The Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS)

The Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS) was launched by the United States Department of State, the African Union, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to address global food system challenges. A key component of their approach involves collaboration between the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP) to model future productivity of 24 traditional/indigenous African crops to changing climate. The VACS explorer website is a practical and visual outworking of this effort. 

On the home page click “Explore the Findings” button to view a display of crops with high potential to succeed in a changing climate. You can filter the display by crop category (e.g., legumes, cereals, or roots and tubers) and then rank them by a nutrition component such as protein, calcium, or iron. Click on an individual crop to see a map with color coded projections of yield increases or decreases in the year 2050 compared to 2010.