Development of collaborative spatial planning support system for food security and agricultural development with a special reference to Iran

Background

In many countries large data bases and libraries of reports and studies have been accumulated over the past one or two decades with regard to the availability and distribution of the natural resource base. This wealth of information encompasses data and information of greatly varying quality, maturity, format and reference base. But, nevertheless, it is there. National governments and international development agencies are continuously asked to engage in new investigations and further exploration. The question arises whether it is necessary or useful to spend often considerable monetary and staff and expertise resources, scarce in view of the competition for such resources, on such research and investigations. Or, should it be better to seriously look at the data and information available and design methodology capable of questioning the material available to serve specified objectives of agricultural development and food security.

Iran is a point in case. Over the past two decades the Iranian Research Institute for Planning and Agricultural Economics has initiated and completed studies covering almost all the catchments and sub-catchments in the country. These studies carried out at a scale of 1:250,000 have resulted in large amounts of detailed data on the existing natural resources and the socio-economic setting of the areas concerned. In a successive programme, the agricultural potential of lands located at the foothills of the catchments have been identified (over 600 plains) and studied at a scale of 1:50,000.

This wealth of data and information has been accumulated without being effectively used to increase agricultural production, improve food security and raise prosperity. As a result, the data and information lie idle and will gradually loose their value. Now the question is how one can best make use of this information and support better management of resources. To cope with this, the Iranian Ministry of Agriculture is seeking support from national and international research institutions to help develop a proper methodology.

Objectives

The basic question to be addressed by the research proposed is the following: " Is it possible to design a Collaborative Spatial Planning Support System - CSPSS that is theoretically anchored and practically feasible, and would enhance agricultural production and food security by enabling those involved to successfully use the data and information available in the pursuit of consistent goals, policies and activities for agricultural development and food security"

The research proposed is structured around two PhD proposals, and is embedded in a wider and coordinating research effort on the part of ITC staff and external collaborators. The first PhD proposal is centred on the question whether a sub-CSPSS can be designed and developed within the overall context, described in previous paragraph, addressing "Goal and Policy Formulation and Evaluation". Analogously, the second PhD proposal would address "Activity and Plan Programming". Staff research would tie these two research efforts together in pursuit of the integrated question raised in the paragraph above, as well provide direction and supervision.

The location of the research is proposed to be Iran. Methodology and approach to be developed in the course of the research will have important generic connotation, and be replicable, adjusted to suit specific conditions, in other instances of existing large data and information bases as discussed in the opening paragraph.