space Agency’s Sentinel 2A satellite has captured the agricultural structures in

Abruzzo. The satellite’s sensitive multispectral camera was able to grab the differences in vegetation cover

and chlorophyll content. This is visible through the varying shades of red and other colors across the entire image.

The brighter reds in the picture indicate more photosynthetically active vegetation. The lower left portion of the

image shows this as it documents the fields along the Roveto Valley Abruzzi mountain range. In the centre of the

image, a cloud and its shadow are visible over the plain. The central left side features an industrial area, while the

town of Avezzano is further north. The entire area in the centre is where the Fucino Lake used to be. Moreover, a

canal is visible running horizontally across the centre of the image.

Varying shades of Italy

FOODforthoughthttp://geospatialworld.net/Magazine/MArticleView.aspx?aid=31614

GEOGLAM:AGEOInitiativehttp://geospatialworld.net/Magazine/MArticleView.aspx?aid=31622

FAOleadsthewayhttp://geospatialworld.net/Magazine/MArticleView.aspx?aid=31621

GeoTechforAugmentingRegionalandGlobalFoodSecurityhttp://geospatialworld.net/Magazine/MArticleView.aspx?aid=31623

WeedingOuthttp://geospatialworld.net/Magazine/MArticleView.aspx?aid=31619

GISFeedforWorldFoodProgrammehttp://geospatialworld.net/Magazine/MArticleView.aspx?aid=31618

GEOSPATIAL WORLD MAGAZINEMORE ON FOOD SECURITY