Global Monitoring for Food Security

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Global Monitoring for Food Security
UN International Workshop on the Use of Space
Technology for Disaster Management Mirko
Gregor, GIM Munich, 20 October 2004
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GMFS Project - Context

• GMES
• Global Monitoring for Environment and Security
• Joint EC and ESA initiative
• unites research, development and operational
  communities
• operational capacity by 2008 for monitoring the
  environment and security of our planet
• responds to user needs
• GMFS
• Global Monitoring for Food Security
• is one of 12 projects in GMES Service Element
  program of ESA
• shows what Earth Observation can do for improving
  food security

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GMES Service element (GSE) - Schedule
2003 2004 consolidation phase
.. identify a portfolio of services that can
offer a cost-effective response to already
established long-term needs for global monitoring
information and can serve the public interest in
specific environmental security policy domains..
2005 - 2008 implementation phase
.. Implementation of the services as proposed in
the consolidation phase..
gt 2008
.. Operational ( sustainable) service..
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Famines around the world in 2003

• Main reasons
• Poverty
• Inadequate governmental management and policies
• Inadequate management of natural resources and
  environment
• Population dynamics, diseases
• Racial and gender discrimination
• Episodic climatic events and climate changes

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Facts Figures
2003 - 2004
Sudan 3.6 Mi need Food assistance
Eritrea 1.4 Mi vulnerable people
Ethiopia 7.2 Mi require assistance 13.2 Mi in
2003
Malawi 0.5 Mi in 2003/2004
Mozambique 950,000 drought affected vulnerable
people
Angola/Zimbabwe 1.4 Mi / 4.4 Mi
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Policies GSE GMFS

• Transnational institutions involved in FS (FAO,
  WFP, JRC)
• Universal declaration of Human rights (1948)
• World Food summits (1996, 2002)
• UN millennium declaration (2000)
• World Food Summit on Sustainable Development
  (2002)
• Council Regulation (EC) No 1292/96 on food aid
  policy
• Regional Institutions involved in FS
• CILSS (1973 9 countries)
• SADC (1980 14 countries)
• IGAD (1996 7 countries)
• National Institutes involved in FS (Senegal,
  Malawi, ..)
• Monitor the food/agricultural situation and
  propose corrective measures

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User needs

• Need for accurate and timely agricultural
  statistics
• EO based vegetation indices have demonstrated
  value in agricultural monitoring. Currently
  available agricultural models do not meet the
  required accuracy. The GMFS services reveal the
  potential to meet our needs. I look forward to
  planned enhancements, especially with regard to
  MSG.
• Papa Boubacar Soumare, CSE, responsible
  agricultural monitoring

• Need for transparent information on agricultural
  production
• EO has made a unique and critical contribution to
  our awareness of environmental trends, especially
  when time series have been presented as evidence
  of environmental degradation. This information is
  essential to those who are trying to model the
  consequences of these trends for policy analysis
  and advocacy.
• Henri Josserand, Chief GIEWS, FAO (Comments on
  the GMFS Strategic Orientations)

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Existing precursor systems

• FEWS Net - USAID Famine Early Warning System
• GIEWS - FAO Global Information and
  Early Warning System
• VAM - WFP Vulnerability Analysis
  and Mapping
• MARS FOOD - Monitoring Agriculture with Remote
  Sensing (EC/JRC)
• EARS - Environmental Analysis and
  Remote Sensing
• AP3A - Alerte Précoce et Prévision
  des Productions Agricoles
  (CILSS/Agrhymet - Sahel)
• SADC - Regional Early Warning System
  for Food Security
• DMC - Drought Monitoring Centers
  (SADC/IGAD)

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GMFS Objectives

• To improve the provision of operational and
  sustainable information services
• To consolidate and complement existing early
  warning systems (national and transnational
  precursor systems) for food security and famine
• To provide crop information (yield, acreage and
  production) derived from earth observation (EO)
  data of low-, medium- and high-resolution
  (multi-scalarity) in combination with
  agrometeorological models
• To assist food security decision makers from a
  local to a global level

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What Where
Crop Monitoring system
2003-2004

• Areas under cultivation
• Yield forecasting and historical trends
• Production forecasting and trend analysis

Geographic coverage

• Sub-Saharan Africa
• Selected sites (Senegal, Malawi)

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Which multi-scale information is generated?
Continental Regional Scale Low resolution
sensors
Rainfall, Relative Evapotranspiration,
Relative Crop Yield, Vegetation Indices and
corresponding trends
Crop Acreage Growth
Status and Acreage
Crop Acreage
Major Land Cover Map Changes
National Scale Medium resolution sensors models
Field Data
Yield Forecast and Estimated Harvest Time
Crop Acreage
Growth Status and Acreage Major Land Cover Map
Changes
Crop Acreage
Subnational Scale High resolution sensors
Acreage at Planting Time
Production during the Crop Season Land Cover
Information
Production at Harvest Time
Season Development Status Index and Impact Index
on Food Security
Socio-Economic Data
Time
End Crop Season
Begin Crop Season
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Global/Continental
Dry Matter Productivity
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Continental productSPOT-VGT DMP
Dry Matter Productivity ? proxy for the
crop/pasture/vegetation yield (quantitative
estimation)
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Regional products - METEOSAT multi-temporal
yield estimation
Yield estimation for Maize during dry period in
2002 in Southern Africa
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Malawi - Zomba test zone ENVISAT ASAR acreages
preliminary results (validation
ongoing) cumulative from 7 Dec 2003 to 30 Jan
2004
Cropped area
Forest
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User/collaboration scheme

• SADC-RRSU
• CILSS-Agrhymet
• CSE, Senegal
• DAPS, Senegal
• MoAIFS Malawi

• FAO-GIEWS
• WFP-VAM
• MARS-FOOD

Affected populations
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Partners alliances

• FAO-GIEWS
• FAO Global Information and Early Warning System
• EC-JRC MARS-FOOD
• WFP/VAM
• WFP Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping
• IBIMET AP3A (CILSS)
• Alerte Précoce et Prévision des Productions
  Agricoles
• FEWS Net
• ESA TIGER initiative - GMFS demonstrator project

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Information dissemination

• GMFS Service Portal
• establishment of a FAO Geonetwork node in 2005
• on national/sub-national level dissemination via
  existing networks (WorldSpace community radio
  network ? in 2005)

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Capacity Building and Institutional Development
5 groups of synchronized activities

• Evaluation of the efficiency of the national
  FSIEWS and identification of training needs
• Sensibilisation activities aiming at the decision
  makers
• Information dissemination activities about the
  new EO technologies
• Training activities for the assurance of adequate
  technology transfer
• Technical courses on the use of EO
• Technical courses on collection, management and
  dissemination of data relevant for food security
• Advanced training for trainers  the champions
  of GMFS 
• GMFS use of existing networks for technology
  transfer and CB
• monitoring and evaluation of the process

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More information?

• Contact
• project co-ordinator Dirk Van Speybroeck
  dirk.vanspeybroeck_at_vito.be
• Project manager Lieven Bydekerke
• lieven.bydekerke_at_vito.be
• Read more on
• http//www.gmfs.info