Session summary
This GeoField 2026 practice session examines how IFAD is using Earth observation and geospatial data to evaluate long-term impacts, assess project sustainability, and strengthen operational monitoring systems. The presentations move from project-level case studies to institutional platforms, showing how geospatial evidence can support both retrospective learning and future project design.
Moderator: Leonardo Corral
Strategic Vision: Measuring What Lasts
Carola Alvarez frames IFAD’s broader effort to understand whether project benefits persist after implementation ends. The presentation emphasizes the value of Earth observation for tracking slower-moving biophysical changes, strengthening long-term evaluation, and connecting evidence from past projects to future operations.
Rangeland Recovery: Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan
Cristina Chiarella presents IFAD’s work on long-term evaluation of rangeland and pasture recovery. The Mongolia case examines whether pasture management plans, herder groups, rotational grazing, and related infrastructure affected vegetation productivity after project implementation. The Kyrgyzstan case explores how pasture governance, water infrastructure, and micro-projects could be evaluated using georeferenced activity data and remotely sensed measures of rangeland condition.
Irrigation Systems: Cabo Verde, Ethiopia, and Philippines
Rodrigo Salcedo presents long-term evaluation work on irrigation investments in Ethiopia, the Philippines, and Cabo Verde. The presentation highlights the promise of using Earth observation to assess whether irrigation benefits persist over time, while also underscoring practical challenges such as incomplete infrastructure records, missing completion dates, inconsistent command-area data, and the need to link project monitoring data with remotely sensed outcomes.
Feedback of Long-Term Evaluation into Operations: Tunisia and Tajikistan
Alessandra Garbero presents sustainability assessments of pasture development projects in Tunisia and Tajikistan. Combining Earth observation with qualitative evidence, the work examines whether improvements in pasture condition persisted after project closure and whether local institutions, incentives, revenue models, and governance arrangements supported long-term sustainability.
Integration of EO Within IFAD Systems: FIELD, GUIDE, GeoAI, CAPEO
Michelle Piccoli presents IFAD initiatives designed to embed Earth observation and geospatial data into operational systems. These include tools for field data collection, investment mapping, validation, geospatial data storage, visualization, Earth observation layers, and analysis workflows. The goal is to move from ad hoc geospatial analysis toward continuous monitoring, integrated project systems, and institutional learning.
Together, the session shows how Earth observation can make long-term learning more routine, but only when project systems collect, preserve, validate, and share geospatial data from the beginning. The broader lesson is that durable impact depends not only on infrastructure or biophysical change, but also on data systems, governance arrangements, incentives, and local institutions that allow project benefits to persist.