# Seasonal crop cycles with climatic zone mapping

Climate zones showing when harvesting times for staple crops are expected. Which climate zones relate to which dependencies in the population at different times of the year. This can link this to seasonal forecast outlooks to highlight areas that may become susceptible to food insecurity.

### Strategic or operational?

Strategic

### Basemap, baseline or situational?

Baseline

### When might it be produced?

As early as possible in a response.

### Intended audience

World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) may use these for contextualising the crisis.

### Influence on humanitarian decisions

Supports identification of vulnerable individuals, identifies where the risk to people is greatest. Useful for food distribution agencies for informing them which areas are likely to require addition support.

### Methods

Use a simple basemap showing the land use and/or crop type distribution, overlain with climate zones (or rainfall climatology data) and expected harvest time for each crop type (as a label or graphic). Could include link to the seasonal outlooks that are provided by DFID if available.

### Data

* Crop type (irrigated/rain-fed)
* Climate zones &/or rainfall climatology data
* Expected harvest period

### Resources

* [GPCC Global Precipitation Climatology Centre](https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/data/gridded/data.gpcc.html)
* [Global Cropland Datasets](https://www.croplands.org/app/map?lat=0\&lng=0\&zoom=2)
* [EarthStat Website](http://www.earthstat.org/)


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