Famine Early Warning System
This pair of images reveals the impact of the 2005 drought on vegetation in East Africa using vegetation data from the SPOT satellite. Learn more at NASA's Earth Observatory.
DB: Scientists are now using satellite data in an effort to avert famine and starvation in parts of the worlds including Africa, Central America, Haiti, and Afghanistan.
JB: Mike Budde and his colleagues are with the Famine Early Warning System Network FEWS NET for short. Their data from many different satellites relate to rainfall, for example, or snowmelt, soil moisture, air temperature, or the greenness throughout the growing season.
Mike Budde: We take bits of information and put them together to try to tell a story, or identify areas that may be an impending drought or flooding potential
JB: When necessary, FEWS NET issues warnings to governments and international aid organizations in the affected region. These FEWS NET reports can help decision-makers figure out where people are most at risk and decide in which areas to concentrate food aid.
Mike Budde: At that point, it’s up to decision-makers to take that information and make beneficial decisions on behalf of their country.
JB: At this time in Earth’s history, more than a billion people on Earth don’t know where their next meal is coming from. That’s one-sixth of Earth’s population in danger of dying from poverty and starvation, every day. That’s our show. Our thanks today to NASA – explore, discover, understand.
DB: We’re on the web at earthsky.org. We’re Block and Byrd for Earth & Sky.
The Famine Early Warning System Network – FEWS NET for short – set up 20 years ago by the U.S. Agency for International Development.
FEWS NET (USGS).
Aiding Afghanistan, NASA Earth Observatory.
Our thanks to:
Michael E. Budde
Environmental Scientist
SAIC Technical Support Services at USGS/EROS
Sioux Falls, SD
Additional Teacher Resources
U.S. Geological Survey: FEWS NET Afghanistan
The Goal of the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) is to strengthen the abilities of foreign countries and regional organizations to manage risk of food insecurity through the provision of timely and analytical early warning and vulnerability information.
Climate Hazards Group, University of California, Santa Barbra: FEWS NET History
The Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) is an activity of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) that provides timely food security information for 17 countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. Analyses identify vulnerable populations and hazards that threaten their livelihoods, leading to early warning of potential food security emergencies. The activity dates back to the mid-1980s and makes extensive use of geographical methods to characterize populations, food economies, and hydroclimatology.
