Agro-MAPS - A Global Spatial Database of Sub-national Agricultural Land-use Statistics

Agro-MAPS (Mapping of Agricultural Production Systems) is a collaborative initiative by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE), with the support of national and regional institutions to produce a global spatial database on selected agricultural land use statistics, aggregated by sub-national administrative districts. The Agro-MAPS database was created primarily to fill some critical gaps in the range of data needed for analyses of land degradation, food security, farming systems studies, nutrient balances and climate change effects as well as to rapidly create maps of selected sub-national statistics (at the national or regional level) from tabular data. One of the more significant difficulties frequently encountered in meeting this requirement prior to launching Agro-MAPS was the unavailability of maps of administrative units fully matching the units listed in the statistical tables.