FAO Launches the Risk Monitor: a new early warning system to tackle food security risks
11/08/2025
On the sidelines of the 44th Session of the FAO Conference, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) officially launched the first Food Security Risk Intelligence and Early Warning Room, a groundbreaking initiative providing real-time monitoring and analysis of risks affecting food crises.
Designed to empower anticipatory action, rapid-response financing, and potentially, insurance payouts, to mitigate the impact of acute food insecurity, the FAO Risk Monitor platform combines live data, expert analysis, and automated alerts to help decision-makers detect risks early and respond before they escalate. Accessible on the web and mobile devices, this launch was complemented with a dedicated physical facility based at FAO headquarters in Rome, inaugurated as the Liberia Situation Room. Together, the digital and physical components form a fully integrated system that connects data, people, and actions enabling dynamic monitoring of food security risks.
Powered by FAO’s award-winning Agro-informatics Platform, the FAO Risk Monitor serves as a central hub to coordinate early detection, warning, and response to emerging threats, bridging the gap between anticipatory action and emergency response systems. The tool tracks a wide range of risks that are known to drive food insecurity - from natural hazards like droughts, floods, tropical cyclones, and heatwaves, to human-made threats such as conflict and political instability. For each type of hazard, the platform offers – when available - a three-part view: it provides a profile of the risk, showing how likely and how severe a threat might be; it monitors a real-time evolution of the hazard; and it offers forecasts to predict future developments. '' But the Risk Monitor is not just about watching risks unfold'' explains Karl Morteo, Senior Information Technology Officer at the Digital FAO and Agro-informatics Division (CSI). '' It is designed to help act on them. Through pre-defined triggers and thresholds, it enables faster financial disbursements and rapid mobilization of resources delivering support where and when it is needed most” he added.
The data powering the Risk Monitor comes from a wide range of trusted sources, including FAO, other international organizations such as the World Bank, academic institutions like the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) and Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), and private-sector partners such as Raincoat. A robust data engineering pipeline ensures the accuracy, timeliness, and completeness of the information, providing a solid foundation for early warning and response.
The FAO Risk Monitor represents a major step forward in proactive crisis management. It is designed as a global public good, offering open and transparent data-sharing for FAO Members and partners across the humanitarian and development communities. By integrating with public systems and connecting local responders with the wider international community, the tool is built to create a shared foundation for anticipatory action and better crisis management. With overlapping shocks becoming more frequent and complex, this kind of early warning system is essential to reduce the human cost of food insecurity.
With the launch of the FAO Food Security Risk Intelligence and Early Warning Room, FAO is setting a new standard for how the world tracks and responds to threats by putting timely data and meaningful action at the center of food security.
Designed to empower anticipatory action, rapid-response financing, and potentially, insurance payouts, to mitigate the impact of acute food insecurity, the FAO Risk Monitor platform combines live data, expert analysis, and automated alerts to help decision-makers detect risks early and respond before they escalate. Accessible on the web and mobile devices, this launch was complemented with a dedicated physical facility based at FAO headquarters in Rome, inaugurated as the Liberia Situation Room. Together, the digital and physical components form a fully integrated system that connects data, people, and actions enabling dynamic monitoring of food security risks.
Powered by FAO’s award-winning Agro-informatics Platform, the FAO Risk Monitor serves as a central hub to coordinate early detection, warning, and response to emerging threats, bridging the gap between anticipatory action and emergency response systems. The tool tracks a wide range of risks that are known to drive food insecurity - from natural hazards like droughts, floods, tropical cyclones, and heatwaves, to human-made threats such as conflict and political instability. For each type of hazard, the platform offers – when available - a three-part view: it provides a profile of the risk, showing how likely and how severe a threat might be; it monitors a real-time evolution of the hazard; and it offers forecasts to predict future developments. '' But the Risk Monitor is not just about watching risks unfold'' explains Karl Morteo, Senior Information Technology Officer at the Digital FAO and Agro-informatics Division (CSI). '' It is designed to help act on them. Through pre-defined triggers and thresholds, it enables faster financial disbursements and rapid mobilization of resources delivering support where and when it is needed most” he added.
The data powering the Risk Monitor comes from a wide range of trusted sources, including FAO, other international organizations such as the World Bank, academic institutions like the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) and Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), and private-sector partners such as Raincoat. A robust data engineering pipeline ensures the accuracy, timeliness, and completeness of the information, providing a solid foundation for early warning and response.
The FAO Risk Monitor represents a major step forward in proactive crisis management. It is designed as a global public good, offering open and transparent data-sharing for FAO Members and partners across the humanitarian and development communities. By integrating with public systems and connecting local responders with the wider international community, the tool is built to create a shared foundation for anticipatory action and better crisis management. With overlapping shocks becoming more frequent and complex, this kind of early warning system is essential to reduce the human cost of food insecurity.
With the launch of the FAO Food Security Risk Intelligence and Early Warning Room, FAO is setting a new standard for how the world tracks and responds to threats by putting timely data and meaningful action at the center of food security.