The Foreign Policy and United Nations Association of Austria - OEGAVN will host a presentation by: Dr Steffen Fritz (from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis - IIASA )

Over the last decades, the previous rapid rise in acreage yields has slowed markedly. At the same time, demand for agricultural products has expanded mainly due to increased consumption in emerging countries with their diets shifting from simple cereals to meat, and with the use of bio-fuels adding an extra dimension to this rise in demand. The ensuing increase in prices has complicated the fight against hunger and poverty.

Both the production and consumption of agricultural products are determined in a global context, given that the whole system has become globalized. Knowledge of the relevant data has thus become critical. The presentation outlines current capabilities of earth observation technologies in the field of food security and crop monitoring. In particular it is stressed how important accurate land use data is in order to model land-use and different climate policies. Specifically biofuel policies and impacts on food security and crop prices are discussed. Moreover it is shown where potential future hunger hotspots might occur. Last part of the presentation shows how the public can engage in data collection and how new technologies can help to improve datasets. An illustration of the geo-wiki land cover validation platform is presented.

Time: Wednesday, 11 April 2012, 6 p.m.
Place: Reitschulgasse 2 (2nd Floor) 1010 Vienna

Further information:

>>> Food Security - The global perspective