GeoField 2026 Convening
June 1-3, 2026 | FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy
The GeoField Convening will bring together approximately 125 people for a hybrid event to share recent progress on the integration of Earth observation into agricultural and climate-related impact evaluations. Participants will span disciplines and organizations, including evaluation experts, remote sensing specialists, and agricultural programming organizations. We will present use cases from our GeoField initiative as well as papers from the upcoming special issue in the Journal of Development Economics, as well as chapters of the forthcoming open-source textbook, Geospatial Impact Evaluation in Practice. Additional sessions will focus on relevant topics such as AI, deforestation monitoring, and the specific opportunities and challenges for organizations such as FAO, IFAD, AFD, and the Gates Foundation.
Organizers: The event will be hosted by FAO and AidData. Additional sponsors for the event include IFAD, AFD, and the Gates Foundation.
Brief Agenda
Monday, June 1, 2026, 8:45am - 4:45pm
Session 1: Plenary Welcome & Keynote
Sessions 2-4: GeoField Use Cases from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, and Somalia
Tuesday, June 2, 2026 8:45am - 7:00pm
Sessions 5a, 5b: Selected papers from the Journal of Development Economics Special Issue
Sessions 6a, 6b: Selected methods chapters from Geospatial Impact Evaluation in Practice
Sessions 7-8: Selected case study chapters from Geospatial Impact Evaluation in Practice
Evening: Cocktail reception on FAO rooftop
Wednesday, June 3, 2026 8:45am - 4:45pm
Sessions 9a, 9b: Focus on international organizations (FAO, IFAD, AFD)
Sessions 10a, 10b: Regional Sessions
Sessions 11-12: Special Topics (AI, Deforestation, Big Bets)