Satellite information for better credit access
Financing the agricultural sector is challenging. Many banks shy away from financing farmers, processors and traders because repayment risks are difficult and costly to estimate, especially in remote rural areas where distances are large, travelling is difficult and financial transactions are small
Monitoring cereal production in support of agricultural policies
Cereals, such as maize, wheat, and rice, are popular food crops. In fact, these crops are often the basis for food staples. Cereals are grown in many different regions across the world also in Europe. Proper assessments of the production is essential for strategic decisions on export, import and stock management. One of the factors influencing the annual variation of production is weather. Timely assessment of how weather influences seasonal cereal production is key.
Using earth observation for preservation of landscapes and animal habitats
There is widespread attention to address global biodiversity decline. Monitoring progress towards this aspiration is critical. In Europe more than 115 million hectares need to be protected under the Birds and Habitats Directive. Regular monitoring shows however that at the EU level only 16% of the protected habitats under the Habitats Directive have a favourable conservation status. Monitoring also shows that one third of all land habitats are currently under threat, causing a decline in habitat health and extent. Traditional approaches to monitoring however are labour intensive, expensive and slow to be updated. In this rapidly changing environment, how can we monitor habitats more frequently to facilitate their proper management and conservation?
Mapping marginal lands to develop sustainable biobased economies
Global aspirations for sustainable and renewable production are increasing the demand for raw organic materials – or biomass – which can be converted into bio-based products such as fuel, chemicals, materials and energy. As in the production of food and animal feed, producing bio-based products requires land, an increasingly scarce resource. With the growing global population and its rapidly rising food demands, we expect inevitable land use conflicts between the demands for food, feed and biomass. How do we transition to a more biobased economy while still ensuring food security for all?