AGCommons (Agricultural Geospatial Commons) and RCMRD (Regional Center for Mapping of Resources for Development) are pleased to announce their partnership to establish AGCommons as an Africa-based initiative and jointly promote the use of geospatial information technology for the development of Africa.

The two organizations have mutual objectives that also include capacity and institutional building, information dissemination, and the wish to complement each others efforts in all common areas.  Through the SERVIR-Africa project, jointly implemented with NASA and sponsored by USAID, RCMRD is developing a regional geospatial platform that will provide an opportunity for RCMRD and AGCommons to collaborate on data acquisition, dissemination, use and sharing.

AGCommons is an initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and led by the ICT-KM program of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) in partnership with Spatial Development International to identify and develop data, tools and services that deliver relevant, timely and affordable information to smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa and those working on their behalf.

As well as being an institutional host and collaborator, RCMRD represents an ideal partner with its programs and expertise related to geospatial issues, high-quality communications and computing infrastructure, and a mission that is aligned to that of AGCommons.

AGCommons is currently undergoing an eight to twelve month transition period that focuses on business development and organizational design. During this time, AGCommons will be hosted by RCMRD, and the partnership will focus on technical cooperation and logistic support, while investigating the possibility of a long-term arrangement.

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