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Climate-Smart Commodities Network Map from Meridian

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What is the Climate-Smart Commodities Network Map?

The Climate-Smart Commodities Network Map is an interactive map and visual representation of the connections between the projects that have received funding from the USDA as part of the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program. The map was created by Meridian Institute.

The purpose of the map is to serve as an informational resource to help people explore trends and interconnections between projects based on the best data publicly available. The map highlights how funding was distributed across commodities, target practices, and institutions. Our hope is that it will help grantees connect and collaborate with projects similar in scope. The map also visualizes the ecosystem of projects and can be used to inform future funding and policymaking decisions.

About Meridian Institute

Meridian Institute is a nonprofit consultancy that builds understanding, guides collaboration, and drives action around challenging environmental issues. We bring people together to find common ground. Then we turn ideas into action by establishing partnerships, building coalitions, and providing foundational support for long-term collaboration.

Meridian Institute

Explore the Map

Once you’re ready to get started, click the button below. If it's your first time visiting the map you will be asked to complete a brief form before accessing the map. The map is hosted on Kumu, a network visualization tool that allows you to easily sort, filter, and interact with the data. Please note that the map is best viewed on a desktop computer.

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What Does the Map Show?

The Climate-Smart Commodities Network Map shows publicly available data on both tentative and finalized agriculture projects receiving funding from the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities. Data from the map is organized into three views, which answer the following questions:

  • How are projects distributed across commodities?
  • Which organizations are driving these projects?
  • What target practices are projects focusing on?

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How to Use the Map

Frequently Asked Questions

We have included answers to some common questions below. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions about the map, or about how we might support your organization’s strategic goals with network mapping and systems thinking.  

Once you’re ready to get started, click the button below. If it’s your first time visiting the map you will be asked to complete a brief form before accessing the map. The map is hosted on Kumu, a network visualization tool that allows you to easily sort, filter, and interact with the data. If you have never used Kumu before, we recommend watching the training videos provided on the Instructional Videos page here in our site. Please note that the map is best viewed on a desktop computer.

Explore the Map

We have created a series of five brief instructional videos that will help you get started using the map.

Watch All Five Instructional Videos

The Climate-Smart Commodities Network Map shows publicly available data on both tentative and finalized agriculture projects receiving funding from the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities. Data from the map is organized into three views that show:

  • How projects are distributed across commodities. This view shows each commodity group with the various projects focusing on each commodity clustered around it.
  • The organizations driving these projects and how they’re engaged across projects. This view shows each project with the various institutions working on each topic clustered around it.
  • The target practices the projects are focusing on. This view shows Target Practices with the various projects focusing on each practice around it.

In addition to these three main views, users can search and explore the following data about the projects:

  • State and regional distribution of projects;
  • Commodities targeted by the projects;
  • Conservation practices targeted by the projects;
  • Level of investment by funding bracket, funding ceiling, and total federal and non-federal investment amounts;
  • Descriptive data on the way projects are approaching marketing and monitoring, reporting, and verifying greenhouse gas emissions.

The map is a part of the Meridian Institute’s efforts to help USDA grantees, policymakers, and others better understand the interconnected story of USDA’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities Program. Below is a summary of how it can be used by different audiences:

  1. Climate-Smart Commodity Program Grantees benefit from discovering projects with similar objectives or focus areas they can connect with, learn from, and collaborate with.
  2. Agricultural Producers benefit from learning which climate-smart projects are relevant to their areas of interest and connecting to projects they might sign up with.
  3. Policymakers benefit from exploring where and how USDA project funding is being directed and the potential impacts of the program overall.
  4. Philanthropies benefit from discovering which organizations are advancing projects aligned with their interests and how they might make complimentary investments to ensure the success of the program.
  5. Companies benefit from learning where they can anticipate an increase in demand for inputs and associated services that will be generated through the projects.

Climate-Smart Commodities program data presented here was last updated on August 11, 2023. The map represents USDA’s best available project information as of August 11, 2023, and that project details will change as projects are finalized and implemented.

Meridian created this map to support the public and private sector in better understanding the ecosystem of Climate-Smart Commodities projects and inform the deployment of complimentary investments to support the successful implementation of the program. We hope this approach will also help foster opportunities for collaboration and innovation among those involved in the program. 

Learn More About Meridian

Meridian gathered data released by USDA’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities Project Summaries and Dashboard of Finalized Projects, coding results into the Kumu systems mapping platform to allow for complex and widely accessible visualizations of connectivity between the projects—otherwise known as the Climate-Smart Commodities Network Map. For more information on how the map was developed and our system mapping analysis methods, contact us today.

Contact Us

At Meridian, we recognize that effectively addressing the complex challenges of our world requires an approach rooted in systems thinking and action. We have developed systems maps to support collaborations with partners such as the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and others. Contact us today to learn more about how we might support your organization’s strategic goals with network mapping and systems thinking.

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