Recommendations for filling identified gaps in standards for land and nutrition data

Abstract

This report provides a number of recommendations to improve practices around the creation and use of standards that support the collection and use of land and nutrition data. We have drawn on the analyses of gaps in land and nutrition standards reported in our survey of data standards for land and nutrition data (Pesce, Mey, L’Henaff and Tejo-Alonso, 2018). Land data, like geology, soil and irrigation, and nutrition data, like food consumption and health statistics, are important to inform decision making for interventions to eradicate global hunger and malnutrition. The collection of land and nutrition data varies globally. Like all data, different countries are at different levels of maturity with regards to the way this information is collected, stored, accessed and used. The recommendations draw on our assessments of the existing gaps between current and best practice in two data aggregator use cases. We think the key opportunities around improving use of standards around land and nutrition data should focus on: improving the documentation and description of existing data sources, in particular through the creation of developer documentation and by investing in publishing relevant vocabularies (e.g. indicators, geographic regions, country names and age groups) attempting to address discovery issues relating to land and nutrition data, by improving use of metadata standards to help catalogue and describe data published by existing organisations as well as harmonising existing or developing new standards. working with data publishers to harmonise and publish open standards in a variety of formats, so that different user communities (developers, statisticians, analysts, geospatial specialists) can consume and use data in an efficient way. working with relevant authorities to map and publish sustainable development indicators with definitions and mappings. engage with relevant user communities to promote standards, by working with data providers. These recommendations will be combined with those from previous GODAN Action recommendation reports on agri-food and weather data standards. Together they will inform specifications for standards interoperability services that can help to drive adoption of standards such as tools to publish data into different formats, to support open metadata standards or share standard vocabularies.