Elements for Life

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OLVING COMPLEX HUMAN

environment problems has

increasingly required that organizations employ interdis-

ciplinary strategies.

Organizations that have been able

to successfully integrate data and ideas from both the social

sciences and the physical sciences are of particular interest to

remote sensing data producers seeking to demonstrate the soci-

etal benefit of their work. The US Agency for International

Development’s (USAID) Famine Early Warning System

Network (FEWS NET) uses biophysical datasets to inform the

political process of humanitarian aid and response to food secu-

rity crises in the developing world.

Interdisciplinary organizations such as FEWS NET face many

challenges, among them a large and continually changing body

of stakeholders; working with and understanding diverse

concepts; finding a common language to communicate ideas

and strategies; trusting research that many teammembers haven’t

the skills to assess, and having strong leadership to ensure

mission success and ultimately continued funding. How these

challenges are met will have a significant impact on the organi-

zation’s ability to continue to secure funding and to be successful

in achieving its mission.

As a long-standing USAID-funded project, FEWS NET

provides an example of the processes and methodologies

required for a large interdisciplinary decision support system.

FEWS NET has recently been reauthorized until 2009, and since

its inception in the mid-1980s, has used state-of-the-art social

science methodologies for food security monitoring, coupled

with advanced models, satellite measurements and geographic

information system (GIS) technology for monitoring threats to

food production and biophysical hazards. FEWS NET provides

decision support to a wide range of decision makers, from heads

of international organizations to local and national decision

makers who require specific, integrative analysis for small

geographical areas. By focusing on the food security impact of

biophysical variations, FEWS NET is able to connect images of

remote sensing to their impact on the lives and livelihoods of

local residents.

Satellite remote sensing data from NASA are used in many

aspects of FEWS NET’s work. By providing spatially complete,

accurate, and timely data, NASA contributes significantly to the

ability of the humanitarian field to provide appropriate decision

support to a wide variety of decision makers. In a complex deci-

sion-making environment, remote sensing information provides

a robust foundation upon which consensus regarding the needs

and hazards facing a particular community can be built.

Although FEWS NET has a broad range of other information

sources, remote sensing information remains a critical input to

their analysis.

USAID’s Famine Early Warning System Network

The goal of FEWS NET is “to provide decision makers with

accurate, timely and actionable information to prevent hunger-

related deaths, mitigate food insecurity, and strengthen

livelihoods in Africa, Central America and the Caribbean, and

Afghanistan through providing early warning information related

to food security threats, developing information networks, and

building capacity for information generation and dissemina-

tion”.

FEWS NET involves an intergovernmental agreement

between USAID, the National Aeronautics and Space

Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration (NOAA), the US Department of Agriculture

(USDA) and the US Geological Survey (USGS).

Although FEWS NET activities conducted in the participat-

ing organizations are important to its ability to provide data

Satellite remote sensing for early

warning of food security crises

Molly E. Brown, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Rainfall data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration’s Climate Prediction Center’s rainfall estimate

in mm during the month of December, 2006

Source: NASA