DOI: 10.5061/dryad.vq83bk42w
title: HarvestStat Africa - Harmonized Subnational Crop Statistics for Sub-Saharan Africa

description: Sub-Saharan Africa faces severe agricultural data scarcity amidst high
 food insecurity and a large agricultural yield gap, making crop production
 data crucial for understanding and enhancing food systems. To address this
 gap, HarvestStat Africa presents the largest compilation of open-access
 subnational crop statistics and time-series across Sub-Saharan Africa.
 Based on agricultural statistics collated by USAID’s Famine Early Warning
 Systems Network, the subnational crop statistics are standardized and
 calibrated across changing administrative units to produce consistent and
 continuous time-series. The dataset includes 574,204 records, primarily
 spanning from 1980 to 2022, detailing quantity produced (metric tonnes;
 mt), harvested areas (hectares; ha), and yields (metric tonnes per
 hectare; mt/ha) for 33 countries and 94 crop types, including key cereals
 in Sub-Saharan Africa such as wheat, maize, rice, sorghum, barley, millet,
 and fonio. This new dataset enhances our understanding of how climate
 variability and change influence agricultural production, supports
 subnational food system analysis, and aids in operational yield
 forecasting. As an open-source resource, it establishes a precedent for
 sharing subnational crop statistics to inform decision-making and modeling
 efforts.
description: # HarvestStat Africa – Harmonized Subnational Crop Statistics for
 Sub-Saharan Africa **Authors:**\ D. Lee, W. Anderson, X. Chen, F.
 Davenport, S. Shukla, R. Sahajpal, M. Budde, J. Rowland, J. Verdin, L.
 You, M. Ahouangbenon, K. Davis, E. Kebede, S. Ehrmann, C. Justice, and C.
 Meyer **Publication:**\ *Scientific Data* (in revision); preprint
 available at [EarthArXiv](https://eartharxiv.org/repository/view/7663/).
 ## Author Information **Donghoon Lee**\ Department of Civil Engineering,
 University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada\ Email:
 [Donghoon.Lee@umanitoba.ca](mailto:Donghoon.Lee@umanitoba.ca) **Weston
 Anderson**\ Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of
 Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA\ Email:
 [Weston@umd.edu](mailto:Weston@umd.edu) **Xuan Chen**\ Earth System
 Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park,
 Maryland, USA\ Email: [X.Chen@cgiar.org](mailto:X.Chen@cgiar.org) **Frank
 Davenport**\ Climate Hazards Center, Department of Geography, University
 of California, Santa Barbara, California, USA\ Email:
 [frank.davenport@geog.ucsb.edu](mailto:frank.davenport@geog.ucsb.edu)
 **Shraddhanand Shukla**\ Climate Hazards Center, Department of Geography,
 University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USA\ Email:
 [shrad@geog.ucsb.edu](mailto:shrad@geog.ucsb.edu) **Ritvik Sahajpal**\
 Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park,
 MD, 20742, USA\ Email: [ritvik@umd.edu](mailto:ritvik@umd.edu) **Michael
 Budde**\ U.S. Geological Survey, Earth Resources Observation and Science
 Center, Sioux Falls, SD, USA\ Email:
 [mbudde@usgs.gov](mailto:mbudde@usgs.gov) **James Rowland**\ U.S.
 Geological Survey, Earth Resources Observation and Science Center, Sioux
 Falls, SD, USA\ Email: [rowland@usgs.gov](mailto:rowland@usgs.gov) **Jim
 Verdin**\ U.S. Agency for International Development, Washington, DC, USA\
 Email: [jverdin@usaid.gov](mailto:jverdin@usaid.gov) **Liangzhi You**\
 International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC, USA\ Email:
 [L.YOU@CGIAR.ORG](mailto:L.YOU@CGIAR.ORG) **Matthieu Ahouangbenon**\
 Department of Geography and Spatial Sciences, University of Delaware,
 Newark, DE 19716, USA\ Email: [mathdel@udel.edu](mailto:mathdel@udel.edu)
 **Kyle Frankel Davis**\ Department of Geography and Spatial Sciences,
 University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA\ Email:
 [kfdavis@udel.edu](mailto:kfdavis@udel.edu) **Endalkachew Kebede**\
 Department of Geography and Spatial Sciences, University of Delaware,
 Newark, DE 19716, USA\ Email: [endiabe@udel.edu](mailto:endiabe@udel.edu)
 **Steffen Ehrmann**\ German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research
 (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany\ Email:
 [steffen.ehrmann@idiv.de](mailto:steffen.ehrmann@idiv.de) **Christina
 Justice**\ Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland,
 College Park, MD, 20742, USA\ Email:
 [justicec@umd.edu](mailto:justicec@umd.edu) **Carsten Meyer**\ German
 Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig,
 Leipzig, Germany\ Email:
 [carsten.meyer@idiv.de](mailto:carsten.meyer@idiv.de) ## File List *
 **hvstat_africa_data_v1.0.csv**\ A CSV file containing harmonized
 subnational crop statistics. * Data structure The dataset contains the
 following columns: | Column Name | Description | |
 ------------------------ |
 ----------------------------------------------------------------- | |
 `fnid` | FEWS NET's unique geographic unit identifier | | `country` |
 Name of the country | | `country_code` | ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code |
 | `admin_1` | Name of the first-level administrative unit | | `admin_2` |
 Name of the second-level administrative unit (if applicable) | | `product`
 | Name of the crop product | | `season_name` | Name of the growing season
 | | `planting_year` | Year when planting begins | | `planting_month` |
 Month when planting begins | | `harvest_year` | Year when harvesting ends
 | | `harvest_month` | Month when harvesting ends | |
 `crop_production_system` | Type of crop production system (e.g.,
 irrigated, rainfed, etc.) | | `qc_flag` | Quality control flag (0 = no
 flag, 1 = outlier, 2 = low variance) | | `area` | Cropped area (hectares;
 ha) | | `production` | Crop quantity produced (metric tonnes; mt) | |
 `yield` | Crop yield (metric tonnes per hectare; mt/ha) | *
 **hvstat_africa_boundary_v1.0.gpkg**\ A GeoPackage file with FEWS NET’s
 administrative boundaries, aligned with crop statistics via FNID. *
 **fdw_raw_data_v1.0zip**\ A zipped file containing raw FDW data for 33
 countries, including: * adm_crop_data_raw_AO.csv (Angola) *
 adm_crop_data_raw_BF.csv (Burkina Faso) * adm_crop_data_raw_BI.csv
 (Burundi) * adm_crop_data_raw_BJ.csv (Benin) * adm_crop_data_raw_CD.csv
 (Democratic Republic of the Congo) * adm_crop_data_raw_CF.csv (Central
 African Republic) * adm_crop_data_raw_CM.csv (Cameroon) *
 adm_crop_data_raw_ET.csv (Ethiopia) * adm_crop_data_raw_GH.csv (Ghana) *
 adm_crop_data_raw_GN.csv (Guinea) * adm_crop_data_raw_KE.csv (Kenya) *
 adm_crop_data_raw_LR.csv (Liberia) * adm_crop_data_raw_LS.csv (Lesotho) *
 adm_crop_data_raw_MG.csv (Madagascar) * adm_crop_data_raw_ML.csv (Mali) *
 adm_crop_data_raw_MR.csv (Mauritania) * adm_crop_data_raw_MW.csv (Malawi)
 * adm_crop_data_raw_MZ.csv (Mozambique) * adm_crop_data_raw_NE.csv (Niger)
 * adm_crop_data_raw_NG.csv (Nigeria) * adm_crop_data_raw_RW.csv (Rwanda) *
 adm_crop_data_raw_SDSS.csv (South Sudan and Sudan) *
 adm_crop_data_raw_SL.csv (Sierra Leone) * adm_crop_data_raw_SN.csv
 (Senegal) * adm_crop_data_raw_SO.csv (Somalia) * adm_crop_data_raw_TD.csv
 (Chad) * adm_crop_data_raw_TG.csv (Togo) * adm_crop_data_raw_TZ.csv
 (Tanzania) * adm_crop_data_raw_UG.csv (Uganda) * adm_crop_data_raw_ZA.csv
 (South Africa) * adm_crop_data_raw_ZM.csv (Zambia) *
 adm_crop_data_raw_ZW.csv (Zimbabwe) ## Change Log ### Apr 09, 2025 *
 Official release of **HarvestStat Africa v1.0**, corresponding to the
 *[Scientific Data](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-05001-z)*
 publication. * Fixed the `qc_flag` issue from the previous version,
 ensuring proper functionality. * Data records remain identical to the Mar
 26, 2025 version, with **574,204 records** for **33 countries**. ### Mar
 26, 2025 * Updated crop statistics using the latest FEWS NET Data
 Warehouse. * Fixed inconsistencies in planting and harvesting dates for
 several regions. * Updated boundary shapefiles to reflect the latest
 administrative changes. * This version includes **574,204 records** for
 **33 countries**. * Released version `v1.0` of the dataset. ### Sep 04,
 2024 * Initial release of the dataset (`v1.0`), subject to updates during
 paper revisions. * Included **546,605 records** for **33 countries**. *
 Provided boundary shapefiles in GeoPackage format. ## Citation D. Lee, W.
 Anderson, X. Chen, F. Davenport, S. Shukla, R. Sahajpale, M. Budde, J.
 Rowland, J. Verdin, L. You, M. Ahouangbenoni, K. Davis, E. Kebede, S.
 Ehrmannk, C. Justice, and C. Meyer. (2025), HarvestStat Africa –
 Harmonized Subnational Crop Statistics for Sub-Saharan Africa. *Scientific
 Data*,
 [https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-05001-z](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-05001-z).