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In many areas of the world Satellite Remote Sensing has shown its great value to generate and continuously monitor Land Cover and Land Use maps and inventories in an accurate, updated and homogeneous way.
Remote Sensing satellite data can be of paramount importance for the assessment of Agricultural and Rangeland Land Cover and Land Use for Somalia, including Somaliland, and to evaluate and monitor statistical indicators, e.g. the extension of crop areas. Remote Sensing satellite data can also supplement existing field survey and assessment data.
The present FSAU information gathering network provides regular crop assessment and food availability data. However there exists a need to further improve the availability of updated and accurate information in Land Cover and Land Use, and Crop and Rangeland area extension to refine estimates of domestic cereal and livestock production.
The AFRICOVER project has developed a new approach for Land Cover mapping. The AFRICOVER Multipurpose Environmental Data Base is a set of detailed Land Cover and Environmental information that can be used by large community of specific end users as the basic source of information for a wide range of applications. Somalia has been entirely mapped by AFRICOVER using this system.
UNDOS has established a Geographic Information System Laboratory which is the focal point for the geocoded data on Somalia at this point in time.
The AGROSCENE project is herewith delineated to:
update the agricultural statistics in Somalia for the current year and the first half of 1999 at marginal cost by using the available Multipurpose Land Cover database generated by AFRICOVER East Africa.
Establish a crop monitoring system to be incorporated into the food security assessment methodology developed by FSAU.
Disseminate to Somali and International organisations the land systems geo-coded database originated by the project to support planning and programming;
The methodology developed by the AGROSCENE project may be applied to analysis of agriculture and rangeland indicators in other tropical countries for both inventory and monitoring purposes.

source: summary