Standing Committee on Services for Agriculture (SC-AGR)

Standing Committee on Services for Agriculture

At its first meeting in 2020, SERCOM decided to establish the Standing Committee on Services for Agriculture (SC-AGR) for the first intersessional period, with the terms of reference provided here. The SC-AGR is composed of several technical experts, including the Chair (Prof. Roger Christopher Stone) and Vice-chair (Dr. Elena Mateescu), selected from the WMO Expert Network by the President of the Commission.  Other technical experts may be invited, on a needs basis, to serve as Observers on the Standing Committee, as determined by the chair/vice-chair of the Standing Committee in consultation with the president of the Services Commission. For the biography of the group members, click here

The SC-AGR replaces the former Commission on Agricultural Meteorology (CAgM), which successfully operated between 1999 - 2020. An overview of the proceedings of CAgM is provided here .

 

Purpose of SC-AGR

In addition to the terms of reference the purpose of SC-AGR is described in the following:

  • Review and update user needs and requirements on all aspects of agrometeorological services and practices across agricultural value chain & various agricultural sub-sectors  (crops, livestock, forestry, rangelands, and fisheries sectors);
  •  Review and update standards and guidance on all aspects of agrometeorological services and practices including drought;
  • Provide technical assistance to GFCS on agriculture and food security;
  • Assess the WMO role in supporting the food security agenda and define possible related activities together with SC-CLI and SC-HYD;
  • Provide capacity building, technical advice, and tools to WMO Members on agrometeorological issues;
  • Provide scientific and technical advice to the Integrated Drought Management Programme (IDMP) and work with FAO and UNCCD.

The SC-AGR is working on guidance materials addressing its terms of reference in five expert teams which are regionally, and gender-balanced. The expert teams, as well as their composition, objectives, and working progress, are listed in more detail below.

SC-AGR Structure

SC-AGR Meetings 

Newsletters

Related Activities

 

Expert Teams 

Expert Team on Agromet Risk Management (ET-ARM)

Lead: Flavio Justino (Brazil) and Co-Lead: Cathleen Fruhauf (Germany)

 

Expert Team on Agromet Services (ET-AAS)

Lead: James Ijampy (Nigeria) and Co-Lead: Hatem Baccour (Tunisia)

 

Expert Team on Agromet Sciences (ET-ASC)

Lead: Ward Smith (Canada) and Co-Lead: John Qu (USA)

 

Expert Team on Drought (ET-DRG)

Lead: Andreja Susnik (Slovenia) and Co-Lead: Christa Pudmensky (Australia)

 

Expert Team on Agromet Capacity Development and Communication (ET-ACDC)

Lead: Valentina Grigoryan (Armenia) and Co-Lead: Grahma Baker (Australia)

 

Task Teams