• ‍Dates: June 1-3, 2026
• Location: FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy
• Organizers: The event will be hosted by FAO and AidData. Additional sponsors for the event include IFAD, AFD, and the Gates Foundation.

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.

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)