The GEOGLAM Crop Monitor for Early Warning
Crop condition map synthesizing information for all Crop Monitor for Early Warning crops as of February 28th. Crop conditions over the main growing areas are based on a combination of inputs including remotely sensed data, ground observations, field reports, national, and regional experts. Regions that are in other than favourable conditions are labeled on the map with a symbol representing the crop(s) affected (GEOGLAM CM4EW Bulletin, March 2019).
What We Do
The G20 Group on Earth Observations Global Agriculture Monitoring (GEOGLAM) Crop Monitor for Early Warning (CM4EW) is an international initiative that provides monthly transparent, multi-source, consensus assessments of the crop growing conditions, status, and agro-climatic conditions which are likely to impact production in countries vulnerable to food insecurity in order to strengthen agricultural, humanitarian intervention and food security decision making and policy implementations.
Location
Regional - East Africa, West Africa, Southern Africa, Southeast Asia, Central and Southern Asia, Central America & the Caribbean.
How Satellites Make This Work
The Crop Monitor for Early Warning (CM4EW) was developed in the framework of the international GEOGLAM Initiative as part of the “Countries at Risk” component, following successful implementation of the Crop Monitor for AMIS. The GEOGLAM CM4EW was developed in response to the pressing need for enhanced early warning of crop shortfalls and for better coordination across the various agencies responsible for crop assessments in regions most at risk to food insecurity. Participants in the CM4EW are organizations concerned with food security which already monitor crop conditions as part of their early warning activities. The CM4EW brings together a group of experts from these organizations to share and discuss information from a variety of independent, yet complementary sources in order to reach a consensus on global crop conditions. Partner organizations rely on a strong network of regional analysts and field observations supplemented by earth observations-based vegetation indices and agro-meteorological data to fill information gaps related to food security at the global scale. In this context, the CM4EW serves to reduce uncertainty and strengthen decision support by providing actionable information, on a monthly basis, to national, regional and international agencies concerned with food security, through timely consensus assessment of crop conditions published within the monthly CM4EW bulletin.
CM4EW
A lack of timely and accurate information on crop conditions and prospects is a critical issue in the majority of Eastern and Southern Africa. Such actionable information is needed for informed and prompt decision-making with regard to early warning of crop shortfalls, emergencies, food insecurity, investments, and planning requirements for agricultural policies, trade, and markets. Based on its successful implementation globally, the Crop Monitor model is now being scaled and adapted for implementation within national ministries of agriculture in Africa and regionally in East Africa to enhance the use and uptake of remote sensing data into crop monitoring activities and better inform food security decisions at the national and regional scales.
