Program to Monitor Impacts of Desertification and Climate Change in Africa. Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET)

摘要

FEWS NET is a program funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) that seeks to establish more effective and sustainable food security information networks in Africa that reduce the vulnerability of groups at risk. This report presents a FEWS NET program to monitor and assess impacts of desertification and climate change, two global environmental phenomena that threaten food security in Africa. Information on desertification and climate change enhances the ability of FEWS NET to assess the chronic vulnerability of farmers and herders in Africa. Such information can also help natural resource managers to better address the impacts of desertification and climate change. The monitoring program capitalizes on the fact that FEWS NET uses the same remote sensing and field methods to track short-term environmental conditions that scientists use to monitor long-term environmental phenomena. Therefore, the monitoring program constitutes a logical extension of FEWS NET capabilities. This report first reviews the state of knowledge of desertification and climate change in Africa. Then, it presents the objectives, implementation, and activities of the program. The report then proceeds with details of the main program components.