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Project Overview

So, what’s the problem

Open data – the idea that certain data should be freely available and increasingly machine-readable for everyone to use – is a vital resource for tackling global food security and human health. Data that is freely available has no barriers to access anywhere in the world. Making data machine-readable allows efficient mining of large amounts of data and its reuse in different contexts and combinations.

If we take pioneering agriculture and nutrition research information and combine it in accessible formats with up-to-date information on soils, weather, land ownership, market price data and similar, making it openly available to the people who need it most, we can help reduce global food poverty and malnutrition.

When people come together with new information about agriculture and nutrition, new ideas can grow. Sharing data around these subjects at the community, national and international levels helps people innovate and put in place sustainable ways to grow more nutritious food.

What is this project doing?

Based on CABI’s track record of expertise in agriculture, nutrition, knowledge management, and building strong partnerships, our organization was selected to host the secretariat for Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN) in 2014.

With over 100 partners, GODAN supports global efforts to make agricultural and nutritional data accessible, available and usable for unrestricted use worldwide. The initiative focuses on building high-level policy, and public and private institutional support for open data.

It also encourages collaboration and cooperation among existing agriculture and open data activities, bringing together stakeholders to solve long-standing global problems like food and nutritional security.