Subscribe

Back

Who we are

With research staff from more than 60 countries, and offices across the globe, IFPRI provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries.

researcher spotlight

Vartika Singh

Vartika Singh is a Senior Research Analyst in the Natural Resources and Resilience Unit, based in New Delhi, and a Senior Research Officer at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. She is currently a doctoral candidate at Humboldt University in Berlin and a guest researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Germany. Her research interest is in the nexus of food-water-energy and land. 

Where we work

Back

Where we work

IFPRI currently has more than 600 employees working in over 80 countries with a wide range of local, national, and international partners.

IFPRI Regional Programs

IFPRI Country Programs

Research by country and region

Subscribe

experts

Foresight and Policy Modeling

Zhe Guo

Senior GIS Coordinator

profile

Bio

Zhe Guo is a Senior GIS Coordinator with the Foresight and Policy Modeling Unit, and is based at IFPRI-Washington, DC.

Publications

Publications

Resource thumbnail

Brief

From space to soil: Advancing crop mapping and ecosystem insights for smallholder agriculture

2024Guo, Zhe
Details

From space to soil: Advancing crop mapping and ecosystem insights for smallholder agriculture

This project centers on in-season crop type mapping in Nandi County, Kenya, utilizing time-series Sentinel-2 imagery and supervised machine learning techniques. The objective is to produce accurate crop-type maps to support agricultural management activities such as yield estimation, acreage statistics, disaster damage assessment, and ecosystem evaluation. The approach leverages cloud-based computing, offering a customized and flexible solution that requires no prior knowledge of cloud infrastructure.

Year published

2024

Authors

Guo, Zhe

Citation

Guo, Zhe. 2024. From space to soil: Advancing crop mapping and ecosystem insights for smallholder agriculture. Low-Emission Food Systems Initiative Brief. CGIAR System Organization. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/168470

Country/Region

Kenya

Keywords

Africa; Eastern Africa; Crops; Cartography; Smallholders; Agriculture; Satellite Imagery; Data; Ecosystem Management

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Project

Low-Emission Food Systems

Record type

Brief

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

Measuring above-ground carbon stock using spatial analysis and the InVEST model: Application in the Thoria Watershed, India

2024Guo, Zhe; Sharma, Himani; Jadav, Mahesh; Hettiarachchi, Upeksha; Guha, Chiranjit; Zhang, Wei; Priyadarshini, Pratiti; Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S.
Details

Measuring above-ground carbon stock using spatial analysis and the InVEST model: Application in the Thoria Watershed, India

Understanding and quantifying above-ground carbon stock is critical for assessing the impact of land use choices on carbon emissions which can inform conservation and management strategies to protect and increase carbon stocks. This study introduces a novel methodology for evaluating above-ground carbon storage and sequestration in the Thoria watershed, India, using time-series open-access remotely sensed datasets and the InVEST (Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Tradeoffs) carbon model. Our spatially explicit analysis examines land cover and land use changes over the past 20 years. Using high-resolution NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) data from Sentinel satellites, we disaggregate land cover types into high and low NDVI classes, which allows enhanced assessment of carbon stocks by capturing the spatial variation within the same land cover types. To assess the potential impacts of land cover changes on carbon stock, we generated two future scenarios suggested by local experts: a 20% expansion of cropland and a 20% expansion of wooded land. Using a proximity-based approach, we create these future land use maps and estimate the corresponding carbon stock with the InVEST carbon model. We demonstrate the utility of the methodology in informing land use decisions through spatially explicitly assessing how carbon stock changes in response to cropland expansion and wooded land growth. Our findings indicate that while urban development contributes to carbon losses, increasing wooded land and tree cover helps mitigate these losses, highlighting the importance of afforestation in maintaining ecological balance and reducing environmental impact.

Year published

2024

Authors

Guo, Zhe; Sharma, Himani; Jadav, Mahesh; Hettiarachchi, Upeksha; Guha, Chiranjit; Zhang, Wei; Priyadarshini, Pratiti; Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S.

Citation

Guo, Zhe; Sharma, Himani; Jadav, Mahesh; Hettiarachchi, Upeksha; Guha, Chiranjit; et al. 2024. Measuring above-ground carbon stock using spatial analysis and the InVEST model: Application in the Thoria Watershed, India. Environmental Research Communications 6(11): 115036. https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/ad95e7

Country/Region

India

Keywords

Asia; Southern Asia; Modelling; Carbon Stock Assessments; Watersheds; Spatial Analysis

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/ad95e7 Source record

Project

Nature-Positive Solutions

Record type

Journal Article

Resource thumbnail

Conference Paper

Climate risk profiles and agricultural vulnerability in Africa: A multi-dimensional analysis

2024Guo, Zhe; Yang, Ruixin
Details

Climate risk profiles and agricultural vulnerability in Africa: A multi-dimensional analysis

Climate risk profile studies play a vital role in Africa, considering the continent’s unique vulnerability to climate change. With diverse ecosystems, economies, and social contexts, Africa faces a multitude of climate-related risks, including extreme weather events, water scarcity, agricultural disruptions. Understanding and assessing these risks through climate risk profile studies is crucial for effective adaptation and mitigation planning. Our study aimed to construct seasonal crop risk profiles utilizing a composite index methodology, analyzing historical climate data spanning the past three decades. This composite index integrates spatially explicit evaluations of heat stress, drought stress, and flood hazards. Specifically focused on agricultural risks, our study further refines these hazards concerning crops during the growing seasons. Furthermore, our analysis will assess changes and trends in the frequency and severity of these hazards over time. These investigations offer invaluable insights into the precise climate threats confronting African nations and regions, empowering policymakers and communities to make well-informed decisions regarding resource allocation, infrastructure development, and socioeconomic planning.

Year published

2024

Authors

Guo, Zhe; Yang, Ruixin

Citation

Guo, Zhe; and Yang, Ruixin. 2024. Climate risk profiles and agricultural vulnerability in Africa: A multi-dimensional analysis. 12th International Conference on Agro-Geoinformatics (Agro-Geoinformatics). Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. https://doi.org/10.1109/Agro-Geoinformatics262780.2024.10660821

Keywords

Africa; Climate Change; Extreme Weather Events; Water Scarcity; Agriculture; Climate Change Adaptation; Resource Allocation; Development

Language

English

Access/Licence

Limited Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.1109/agro-geoinformatics262780.2024.10660821 Source record

Project

Climate Resilience

Record type

Conference Paper

Events

The Latest Innovations in Global Crop Mapping
IFPRI at External Event

 | 

April 29, 2024, 10:00 – 11:00 am

The Latest Innovations in Global Crop Mapping

Webinar: April 29, 2024 – 10:00 AM- 11:00 AM EDT. Join this webinar to hear from experts from IFPRI, the Bezos Earth Fund, Land & Carbon Lab and partners as they discuss the importance of transforming global food systems and the role that geospatial monitoring can play in this.

Enhancing Biodiversity and Resilience in Intensive Farming Systems: Results from an ETH Zürich-IFPRI Collaborative study
Series/Special Event

 | 

December 6, 2022, 10:00 – 11:30 am

Enhancing Biodiversity and Resilience in Intensive Farming Systems: Results from an ETH Zürich-IFPRI Collaborative study

Virtual Event: December 6, 2022 – 10:00 AM- 11:30 AM EST. This project, undertaken by ETH-Zurich and IFPRI and funded by Bayer, has consolidated and synthesized existing knowledge about farm and landscape practices designed to enhance biodiversity and resilience in intensive soybean, maize, and wheat production systems in Brazil, France, Germany, and the United States.

2018 International Consortium on Applied Bioeconomy Research Conference (ICABR)
IFPRI at External Event

 | 

June 12 to 15, 2018

2018 International Consortium on Applied Bioeconomy Research Conference (ICABR)

IFPRI is participating extensively in the International Consortium on Applied Bioeconomy Research (ICABR) conference. Multiple changes in the structure of the food system and agriculture raise new opportunities and challenges for the agricultural sector.  In the developing world, these changes started in Asia and Latin America, and are rapidly emerging in Africa.  Urbanization and increased urban […]

View all Events