By 2050, global agricultural productivity will need to increase with at least 70%. In order to guarantee food production for future generations, agricultural production will need to be based on sustainable land management practises. At present, earth observation based (global) crop monitoring systems focus mostly on short-term agricultural forecasts, thereby neglecting longer term environmental effects. However, it is well known that unsustainable cultivation practises may lead to a degradation of the (broader) environment resulting in lower agricultural productivity. As such, agricultural monitoring systems need to be complemented with methods to also assess environmental impacts of change in crop land and shifting cultivation practises. It is thereby important that this is addressed at the global level. SIGMA presents a global partnership of expert institutes in agricultural monitoring, with a strong involvement in GEO and the Global Agricultural Geo-Monitoring (GEO-GLAM) initiative. SIGMA aims to develop innovative methods, based upon the integration of in-situ and earth observation data, to enable the prediction of the impact of crop production on ecosystems and natural resources. The proposed project will address methods to: i. enable sharing and integration of satellite and in situ observations according to GEOSS Data CORE principles; ii. assess the impact of cropland areas and crop land change on other ecosystems; iii. understand and assess shifts in cultivation practises and cropping systems to evaluate impacts on biodiversity and the environment. Furthermore, dedicated capacity building activities are planned to increase national and international capacity to enable sustainable management of agriculture. Lastly, a strong coordinating mechanism will be put in place, through the project partners, between SIGMA and the G20 Global Agricultural Geo-Monitoring Initiative (GEOGLAM), in order to assure transparency and alignment of the SIGMA activities.