The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) have cooperated over several decades to develop and implement the Agro-Ecological Zones (AEZ) modelling framework and databases. AEZ relies on well-established land evaluation principles to assess natural resources for finding suitable agricultural land utilization options. It identifies resource limitations and opportunities based on plant eco-physiological characteristics, climatic and edaphic requirements of crops and it uses these to evaluate suitability and production potentials for individual crop types under specific input and management conditions.

The AEZ methodology was initially implemented in the 1980s to assess the capacity of the world's natural resources to meet the needs for food of a fast-growing global population. Rapid advancements in information technology have led to increasingly detailed and extensive global databases, enabling the first global AEZ assessment in 2000. Since then, Global AEZ assessments have been conducted periodically. Each update has expanded the scope of issues addressed, increased the size of the database, and improved the comprehensiveness of the results, providing guidance for agro-ecological development at global, regional, and national scales and support for assessments and indicators needed to achieve United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). GAEZ v5 is the most advanced global tool for spatially assessing climate change impacts on land suitability and crop productivity, supporting informed planning decisions. It enables choices that enhance productivity while ensuring sustainability and resilience to climatic variability.