Regional Workshop on ‘Increasing agricultural development project impact through better planning and communications using FAO´s Hand-in-Hand Geospatial Platform’  (إنجليزية)

Digital technologies and data’s transformative capabilities in today’s world are undeniable. With seven years left to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), geospatial technologies and agricultural data represent a unique opportunity to find new ways of reducing hunger and poverty through more accessible and integrated data-driven solutions.   

Against that background, the Geospatial Knowledge, Innovation, and Technology (GeoKIT) initiative of RLC organized the regional training on the use of the Hand-in-Hand Geospatial Platform for increased agricultural development project impact.

The training took place from 24-26 January in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Professionals and technical experts from ministries across the region joined the 3-day intensive training, with participation numbers above 420 and representatives from 30 countries.

‘Agriculture data and access to digital technologies directly support the overall rural transformation, and notable evidence-based policy-making, planning and implementation to improve efficiency and reduce negative environmental impacts’ said Dejan Jakovljevic, Director of FAO Digitalization and Informatics Division at the opening of the workshop.  ‘“We can clearly see transformational impact and further opportunities to help smallholder farmers and rural communities with tools and knowledge production ‘in hand’” he added. 

Strengthening Members’ capacity to use geographic information systems is a key component of FAO’s efforts to scale up Digital for Impact and deliver impact for a sustainable and food-secure world for all.   

FAO’s Hand-in-Hand Initiative, launched in 2019, aims to accelerate agricultural transformation and sustainable rural development to eradicate poverty and end hunger and malnutrition as well as reducing inequities.  

The Hand-in-Hand Geospatial Platform is the Initiative’s enabling tool. With capabilities providing access to over 2 million data layers for targeted, evidence-based interventions, this Digital Public Good offers open-access geographic information, key food security indicators, and agricultural statistics from FAO and external organizations.  

“With this training, we are aiming at empowering Members in using the Hand-in-Hand Geospatial Platform for successful planning of agricultural development projects and strategic communication, using basic visual multi criteria analysis and produce high quality map ”, explained further Marygrace Balinos, FAO RLC GeoKIT Coordinator. ‘This represents a crucial effort to build capacity and increase impact in the region’ she added. 

In the LAC region, the recently launched GeoKIT Initiative (Geospatial Knowledge, Innovation and Technology) aims to strengthen capacity to use geographic information systems to increase project impact through better planning and communication and achieve FAO's Strategic Framework. The training comes as a key stepping stone for the Initiative – building the foundations for targeted interventions in countries across the region. GeoKIT has adopted the Hand-in-Hand Geospatial platform (HiH GP) as its principal tool given its user-friendliness, and the availability of datasets. 

FAO’s Digitalization and Informatics Division (CSI) works across the Organization and in close relation with the Regional and Country Offices to scale up Digital for Impact and investment in geospatial tools towards Better Production, Better Nutrition, Better Environment and Better Lives.  

“We are scaling up, and working with the countries on the ground, where capacity building is key. FAO is dedicated to improving the Hand-in-Hand Geospatial Platform to support member countries in using geospatial data for evidence-based decision-making and target interventions” said Mr. Jakovljevic. 

Representatives from the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Irrigation of Peru, of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock of Ecuador as well as of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) were invited to bring forward their own experiences using geospatial platforms and technologies to strengthen their projects and policies. 

“Shining a light and sharing country experiences from all our region is also essential in our approach. We wanted the training to give a space to those countries who have already experience using geospatial tools to have a more active role and bring concrete applications of geospatial solutions to the discussions' said Ms. Balinos. 'In addition, we wanted to strengthen the spatial thinking of the participants so that they can look at the territory in a geographic way and discover the interconnectedness of the environment and people who inhabit it. This will contribute to a sound visual spatial analysis of the area.'

Kickstarting the year, this training sets the stage for countries in the Latin American and the Caribbean region to leverage digital technologies and data to deliver impact adapted to their local contexts and needs as we look to achieve the Agenda 2030.  

Learn more about the Geokit during the presentation made at the Science and Innovation Forum 2022. You can access the recording here with password ^Ig0q7D1

If you want to access the full recordings of the events, please reach out to [email protected].