G20 Foundation Publications Russia 2013 | Page 78

78 food securit y food securit y GEOGLAM - improving food security through earth observations The Group on Earth Observation’s Global Agriculture Monitoring (GEOGLAM) programme is one of several emerging initiatives of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) where international cooperation and collaboration are delivering coordinated Earth observations for a number of societal benefits. In 2011 as part of its Action Plan on Food Price Volatility and Agriculture, the G20 committed to ‘improve market information and transparency in order to make international markets for agricultural commodities more effective.’ In its Final Declaration from Cannes (November 2011), the G20 invited GEO to ‘lead the development of an initiative to coordinate satellite monitoring observation systems in different regions of the world in order to enhance crop production projections and weather Barbara J. Ryan, Director, Group on Earth Observations Secretariat, Geneva, Switzerland forecasting data.’ The effect that significant weather events in producer/exporter countries have on crop prices is shown below in data from the World Bank. The graph below illustrates wheat prices (in $/ Metric Ton) for the last 50 years (1960- 2011). The first decade (1960-1972) shows a relatively stable pricing situation. Whereas, price volatility increased significantly thereafter, and particularly so since 2007. Droughts in Australia, Russia and the Ukraine, and the effect that they have had on wheat prices are clearly evident. Also shown on the graph is the launch (1972) of the first in a series of Landsat satellites designed to observe the Earth’s landscape. The eighth in a series Monthly Wheat Prices ($/MT) 1960-2011 79