About the training We are collaborating with national agriculture agencies in ICIMOD’s Regional Member Countries and beyond to enhance their ability to use Earth observation (EO) technologies for food security assessment and planning. We are collaborating with these agencies to codevelop locally appropriate tools and methods. To ensure that the technology is customised for each country, we are aligning the crop mapping and monitoring platform to align with institutional functions and practices in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan. As part of the pilot study implementation in Bangladesh, we are organising a comprehensive training and field orientation for the implementation team and relevant stakeholders, which will include the following: Engaging key stakeholders and providing briefings on the remote sensing-based crop area mapping and damage assessment Training Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) staff on the SERVIR-HKH approach to in-season crop mapping Conducting practical exercises on field data collection using the Geofairy mobile application Objectives We have designed the training and field orientation in consultation with the DAE to meet the following objectives: Orient DAE staff on remote sensing-based crop area mapping and damage assessment using open-access EO data Train DAE Manikgunj Upazila staff on field data collection using the Geofairy mobile application Expected outcomes Upon completing the training, the participants will better understand the application of EO and geospatial information technology in crop area mapping and crop area estimation. The field staff will be able to collect the field data in Manikgunj Upazila as a pilot district for mapping and area estimation for rice crops. Expected participants Dhaka: Officials from the DAE, Bangladesh Manikgunj: Officials from the DAE Manikgunj Upazila Background In Bangladesh, agriculture is one of the most important sectors that drives the country’s economy, with two-thirds of the labour force employed in agriculture. Agriculture accounts for a third of the gross domestic product and agricultural products account for 32% of the value of exports in Bangladesh. With the continued investment in the agriculture production system, Bangladesh has made significant progress in increasing the domestic production of food grains. It is necessary to monitor and estimate crop acreage at a national scale to determine the national or regional food demand and supply balance and to gauge social security. The Department of Agricultural Extension and the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics are making efforts to improve the efficiency and accuracy of crop area and yield estimation in Bangladesh. A major focus of these efforts is to effectively utilise EO-based methods in crop monitoring and yield assessment processes. Resource persons Sravan Shrestha, Remote Sensing and Geoinformation Associate, ICIMOD Sarthak Shrestha, Remote Sensing and Geoinformation Associate, ICIMOD Farida Perveen, Deputy Director & In-charge of GIS & RS Lab, DAE, Bangladesh