Advancing Global Food Security Through Early Warning and Local Insight
The Challenge
Food insecurity is driven by a complex mix of climate shocks, conflict, market disruptions, and migration pressures. Delivering accurate, actionable data in volatile environments is critical when timely decisions can save lives and stabilize regions. In East Africa, climate disruptions threaten agricultural production and supply chains. In the Sahel, market instability exacerbates food insecurity and aid dependence. In Central America, droughts and crop failures contribute to migration surges toward the U.S. border. In conflict zones like Yemen, war and siege halt farming and damage crops. The need for unbiased, transparent data is critical to counterbalance geopolitical influences and ensure equitable aid distribution.Our Solution
Innovative Data Collection and Analysis of Market Data
Through implementation of the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET), Chemonics leverages scientific expertise, strategic partnerships, and local capacity building to deliver early warning analyses and maintain robust knowledge systems. As the leading provider of data on acute food insecurity worldwide, these efforts empower governments, donors, and humanitarian actors to respond proactively to emerging crises. Our platform:
- Uses scenario development to forecast food insecurity by analyzing current conditions, projecting future changes, and evaluating their potential impacts on food and income sources within local contexts.
- Deploys a convergence of indicators approach to analyze and classify food insecurity, integrating information from a variety of sources and indicators to build a comprehensive picture of food security outcomes and their drivers.
- Produces integrated food insecurity analysis reports projecting needs 8–12 months in advance.
- Builds and updates livelihood and market system baselines in 30 countries.
- Trains local experts and expands tools for humanitarian and development assessments.
- Collaborates with NGOs, universities, and national governments to strengthen local monitoring systems.
The Impact:
Decades of Progress in Crisis Prevention, Economic Opportunity, and National Security
By issuing warnings of famine to mobilize food aid, we are able to save lives and ensure the limited resources of the international community are used most effectively. This includes:
- Crisis Prevention and Response: Our early warning system enables faster humanitarian response, reducing mortality and long-term aid dependence. Scenario development helps ensure that shocks like drought or conflict are evaluated within local contexts and existing assistance efforts, leading to more accurate and actionable guidance.
- Improving Transparency in Food Security Data: We ensure partner countries receive unbiased food security data, serving as a neutral source of information and reducing reliance on sources with inherent conflict of interests. Providing this unbiased data to the U.S. Government and other decision-makers supports the transparent allocation of billions of dollars of food assistance each year.
- Market Intelligence: During Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, FEWS NET’s real-time grain market monitoring helped policymakers anticipate supply shifts and adjust trade policies. In West Africa, grain production forecasts helped U.S. exporters identify high-demand markets for wheat and corn.
- Migration Mitigation: Around the globe, Chemonics’ work preventing famine and improving food security protects livelihoods and improves socio-economic stability, reducing the drivers of migration. In Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, FEWS NET data helped predict and mitigate migration surges, easing pressure on U.S. border security.
With more areas than ever facing food insecurity and potential famine, having a proven, internationally-accepted method of analyzing food security and predicting famine helps deploy resources where they need to be, in time to save lives.