Geospatial Information

AGCommons – Empowering small-scale African agriculture

The AGCommons (Agricultural Geospatial Commons) Program identifies and develops data, tools and services that deliver relevant, timely and affordable information to smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa and those working on their behalf. With real-time, location-specific (geospatial) information, farmers will be able to plan and decide more effectively which crops or livestock will perform best on their farms, anticipate and manage disease outbreaks and rainfall shortfalls, as well as decide when to harvest and in which markets to sell their produce. AGCommons aims to both extend geospatial information to smallholder farmers and enable the farmers to communicate their rich knowledge on various aspects of farming along with location specific data back to the groups and organizations working on their behalf. The Program was launched by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and is coordinated by the CGIAR.

AGCommons is being developed as an Africa-based service bureau, providing geo-spatial information technology services to extend the reach and impact of existing agricultural initiatives working to improve the productivity and incomes of smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. These services will be provided through a “commons” approach, to create the greatest possible good for the largest number of people and will include data development and acquisition, visualization and cartography, and sophisticated spatial modeling specific to the agriculture development sector. The Program will establish working relationships with existing service providers and work within the community to build capacities that currently are in short supply locally.

AGCommons operations and services will soon start up with a base in Nairobi, Kenya:  the technical infrastructure to deliver the initial set of geospatial services, including the ability to host and visualize spatial information, will be available by the end of the year.

To jumpstart the effort, in December 2008 AGCommons identified and implemented five Quick Win Projects that can have real impact on the ground, deliver needed solutions within a relatively short time frame and offer potential for scaling up benefits to farmers in the future.   These projects, to be completed by the end of 2009, are investigating a range of opportunities for geospatial technology to provide solutions that ultimately meet the needs of smallholder farmers. For more information on the projects and AGCommons, please visit www.agcommons.org