Training Course on Application of GIS and Remote Sensing in Effective Food and Nutrition Security Programming

Application of GIS and Remote Sensing in Effective Food and Nutrition Security Programming

Course Description

Food security is defined as a household’s availability to healthy food that is consistently accessible in order to sustain an active and healthy lifestyle. This security is threatened on a community and global level by three important factors; the access and availability of food in local environments, the effects of the changing climate on agriculture and natural resources, and the active participation in planning, developing, and managing effective strategies to optimize and sustain food production with the available existing land. Several strategies have been developed using Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing techniques, which contribute knowledge and understanding to food security. These strategies include techniques which examine local food environments, assess changes in land use and land cover, identify areas of importance in specific regions to determine the relationships between biophysical and socioeconomic attributes, and the use of 3D models to demonstrate landscape and construct methods to sustain our food sources. GIS and Remote Sensing play significant roles in securing the future of our food production and our population. The importance of food security is directly linked to increases in population density, limitations on agriculture yields, and the spread of ‘food deserts.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course the participants will be able to:

• Understand the principles of GIS and Remote Sensing

• Understand concepts and main frameworks in Food Security Analysis

• Understand the relationship between climate change, agriculture and food security

• Design and implement GIS projects that integrate remote sensing data and GPS-based field information

• Apply GIS and Remote Sensing as decision support tool for agriculture and food security.

• Use GIS information in planning for food security interventions through spatial multi-criteria analysis

• Assess spatial data availability and understand the importance of spatial data infrastructure (SDI), for data sharing by organizations involved in food security

• Use participatory GIS (PGIS) tools during assessments at community level

• Apply remote sensing data and image processing techniques to monitor food security indicators

• Use mobile phones to gather data during field assessments/surveys

Who should enroll?

This course is ideal for professionals who require knowledge and skills on the use of GIS and RS in their organization in the field of agriculture and food security.

Send an email to [email protected] to request a course training agenda