The land evaluation tool is fully based on the framework for land evaluation by the FAO (1976). According to this framework, different crop, soil, and climate information is combined in order to establish a biophysical rating on a relative scale of 0 – 100, with 100 being the best rating. By parameterizing this scale, quantitative information on, for example, expected yields can also be calculated. The tool is mainly intended to allow for ex-ante checks of agricultural innovations in order to identify suitable intervention regions.
In order to demonstrate how such an application could work, the micro-dosing technology was parameterized. Micro-dosing refers to the hill-placed fertilization of crops in small amounts (several kg per hectare). This technology was primarily developed for subsistence farmers with limited investment capacity.
A third tool addresses the micro-nutrient chain. The micro-nutrient chain is a concept that hypothesizes that micro-nutrient deficiency in human nutrition among subsistence households is related to the natural environment. The parent rocks provide, at the landscape scale, the micro-nutrient stock; soils make a portion of it available to plants and crops, which in turn nurture livestock and the human population. The tool allows identification of potential regions where specific micro-nutrient deficiencies may be expected.