A Review: Potential of Earth Observation (EO) for Mapping Small-Scale Agriculture and Cropping Systems in West Africa

Abstract

West Africa faces a complex range of challenges arising from climatic, social, economic and ecological factors, which poses significant risks. The rapidly growing population, coupled with persistently low agricultural yield, is worsening the situation. A state-of-the-art monitoring and data derivation of agricultural systems are crucial for improving livelihoods and enhancing food security. Despite smallholder farming systems accounting for 80% of cultivated cropland area and providing about 42% of the total employment in West Africa, there exists a lack of a comprehensive overview of Remote Sensing (RS) products and studies specifically tailored to smallholder farming systems. Through a systematic literature review comprising 163 SCI papers sourced from the Web of Science database, we analyze the RS sensors, spatiotemporal distribution, temporal scales, the crop types examined, and thematic foci employed in existing research. Our findings highlight the predominance of high to very high-resolution multispectral sensors as the primary data source and we observe that a wide array of available sensors and datasets, along with increasing computing capacities, have shaped the field over the last years. By synthesizing existing knowledge, this study identifies the potential of RS and pinpoints the key research gaps. This sets the stage for future investigations aimed at addressing critical challenges in West African smallholder agricultural systems.