The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has received the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Innovator of the Year – Runner-Up Award for its Earth Observation for Agricultural Statistics (EOSTAT) initiative during the 2025 Zimbabwe ICT Excellence Awards.   

“This achievement is more than an award, it is a testament to FAO’s commitment to leveraging cutting-edge technology to advance Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector,” said Patrice Talla, FAO Subregional Coordinator for Southern Africa and Representative to Zimbabwe, celebrating this achievement.   

“Through Earth Observation, FAO has strengthened national crop monitoring systems, enabling data-driven decisions that enhance food security, improve resilience, and support sustainable development,” she added.

Funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB), the EOSTAT Zimbabwe project builds national capacity to use satellite data to monitor crop conditions, estimate agricultural production, and support early warning systems.   

The initiative is implemented in close collaboration with the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT), and the FAO Sub Regional Office for Southern Africa, with technical leadership from FAO headquarters through the Statistics Division (ESS) and the Agrifood Economics and Policy Division (ESA). 

Using cloud-based analytics and operational geospatial tools, the initiative supports:   

• Mapping of crop area and crop yield using Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 satellite data   
• Automated extraction of field boundaries   
• Real-time crop condition monitoring   

These methods reduce the cost and time required for extensive field data collection while improving the consistency, availability, and timeliness of agricultural information to support government planning, extension services, and investment decisions.   

Scaling digital innovation beyond Zimbabwe  

The award reflects FAO’s broader efforts to advance digital transformation in agriculture and reinforce data systems that support food security, climate resilience, and rural development. Approaches developed through EOSTAT Zimbabwe in 2025 will be used in 2026 to scale its digital innovation further by integrating EO indicators into farmer credit scoring and loan monitoring workflows, as well as aligning geospatial outputs with emerging digital farmer registries to strengthen service delivery and data interoperability.   

Beyond Zimbabwe, the methodology is designed to be scalable and transferable to other national contexts. Scaling is supported by the use of open-access satellite imagery, combined with national in-situ data and modular analytical workflows that can be integrated within existing digital platforms.