Workshop Proceedings - Inter Islamic Network on Space Sciences ...

Recommendations
Seminar Recommendations
Recommendations
1. The participants of ISNET/CSE <strong>Workshop</strong> on Applications of Space Technology for Food Security from 9-10 July
2012, Dakar, Senegal (seminar part of the <strong>Workshop</strong>) recognized the definition of food security provided by World
Food Summit, 1996 as, 'Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and
economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an
active and healthy life".
2. The problem of food insecurity is of serious concern in developing countries as compared with developed countries.
In future, the regional demand for food especially cereals is forecasted to grow. Thus, it is high time for the relevant
governments and agencies particularly in the ISNET member states to make optimal policies to ensure food security.
Food security heavily depends on food availability, food access and food utilization and these three pillars of food
security have to be balanced.
3. It has been observed during two days deliberations that cutting edge technologies of Remote Sensing
(RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) could be very helpful in providing information for the policy-makers
concerned with food security both at local and regional scales. Geo-information based tools for food security
monitoring should be developed to provide useful capabilities in the fields of agricultural mapping, monitoring and
production estimation. The synoptic coverage of the remotely sensed data combined with GIS capabilities is a very
powerful means to detect and assess the impact of climate change and catastrophes such as droughts, floods,
cyclones, locust invasion, and earthquakes on food security.
4. The following steps should be taken in order to ensure a stable system of food availability, food access and food
utilization in ISNET member states:
· Ensuring food security is the collective responsibility of all stakeholders including the public and private sectors,
international organisations, and NG0s.
· Geospatial technologies are very effective at addressing issues of food insecurity, but there is lack of awareness
amongst policy- and decision-makers in developing countries on the usefulness of such technologies. Therefore, there
is a need to create awareness amongst the ISNET member states.
· ISNET member states should invest in research, knowledge-sharing and transfer in the fields of Remote Sensing and
GIS.
· Water shortage is likely to remain major challenge for most of the developing countries. RS and GIS applications
should, inter-alia, focus on water resource management
· Climate change would affect agricultural productivity. Use of Remote Sensing, GIS and agro-climate modelling needs
to be strengthened for climate change impact assessment and adaptation.
· Capability development and capacity building in microwave and Hyper-spectral remote sensing should be adopted.
5. ISNET should provide a platform to scientists, engineers and researchers in its member states to develop integrated
food production mapping, monitoring and assessment system. This must lead to a system such as Monitoring
Agriculture with Remote Sensing in ISNET Member States (MARSIMS)
6. Water resource management and food security are interlinked. It is, therefore, recommended that ISNET should
hold a seminar/workshop which addresses both these issues holistically.
7. ISNET should also consider holding a workshop on Disaster Management.
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