About GEOGLAM

The purpose of Group on Earth Observations Global Agricultural Monitoring Initiative (GEOGLAM) is to increase market transparency and improve food security by producing and disseminating relevant, timely, and actionable information on agricultural conditions and outlooks of production at national, regional, and global scales. It achieves this by strengthening the international community’s capacity to utilize coordinated, comprehensive, and sustained Earth observations.

The GEOGLAM policy mandate initially came from the Group of Twenty (G20) Agriculture Ministers during the French G20 Presidency in 2011. The mandate has expanded parallel to the G20 mandate to include food security concerns and we now work to support early warning for international agency response to emerging food emergencies. GEOGLAM has produced Stocktaking reports for the G20 in recent years. These reports are available for 2021, 2022 and 2023. More reports are available in our archive here.

As we look to the future GEOGLAM is working on a response to the three big policy drivers of our time: UN Sustainable Development Goals; the Paris Accord on Climate Change; and, the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction. Through the development of quantified metrics GEOGLAM will be able to work with other science communities and statistical agencies to develop policy relevant information in support of sustainable food production.

GEOGLAM is a Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Flagship Initiative. The GEO 2020-2022 Implementation plan for GEOGLAM can be found here, and associated tables here.

How to Join

GEOGLAM is an open community built around a good intent and common interest in agricultural monitoring. The resource commitment of participants is based on “best efforts”. All who share the interests of the GEOGLAM community are welcome to join. There is no formal membership process, so the best way to get started is contact the GEOGLAM Secretariat and get involved in a working group, regional network, or research initiative or bring your own initiative to the community. Further information can be found by contacting the GEOGLAM Secretariat.

Impact Stories

The Community

GEOGLAM Secretariat

Programme Director: Sven Gilliams ( sgilliams@geosec.org )
Crop Monitor Coordination: Inbal Becker Reshef ( ireshef@geoglam.org )
Data Coordination: Alyssa Whitcraft ( akwhitcraft@geoglam.org )

GEOGLAM thanks the following for their support of the GEOGLAM Secretariat: The German Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL); NASAHarvest; Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC); United Kingdom Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA); and the Department of Official Development Assistance (ODA)

GEOGLAM Executive Committee Co-Chairs:

Argentina

Australia

Austria

Bangladesh

Belgium

Brazil

Canada

Chile

China

 

Colombia

Ecuador

Egypt

ESA: European Space Agency

European Commission

FAO

France

Germany

ICPAC

IGC

IICA

India

Indonesia

Italy

Japan

Kenya

Laos

Malaysia

Mali

Mexico

Morocco

Netherlands

Philippines

Poland

Russia

Saudi Arabia

South Africa

Spain

Thailand

Tunisia

Ukraine

UN WFP

United Kingdom

United States

Uruguay

Vietnam

WMO

Zimbabwe

Governance

GEOGLAM initially evolved out of the GEO Agriculture Community of Practice(Ag-CoP). The community was largely self-organized with informal governance. Participants convened around common interest and best efforts. After the G20 policy mandate was adopted, and operational monitoring activities commenced, the community recognized the need for a somewhat more formal approach to governance. This brought rise to the new governance structure that was implemented in 2018 and is outlined in the figure below:

GEOGLAM has adopted this relatively “light” governance model to maintain administrative efficiency. Nonetheless, so far this approach has been very successful. GEOGLAM governance is split between the following roles:

The GEOGLAM Executive Committee (Ex-Com). The Ex-Com consists of major contributors to the GEOGLAM work program, including the Ex-Com Co-Chairs, leads of thematic teams , regional networks, major contributing initiatives, and the Program Director. The Ex-Com provides operational and strategic advice for the GEOGLAM work program, and through the Director reports on implementation progress.

GEOGLAM Ad Hoc Working Groups and Regional Network Coordination. These are ad hoc working groups that consist of representatives of the projects, tasks and activities (both funded and in-kind) that contribute to achieving the GEOGLAM work program goals and objectives. The working group Co-Chairs provide input to the Executive Committee on project progress towards meeting the program and theme objectives as well as their perspectives on direction, planning, and development of the program. Current thematic teams include Capacity Development, Data Coordination and Essential Agricultural Variables, and regional teams include AsiaRice, Agriculture in the Americas, AfriGLAM and DBAR-Agri.

The GEOGLAM Secretariat. The GEOGLAM Secretariat, administered by the Program Director is the coordinating body of GEOGLAM, composed of individuals who represent formal, direct contributions to GEOGLAM. The primary role of the Secretariat is to support the implementation of the Program. The Secretariat is the formal, outwardly liaising body of GEOGLAM to partner organizations including GEO. The Secretariat provides coordination and support for GEOGLAM initiatives and program reporting (eg. G20, GEO work programme, and GEO Programme Board as required), program outreach, and communications, including development and management of the GEOGLAM web site. The Secretariat facilitates fundraising efforts, and ensures that the financial contributions to GEOGLAM (in-kind, indirect, and direct alike) are coordinated and well managed within the WMO trust fund.

Outside of the Secretariat, Ex-Com and Working Groups, the heart of GEOGLAM is the many projects that contribute to GEOGLAM program outcomes. These projects are generally in-kind contributions from participating nations and institutions. Understanding that the “whole is greater than the sum of the parts”, the primary role of the GEOGLAM governance is the coordination of these contributions to achieve the greater vision for National to Global monitoring in support of food security and agricultural markets.


CONTACT
  • GEOGLAM Secretariat
    geoglam@geosec.org

 
  • GEO Secretariat
    7 Bis avenue de la Paix
    1211 Geneva
    Switzerland