Famine Early Warning Systems Network

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Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET ) is a lead organization in the prediction and response to famines and other forms of food security issues in sub-Saharan Africa. Funded by the United States Agency for International Development since its creation in 1986, it analyzes issues such as livestock levels, precipitation and crop failures to predict when and where occurrences of food insecurity will occur, and issues alerts on predicted crises.

[edit] History and work

The 1984 - 1985 famine in Ethiopia in which over a million people died was widely reported around the world. In response, the United States created the Famine Early Warning System (FEWS) to anticipate possible impending famines and advise policymakers on how such famines might be prevented and their effects mitigated. In the beginning of July 2000, the name was changed to the Famine Early Warning System Network. The name change occurred due to a new objective of creating and strengthening local famine warning and response planning systems within Africa with which the U.S. could work.

FEWS NET develops its predictions by combinining analysis of satellite photos for vegetative cover and rainfall with on-the-ground monitoring of local conditions. The satellite photo analysis is carried out in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center and the United States Geological Survey and allows a general monitoring of regions where it is difficult to make ground observations. FEWS NET categorizes the severity of food insecurity levels according to the commonly used famine scales. While created to monitor slightly fewer than twenty sub-Saharan African countries, FEWS NET has also carried out monitoring in other regions and countries, such as Central America, Caribbean Sea and Afghanistan. For political reasons the Central American countries early warning system is titled, the Mesoamerican Food Security Early Warning System, also called MFEWS.