AgMIP Impacts Explorer

May 14, 2018

 

Visit: AgMIP Impacts Explorer 

 

The Impacts Explorer is built on stakeholder assessment and was created to bridge the gap between research outputs and easily accessible information. The goal is to create easy access to real time and future projections of risk and vulnerabilities in the agricultural sector plus implications of food security. This allows a wide variety of audiences to be able to explore farming systems vulnerability and adaptation in a changing world.

The stakeholder engagement made it possible to fully understand what was needed to fill the existing gap and the Impacts Explorer was developed to fulfill the needs expressed by the stakeholders. The tool is suitable for users with different areas of interest as well as levels of expertise due to its 3 level output that includes Regional Summaries, Spatial Dashboard and Data Exploration. The Impacts Explorer will be one of several tools discussed at the AgMIP7 global workshop in San José, Costa Rica, April 24-26, 2018.

Impacts Explorer: Spatial Dashboard overview of visualized results for Nkayi, Zimbabwe.

The creation of AgMIP Impacts Explorer is a collaboration of scientists and staff at Columbia University/GISS, Oregon State University, the University of Florida, and Wageningen University. The tool co-design and function was implemented by Wageningen Environmental Research. Results feature the work of the AgMIP Regional Research Teams in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. The project was funded by the UKAid and the input from stakeholders throughout the process has been and is still very much appreciated.

The Impacts Explorer is built on years of research and AgMIP7 is a great opportunity for feedback and evaluation to ensure that the stakeholder’s needs have been met and to engage new users. As the intent is to continue to integrate data and key messages that are decision oriented, the stakeholder feedback is critical to ensure that expressed needs are being accounted for.

A continued integration of data and key messages will further bridge the gap between research outputs and easily accessible information. To enhance the quality of the Impacts Explorer, future users and stakeholders will be interviewed to give feedback on the current version. At the AgMIP7 global conference, stakeholder feedback from the Latin American community among others will be integrated for the first time and the tool will be on display with a booth for new users to engage and provide feedback.