Providing Perspective on the Value of Satellite Data for Agriculture Markets

Joe Glauber is a Senior Research Fellow at IFPRI and serves as one of Harvest’s foremost experts on domestic strategy relating to the economics of information, market information systems, commodity forecasting, and food price volatility. His work with Harvest focuses on estimating the value of Earth observation (EO) data in improving crop production forecasts specifically related to market effects. In a recent interview, Joe explained how long term EO data has been critical to understanding crop forecasts and their potential impact on markets.

Because farmers, policy makers, and consumers are faced with decision-making based on the information that they receive, it is vital that they have access to timely and accurate data in order to achieve the best possible outcomes and create a stable market atmosphere. Remote sensing ultimately plays a key economic role when it comes to food security. While there may be a large amount of easily-accessible statistical data for developed countries, there are many areas in the world where there is very little available data and satellite data can fill the gap. Our partners are working hard to enhance the use of EO data in order to inform markets and enable proactive decision making for increased global food security.