Estimating Crop Production in Afghanistan

Introduction

Afghanistan is recovering from a long period of civil unrest and war. The United Nations supports this effort with 3000 staff members dealing with many issues. Among this the UN supports the efforts by the Afghan government to ensure that food security is prevalent for all inhabitants of the country. While the ultimate goal is self-sufficiency in food, food aid will be necessary for some years to come. For this a timely and thorough assessment of the current crop conditions is very important. FAO and Hoefsloot Spatial Solutions have developed the AgroMetShell package for this purpose. Crop conditions are assessed through satellite imagery, agro-meteorological data and knowledge on cropping areas.

Mission

Peter Hoefsloot has introduced AgrometShell in Afghanistan, giving a course to personnel of the Ministry of Agriculture, writing a tutorial and advising the Ministry on setting up a crop forecasting unit.