CGIAR Consortium for Spatial Information
Spatial Science in the Service of Global Food Security and Sustainable Livelihoods
The fifteen CGIAR International Research Centers have pioneered the application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) for sustainable agricultural development for more than a decade. In May 1999, they formed the Consortium for Spatial Information (CGIAR-CSI) which links the all of the CGIAR's GIS/RS laboratories, and the many geospatial scientists and researchers within the CGIAR system, with scientists and institutions from around the world. Together, these laboratories, scientists and researchers constitute a formidable assemblage of technical ingenuity, scientific expertise, and practical experience in spatial analysis.
They have already developed important collections of data on population, poverty, climate, soils, crops, livestock, transportation, and biodiversity and other geospatial Global Public Goods. The CGIAR-CSI researchers are continuing to break new ground in the integration of biophysical and socio-economic data to better target agricultural technologies and resources to farmers' needs, to assess global needs, develop strategies to alleviate poverty, and to better adapt to a changing global environment.
These powerful spatial technologies have become an integral part of interdisciplinary research within the CGIAR. Through linking geo-referenced data to digital maps, a whole new range of opportunities for integrating and presenting diverse information has opened to a diverse set of users to harness these technologies. Users can more readily see and understand interrelationships between, for example, urban and rural areas, markets, crop production, deforestation, and soil erosion.
The CGIAR-CSI facilitates and creates mechanisms for standardizing data sets within the CGIAR, sharing methodologies and solutions, and promoting inter-center collaborations. The Consortium also serves as a platform for joint efforts in GIS-/RS–based agricultural research at global, regional, and local levels.
The CGIAR-CSI is a loosely structured consortium comprised of members which include all of the fifteen CGIAR Centers, plus several associate community members. A coordinating center (currently IFPRI) and a steering committee elected by all the members, direct activities on a 2-year rotating basis.
For more information, please contact the CSI Global Coordinator (Stanley Wood at IFPRI) at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
