Global Information and Early Warning System on Food and Agriculture (GIEWS)

GIEWS continuously monitors food supply and demand and other key indicators for assessing the overall food security situation in all countries of the world. It issues regular analytical and objective reports on prevailing conditions and provides early warnings of impending food crises at country or regional level. At the request of national authorities, GIEWS supports countries in gathering evidence for policy decisions, or planning by development partners, through its Crop and Food Security Assessment Missions (CFSAMs), fielded jointly with WFP. In country-level application of tools for earth observation and price monitoring, GIEWS also strengthens national capacities in managing food security related information.

GIEWS occasionally releases short reports to describe alarming food security situations developing in countries or sub-regions. In 2017, FAO/GIEWS has released two special alerts on the droughts in East Africa and in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, highlighting how the prevailing severe dry weather conditions have affected rangelands and crops causing a serious deterioration of food security conditions.