ERAg

The ERAg R-package contains the ERA dataset ERAg::ERA.Compiled, bibliography ERAg::ERA_Bibliography, search strings ERAg::ERA_Search_Terms, meta-data ERAg::ERACompiledFields and codes ERAg::PracticeCodes ERAg::OutcomeCodes ERAg::EUCodes, plus data processing and analysis functions. Please use browseVignettes("ERAg") for vignettes that will guide you through the contents of this package. ERAg is complimented by the ERAgON package which links ERA observations to climate, soils and topographical information.

Publication Rosenstock, T.S., Steward, P., Joshi, N. et al. Effects of changing farming practices in African agriculture. Sci Data 11, 958 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03805-z

Information on the effects of changing agricultural management on crop and livestock performance is critical for developing evidence-based policies, investments, and programs. Evidence for Resilient Agriculture (ERA) presents a dataset that harmonizes and aggregates >100k observations from >2k agricultural studies taken place in Africa. The dataset includes information on the effect of 364 combinations of management practices and technologies on 87 environmental, social, and economic indicators of outcomes. Observations are geolocated and temporally tagged and thus can be linked to other datasets such as historical weather, soil properties, and road networks. ERA offers a new resource for understanding the impacts of changing farming practices under diverse environmental contexts, providing data to support strategic interventions aimed to enhance productivity, resilience, and sustainability of African agriculture.

Acknowledgements
ERA v1 is being released based on support from the CGIAR Excellence in Agronomy Initiative and complimentary support from the Livestock and Climate Initiative for the livestock data. Earlier efforts toward ERA’s development received financial support from the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security (CCAFS) Flagship Program on Practices and Technologies. Supplemental funding was provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), European Union (EU), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), United States Department of Agriculture-Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA-FAS), CCAFS Flagship Program on Low Emissions Development, and the International Centre for Forestry Research (CIFOR)’s Evidence-Based Forestry.