Suitability evaluation system for the production and sourcing of agricultural commodities

Abstract This article presents CONSUS (Connecting for Sustainable Sourcing), a modular GIS-based decision-support system for producing and sourcing agricultural commodities. The system extends the classic FAO land evaluation approaches in three specific dimensions: (i) the sustainability dimension: the extended suitability analysis reaches beyond purely biophysical suitability and integrates ecological, economic and social suitability; (ii) the value chain dimension: the focus of suitability analysis includes further upstream activities relevant for product trading; (iii) the spatio-temporal dimension: the inclusion of an adaptive global crop cycle model and scale-specific suitability modules allow for multi-scale suitability evaluation that considers cropping seasons; The system was implemented as a flexible tool set, featuring knowledge databases, GIS toolboxes, and supporting data processing modules. CONSUS emerged from a series of third party funded applied research projects. Two of these serve in this article as case studies illustrating the capabilities of the system: one global case study on the sourcing of hazelnuts, and one regional case study on suitability of soybean production in Rwanda.