AquaCrop Model, Crop Modeling, and Management Decision Support Tool: Getting Started & Weather and Soil Data Collection

The world food supply is affected by environmental stresses, which can cause up to 70% yield losses in food crops (Thakur et al., 2010; Nitin et al., 2012). Notably, in sub-Saharan Africa, we can confirm that seasonal water scarcity already affects food production. The climate is characterized by a unimodal rainfall distribution and two marked seasons: a rainy season and a dry season, in which rain is less than the quantity required for crop cultivation. In many locations, the current rainfall patterns do not provide enough rainfall that can adequately be used for agriculture. Therefore, despite the high water availability in some locations, most of the food requirements for sub-Saharan African countries are met through imports.