Intensive open fish farming systems final locations (Benin - ~1km)

Vector dataset representing optimal and recommended locations for cage farming systems in the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, based on top suitability scores classified into two percentile ranges: 50th–70th and above the 70th percentile. Produced under FAO’s Hand-in-Hand Initiative using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE) suitability assessments. Intensive systems are characterized by high fish densities and the use of artificial feed. Considered locations for cage systems require permanent waters with a minimum surface of 5 acres. The score is determined by processing outputs from sub-models that describe biophysical, infrastructure, and demand factors: Criteria considered: a. Market accessibility - population and asset wealth index in urban areas. b. Crop input - availability of agricultural by-products. c. Livestock input - based on the weighted animal density aggregation. The score is calculated as a simple arithmetic weighted sum of normalized or scaled grids, theoretically ranging from 0 to 100: (“Accessibility MajorUrbanAreas” X 0.50) + (“CropsInput” X 0.25) + (“LivestockInput” X 0.25) **Data creation:** 2025-12-15 **Data publication:** 2026-01-13 **Contact points:** Metadata Contact: [FAO-Data](mailto:fao-data@fao.org) Resource Contact: [Nelson Ribeiro](mailto:Nelson.RosasRibeiroFilho@fao.org) **Data lineage:** Data sources, FAO Hand-in-Hand Geospatial Platform and OpenStreetMap (open data) including the following datasets: a. Market Accessibility (urban areas) - OpenStreetMap and Atlas AI - Population Density (Africa, 2020) - Estimated total number of people per grid-cell 1km. (Urban areas = pop density>1500 habitants/km² AND area>25km²) b. Input crops - IFPRI Global Spatially-Disaggregated Crop Production Statistics Data for 2017 (MAPSPAM) - https://data.apps.fao.org/map/catalog/srv/metadata/59f7a5ef-2be4-43ee-9600-a6a9e9ff562a c. Input livestock – GLW4 (https://data.apps.fao.org/catalog/iso/15f8c56c-5499-45d5-bd89-59ef6c026704) : weighted animal density aggregate d. Global Surface Water 1984-2021 (European Commission Joint Research Centre) https://global-surface-water.appspot.com/ **Resource constraints:** This work is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC-BY 4.0) **Online resources:**

Vector dataset representing top score, optimal/recommended locations, for Nile tilapia cage farming systems in the Gabonese Republic. Produced under the scope of FAO’s Hand-in-Hand Initiative, Geographical Information Systems - Multi-criteria Evaluation suitability assessment. Intensive systems are characterized by high fish densities and the use of artificial feed. Recommended locations require the presence of permanent waters with a surface area larger than 5 acres. The score is determined by processing outputs from sub-models that describe biophysical, infrastructure, and demand factors: Criteria considered: a. Market accessibility - population and asset wealth index in urban areas. b. Crop input - availability of agricultural by-products. c. Livestock input - based on the weighted animal density aggregation. The score is calculated as a simple arithmetic weighted sum of normalized or scaled grids, theoretically ranging from 0 to 100: (“Accessibility MajorUrbanAreas” X 0.50) + (“CropsInput” X 0.25) + (“LivestockInput” X 0.25) **Data creation:** 2025-04-15 **Data publication:** 2025-06-13 **Contact points:** Metadata Contact: [FAO-Data](mailto:fao-data@fao.org) Resource Contact: [Nelson Ribeiro](mailto:Nelson.RosasRibeiroFilho@fao.org) **Data lineage:** lineage statement Data sources, FAO Hand-in-Hand Geospatial Platform and OpenStreetMap (open data) including the following datasets a. Market Accessibility (urban areas) - OpenStreetMap and Atlas AI - Population Density (Africa, 2020) - Estimated total number of people per grid-cell 1km. (Urban areas = pop density>1500 habitants/km² AND area>25km² b. Input crops - IFPRI Global Spatially-Disaggregated Crop Production Statistics Data for 2017 (MAPSPAM c. Input livestock – GLW4 : weighted animal density aggregate d. Global Surface Water 1984-2021 (European Commission Joint Research Centre **Resource constraints:** This work is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC-BY 4.0) **Online resources:**

Vector dataset representing top score, optimal/recommended locations, for Nile tilapia cage farming systems in the Republic of Zambia. Produced under the scope of FAO’s Hand-in-Hand Initiative, Geographical Information Systems - Multi-criteria Evaluation suitability assessment. Intensive systems are characterized by high fish densities and the use of artificial feed. Recommended locations require the presence of permanent waters with a surface area larger than 5 acres. The score is determined by processing outputs from sub-models that describe biophysical, infrastructure, and demand factors: Criteria considered: a. Market accessibility, considering the weighted population and AWI in urban areas. b. Crop input the availability of agricultural by-products. c. Livestock input - based on the weighted animal density aggregation. d. Accessibility to ports - high-quality tilapia feed is often imported in large quantities. e. Potential yield of tilapia. The score is calculated as a simple arithmetic weighted sum of normalized or scaled grids, theoretically ranging from 0 to 100: (“Accessibility MajorUrbanAreas” X 0.40) + (“CropsInput” X 0.15) + (“LivestockInput” X 0.15) + (Tilapia Yield x 0.25) **Data publication:** 2024-08-06 **Contact points:** Metadata Contact: [FAO-Data](mailto:fao-data@fao.org) Resource Contact: [Nelson Ribeiro](mailto:Nelson.RosasRibeiroFilho@fao.org) **Data lineage:** Data sources, FAO Hand-in-Hand Geospatial Platform and OpenStreetMap (open data) including the following datasets: a. Market Accessibility (urban areas) - OpenStreetMap and Atlas AI - Population Density (Africa, 2020) - Estimated total number of people per grid-cell 1km. (Urban areas = pop density>1500 habitants/km² AND area>25km²) b. Water Balance: WaPOR (https://wapor.apps.fao.org/catalog/2) precipitation and evapotranspiration monthly time-series from 2009 to 2020 for calculating a mean water balance layer modelling values: (Precipitation X 1.1) - (evapotranspiration X 1.3) c. Input crops - IFPRI Global Spatially-Disaggregated Crop Production Statistics Data for 2017 (MAPSPAM) - https://data.apps.fao.org/map/catalog/srv/metadata/59f7a5ef-2be4-43ee-9600-a6a9e9ff562a d. Input livestock – GLW4 (https://data.apps.fao.org/catalog/iso/15f8c56c-5499-45d5-bd89-59ef6c026704) : weighted animal density aggregate **Resource constraints:** This work is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC-BY 4.0) **Online resources:**

Vector dataset showcasing optimal locations for Nile tilapia cage farming systems in the Republic of the Congo. Developed under FAO’s Hand-in-Hand Initiative, geographic information systems multi-criteria evaluation suitability assessments. Intensive systems are characterized by high fish densities and the use of artificial feed. Recommended locations require the presence of permanent waters with a surface area larger than 5 acres. The score is determined by processing outputs from sub-models that describe biophysical, infrastructure, and demand factors: Criteria considered: a. Market accessibility, considering the weighted population and AWI in urban areas. b. Crop input the availability of agricultural by-products. c. Livestock input - based on the weighted animal density aggregation. The score is calculated as a simple arithmetic weighted sum of normalized or scaled grids, theoretically ranging from 0 to 100: (“Accessibility MajorUrbanAreas” X 0.50) + (“CropsInput” X 0.25) + (“LivestockInput” X 0.25) **Data publication:** 2025-03-07 **Contact points:** Metadata Contact: [FAO-Data](mailto:fao-data@fao.org) Resource Contact: [Nelson Ribeiro](mailto:Nelson.RosasRibeiroFilho@fao.org) **Data lineage:** lineage statement Data sources, FAO Hand-in-Hand Geospatial Platform and OpenStreetMap (open data) including the following datasets a. Market Accessibility (urban areas) - OpenStreetMap and Atlas AI - Population Density and Asset wealth Index (Africa, 2020) - Estimated total number of people per grid-cell 1km. (Urban areas = pop density>1500 habitants/km² AND area>25km² b. Input crops - IFPRI Global Spatially-Disaggregated Crop Production Statistics Data for 2017 (MAPSPAM c. Input livestock – GLW4 : weighted animal density aggregate **Resource constraints:** This work is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC-BY 4.0) **Online resources:**

Vector dataset representing top score, optimal/recommended locations, for Nile tilapia cage farming systems in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Produced under the scope of FAO’s Hand-in-Hand Initiative, Geographical Information Systems - Multi-criteria Evaluation suitability assessment. Intensive systems are characterized by high fish densities and the use of artificial feed. Recommended locations require the presence of permanent waters with a surface area larger than 5 acres. The score is determined by processing outputs from sub-models that describe biophysical, infrastructure, and demand factors: Criteria considered: a. Market accessibility, considering the weighted population and AWI in urban areas. b. Crop input the availability of agricultural by-products. c. Livestock input - based on the weighted animal density aggregation. d. Accessibility to ports - high-quality tilapia feed is often imported in large quantities. e. Potential yield of tilapia. The score is calculated as a simple arithmetic weighted sum of normalized or scaled grids, theoretically ranging from 0 to 100: (“Accessibility MajorUrbanAreas” X 0.40) + (“CropsInput” X 0.15) + (“LivestockInput” X 0.15) + (Accessibility to ports x 0.15) + (Tilapia Yield x 0.15) **Data creation:** 2023-11-27 **Contact points:** Metadata Contact: [FAO-Data](mailto:fao-data@fao.org) Resource Contact: [Nelson Ribeiro](mailto:Nelson.RosasRibeiroFilho@fao.org) **Data lineage:** Data sources, FAO Hand-in-Hand Geospatial Platform and OpenStreetMap (open data) including the following datasets: a. Market Accessibility (urban areas) - OpenStreetMap and Atlas AI - Population Density (Africa, 2020) - Estimated total number of people per grid-cell 1km. (Urban areas = pop density>1500 habitants/km² AND area>25km²) b. Water Balance: WaPOR (https://wapor.apps.fao.org/catalog/2) precipitation and evapotranspiration monthly time-series from 2009 to 2020 for calculating a mean water balance layer modelling values: (Precipitation X 1.1) - (evapotranspiration X 1.3) c. Input crops - IFPRI Global Spatially-Disaggregated Crop Production Statistics Data for 2017 (MAPSPAM) - https://data.apps.fao.org/map/catalog/srv/metadata/59f7a5ef-2be4-43ee-9600-a6a9e9ff562a d. Input livestock – GLW4 (https://data.apps.fao.org/catalog/iso/15f8c56c-5499-45d5-bd89-59ef6c026704) : weighted animal density aggregate **Resource constraints:** This work is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC-BY 4.0) **Online resources:**

Raster representing final recommended locations for intensive, closed, and semi-closed catfish farming systems using ponds, tanks, RAS, flow through and recirculation in Nigeria. The dataset is produced under the scope of FAO’s Hand-in-Hand Initiative, Geographical Information Systems - Multicriteria Decision Analysis for value chain infrastructure location. Intensive aquaculture is characterized by high densities and artificial feed input. Closed or semi-closed techniques are less dependent on natural or physical geographical criteria. Require less water since it reuses/recirculates, can be placed indoors or in compounds, and are produced with artificial materials. The score is achieved by processing sub-model outputs characterizing natural geography, infrastructure, and demand factors: Considered criteria. a. Market accessibility - major urban areas. b. Water Balance - precipitation/evapotranspiration. c. Inputs - Crop and livestock d. Slope - terrain suitability. e. Farm-gate sales - based on population density classification. The location score consists of a simple arithmetic weighted sum of normalized/scaled grids, theoretically varying from 0 to 100: (“Accessibility MajorUrbanAreas” X 0.5) + ("WaterBalance" X 0.2) + (“CropsInput” X 0.1) + (“LivestockInput” X 0.10) + ("Slope " X 0.05) + (”FarmgateSales” X 0.05) Final location mapping applies constraints and exclusive criteria, are selected considering the top 95th percentile, and the resulting raster is classified in 3 equal intervals. Applied constraints and exclusive criteria are: a. Urban areas b. Protected areas c. Dams and Large Water Bodies. a. Mobile broadband coverage b. Maximum distance to major roads (~2km: 0.018 degree) **Data publication:** 2021-11-11 **Contact points:** Metadata Contact: [FAO-Data](mailto:fao-data@fao.org) Resource Contact: [Nelson Ribeiro](mailto:Nelson.RosasRibeiroFilho@fao.org) Distributor: [Nelson Ribeiro](mailto:nelson.rosasribeirofilho@fao.org) **Data lineage:** lineage statement Data sources, FAO Hand-in-Hand Geospatial Platform and OpenStreetMap (open data) including the following datasets a. Market Accessibility (urban areas) - OpenStreetMap and Human Population Density 2020 WorldPop2020 (Urban areas = pop density>1600 habitants/km² AND area>50km² b. Farm-gate sales Human Population Density 2020 – WorldPop2020 Class 4 - Very suitable: 150-300 h/km² Class 3 – Moderately suitable: 25-149 [h/km² Class 2 – Marginally suitable: 1-24 [h/km² Class 1 – Unsuitable: 300 [h/km² c. Water Balance: WaPOR precipitation and evapotranspiration monthly time-series from 2009 to 2020 for calculating a mean water balance layer modelling values: (Precipitation *1.1) - (evapotranspiration*1.3 d. Slope - terrain suitability - Watershed DEM 30s, classification. Class 4 - Very suitable: 8 e. Input crops GAEZ (CropAggGAEZ). f. Input livestock – GLW: weighted animal density aggregate g. Urban areas = pop density>1600 habitants/km² AND area>50km² - Human Population Density 2020 – WorldPop2020 h. Protected areas - UNEP-WCMC and IUCN (2021), Protected Planet. i. Mobile broadband connectivity – Mobile Broadband Coverage 2021 - Collins Bartholomew Mobile Coverage Explorer derived. **Resource constraints:** This work is made available under the [Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC-BY 4.0) **Online resources:** Download raster (TIF) for intensive closed/semi-closed catfish farming systems in Nigeria.