Characterization of the agricultural drought prone areas on a global scale
This publication seeks to enhance the understanding of, and boost resilience to, water stress conditions in drought-prone areas, using the FAO Agricultural Stress Index System (ASIS). In order to boost the resilience of livelihoods to threats arising from climate change, and especially drought events, it is primordial to identify drought-prone areas and their various characteristics and to dispose of timely and reliable information of the condition of food crops and grassland areas in all the world.
The study has generated records for subnational administrative units worldwide. Past drought events were defined by severity and rate of recurrence, combined with environment, agricultural and socio-economic indicators. The study of the database’s historical remote sensing data, combined with several other relevant indicators, may provide insights into the occurrence of future drought events. In addition, the final results can assist decision makers to better design the adaptation and mitigation plans.