A revolutionary guide for modernizing agricultural data collection worldwide was officially launched today in Chengdu, China. The UN Handbook on Remote Sensing for Agricultural Statistics represents a monumental leap from its 2021 predecessor, evolving from a theoretical framework into an operational, practical toolkit for national statistical offices.

Spearheaded under the United Nations Committee of Experts on Big Data and Data Science for Official Statistics (UNCEBD) and jointly produced by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) and the Statistics Division (ESS) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in collaboration with the Agrifood and Economics Division (ESA) , and the United Nations Global Big Data Centre (China), this handbook bridges the gap between technological innovation and day-to-day statistical operations.

From global vision to operational reality: a quantum leap in scope

While the foundational 2021 edition by Pierre Defourny and Jack Delince established the vital principles for integrating Earth Observation, this new edition marks a decisive shift to operational maturity. Its vast scope is demonstrated through a rich tapestry of use cases spanning Latin America, Africa, Europe and Asia – featuring detailed applications from countries like Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, the Cook Islands, Finland, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland, Senegal and Zimbabwe.

The pioneering “notebook style”: real code for real-world application

The handbook’s most groundbreaking feature is its adoption of a practical "notebook style". For every methodological chapter and country use case, it provides direct access to the actual code, scripts, and computational workflows used by practitioners. This unprecedented transparency enables users to not just understand, but to immediately reproduce, test and adapt proven methods – from crop type mapping and yield estimation to drone applications and disaster assessment – to their own national contexts.

A testament to global collaboration

Edited by Lorenzo DeSimone (FAO), Gilberto Câmara (INPE Brazil), and Ronald Jansen (UNSD), the Handbook is the fruit of an unparalleled global partnership. It brings together contributions from leading national statistical offices – including NBS China, IBGE Brazil, BPS Indonesia, and ZIMSTAT Zimbabwe and others – with cutting-edge academic and technical partners like MIT, University of Maryland, Wuhan University, University of Strasbourg, Université Catholique de Louvain, and Digital Earth Africa. Support from institutions such as the European Space Agency (ESA) and GEOGLAM underscores its role as a globally endorsed resource.

A living resource for a data-driven future

By providing the keys to operationalize Earth Observation and Artificial Intelligence, this Handbook empowers countries to make agricultural statistics more timely, accurate, and cost-effective. It stands as a definitive, living resource poised to accelerate the global transition to data-driven agricultural policy and food security monitoring.

About the initiative: This project was developed under the auspices of the UN Committee of Experts on Big Data and Data Science for Official Statistics (UNCEBD), led by UNSD, FAO and the UN Global Big Data Centre, with the aim of fostering innovation in official statistics worldwide.

The complete UN Handbook on Remote Sensing for Agricultural Statistics is freely available online at: https://fao-eostat.github.io/UN-Handbook