Version 5 of the Global Agro-Ecological Zoning (GAEZ) tool will be launched on 14 April 2025, as part of the 80th Anniversary of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The event will also celebrate and renew the enduring partnership between IIASA and the FAO through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two organizations.
GAEZ is a comprehensive framework developed to assess the world's agricultural resources and potential. It provides critical insights into land suitability and crop productivity, helping to shape sustainable agricultural practices and policies.
GAEZ V5 introduces enhanced methodologies and updated datasets on climate, soil, and land, offering invaluable tools for better decision-making in agriculture and land-use management, and exploring the impacts of climate change on land suitability and crop productivity. The updated platform, developed in collaboration with the Digital FAO and Agro-informatics Division, will offer improved data processing, generation, and dissemination capabilities, ensuring seamless data interoperability with other existing platforms, particularly the FAO Agro-informatics Platform. GAEZ V5 will also contribute to global reports like the State of the World's Land and Water Resources (SOLAW) and the State of Food Insecurity in the World (SOFA).
In this context, the event will also celebrate and renew the enduring partnership between IIASA and the FAO. This collaboration has been crucial in the development and application of the Agro-Ecological Zones modeling framework. Over the past four decades, this partnership has significantly enhanced the understanding of agricultural resources, shaping policies that promote sustainable food production and global food security. The signature of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between IIASA and FAO leadership during the event underscores the importance of this partnership, fostering a synergistic collaboration between two leading institutions with complementary expertise. The organizations will be represented by Beth Bechdol, FAO Deputy Director-General and IIASA Director General Hans Joachim (John) Schellnhuber in the MoU signing ceremony.
Whether you're a policymaker, researcher, data scientist, or simply passionate about the future of global food systems—this event offers a unique opportunity to engage with leading experts and explore the cutting-edge tools shaping the future of agriculture.
Visit the FAO website for further information.
Upcoming Events
Hybrid: online and at the Austrian Academy of Sciences
Public lecture: Digitalization and AI within planetary boundaries
Chulalongkorn University, Thailand