Agricultural land. The total area of land used for crop production and livestock raising. This includes arable land (land used for temporary crops), land under permanent crops (e.g. orchards) and permanent pastures (land used for grazing).
Agrifood systems. The entire range of actors and interlinked activities that add value in agricultural production and related off-farm activities such as food storage, aggregation, post-harvest handling, transportation, processing, distribution, marketing, disposal and consumption.
Agricultural production refers to primary crop, livestock, fisheries and forestry production.
Agroecology. A holistic approach that applies ecological and social concepts to the design and management of sustainable agriculture and food systems. It focuses on optimizing interactions between plants, animals, humans and the environment, aiming for sustainable and equitable food systems.
Agroforestry. A land-use system that deliberately integrates trees and shrubs with agricultural crops and/or livestock on the same land unit. This integration can be spatial, temporal or both, aiming to create more sustainable and diverse land-use systems.
Arable land. Land used for cultivation of temporary crops in rotation with fallow, meadows and pastures within cycles of up to five years. It is the total of areas under temporary crops, temporary meadows and pastures, and temporary fallow.
Area equipped for irrigation. Land area equipped with irrigation infrastructure and equipment that can provide water to crops and which are in working order. The equipment does not have to be used during the reference year. The area equipped for irrigation comprises areas equipped for fully controlled irrigation by any of the methods of surface, sprinkler or localized irrigation. It also includes areas under partially controlled irrigation methods of spate irrigation (controlling floodwaters to water crops), equipped wetlands and inland valley bottoms, and equipped flood recession. It excludes manual watering of plants using buckets, watering cans or other devices.
Attainable yield. In the context of GAEZ, the maximum yield that can be achieved under specific agroecological conditions, combining agroclimatic potential yields with soil and terrain evaluations. It takes account of biophysical limitations such as temperature, moisture availability, soil type and slope, as well as specified levels of agronomic inputs and management practices. Attainable yield is distinct from potential yield as it integrates realistic constraints of soil and terrain, providing a more practical estimate of productivity for a given crop under defined conditions.
Cropland. Land used for the cultivation of crops. It is the total of areas under arable land and permanent crops.
Cropping intensity. The ratio of the sum of the harvested areas to total cropland for a given area, region or country in a year. Cropping intensity is usually expressed as a percentage or ratio. A cropping intensity of 100 percent means that all the cropland has been harvested once during the year. Cropping intensity is above 100 percent when part of the land has been harvested more than once and below 100 percent when part of the cropland has not been harvested (this happens when there is a crop failure).
Ecosystem approach. A strategy for the integrated management of land, water and living resources that promotes conservation and equitable, sustainable use. It is based on the application of appropriate scientific methodologies focused on levels of biological organization that encompass the essential processes, functions and interactions among organisms and their environment. It recognizes that humans, with their cultural diversity, are an integral component of ecosystems.
Governance. The formal and informal rules, organizations and processes through which public and private actors articulate their interests, make decisions and implement them related to food and agriculture.
Harvest area (or harvested area). The total land area from which a crop is gathered or harvested. This definition excludes areas sown or planted where there was no harvest due to factors such as crop failure or damage.
Land. A delineable area of the Earth’s terrestrial surface, encompassing all attributes of the biosphere immediately above or below this surface, including those of the near-surface climate, the soil and terrain forms, the surface hydrology (including shallow lakes, rivers, marshes and swamps), the near-surface sedimentary layers and associated groundwater reserve, the plant and animal populations, the human settlement pattern, and the physical results of past and present human activity such as terracing, water storage and drainage structures, infrastructure, and buildings.
Land cover. The observed physical and biological cover of the Earth’s land surface including natural features such as vegetation, soils and waterbodies, as well as human-made features such as buildings and roads. Land cover is distinct from land use, which refers to the activities people undertake on a particular land cover type.
Land degradation. The reduction in the capacity of the land to provide ecosystem goods and services and assure its functions over time due to human action.
Land productivity. The amount of agricultural output produced per unit of land area. It essentially quantifies how efficiently land is being used to produce crops or livestock, and can be measured in terms of value, biomass or other relevant units.
Land suitability. The assessment of how well a given piece of land can support agricultural production for a specific crop, considering factors such as climate, soil and terrain.
Land tenure. Relationship, whether legally or customarily defined, among people – as individuals or groups – with respect to land. It is an institution, with rules invented by society to regulate behaviour. The rules cover from how access is granted to the right to use, control and transfer land, as well as associated responsibilities and restraints.
Land use. The activities, arrangements and inputs that people undertake on a particular land cover type to produce, change or maintain it. Land use encompasses a wide range of human activities, from farming and forestry to urban development and infrastructure, and is a key aspect of land management and sustainable development.
Marginal land. Land with low productivity due to biophysical conditions such as rugged terrain, poor soil quality, extreme weather conditions (including scattered and low precipitations) and other factors, or productive land constrained by socioeconomic factors such as human-induced land degradation, market price instability, land tenure conditions and limited access to markets and infrastructure, which render it incapable of cost-effective production under given conditions.
Opportunity crops are crops with great unrealized potential to improve food and nutrition security in the context of climate change. Most are nutrient-rich traditional and indigenous crops that have suffered historically from underinvestment.a
Permanent crops. Land cultivated with long-term crops which do not have to be replanted for several years such as cocoa and coffee. It also includes the land under trees and shrubs producing flowers such as roses and jasmine as well as nurseries.
Potential yield. The highest crop yield achievable under specific agroclimatic, soil and terrain conditions, considering specific management assumptions and agronomic input levels.
Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP). A scenario that models future greenhouse gas concentrations and their impact on climate. They provide a framework for understanding how different levels of greenhouse gas emissions might affect the Earth’s climate system by the year 2100 and beyond. RCPs have been formally adopted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP). A scenario that models future societal development and its impact on greenhouse gas emissions.
Water productivity. In agriculture, the amount of agricultural output produced per unit volume of water applied or consumed in production. It essentially quantifies how efficiently water is being used to produce crops or livestock, and can be measured in terms of value, biomass or other relevant units.
Water scarcity. An imbalance between supply and demand of freshwater in a specified domain (e.g. a country, region, catchment or river basin) as a result of a high rate of demand compared with available supply, under prevailing institutional arrangements (including price) and infrastructural conditions. Symptoms are unsatisfied demand, tensions between users, competition for water, overextraction of groundwater and insufficient flows to the natural environment.
Water stress. The proportion of total freshwater withdrawn by all sectors (agriculture, industry and municipal) compared with the total renewable freshwater resources, after accounting for environmental flow requirements. This ratio, often expressed as a percentage, indicates the pressure on a country’s freshwater resources.
Water tenure. The relationships, whether legally or customarily defined, between people (individuals or groups) and water resources. It encompasses the rights to access, use, manage and participate in decisions related to water resources.
Water-use efficiency (water efficiency). The ratio formed when dividing the amount of water consumed in a specific use by the amount of water allocated or delivered to that use.
Wildfire. Any unplanned and uncontrolled vegetation fire that, regardless of ignition source, may negatively affect social, economic or environmental values and require suppression response or other action according to agency policy.
Yield gap. The difference between crop yield obtained in a given area and attainable yield.
