The Global Information and Early warning System (GIEWS) publishes each year regular reports on weather and crop conditions in the Sahelian countries of western Africa. Geographical coverage of these reports include the nine CILSS (Permanent Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel) member states: Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Chad, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal, as well as, in some reports, the coastal countries along the Gulf of Guinea. Reports are issued each month from June to November. The final report for 1997 with the first production estimates is issued in late-November.
These reports are prepared with data from, and in close collaboration with, out-posted FAO Representatives, the Agro-Meteorology Group and the Environment Monitoring Group (SDRN), the Emergency Centre for Locust Operations (ECLO), the Special Relief Operations Service (TCOR), the World Food Programme (WFP), as well as various Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s). In this report, FAO/ARTEMIS rainfall estimates, field data on rainfall, FAO agro-meteorological crop monitoring field reports and information provided by FAO Representatives have been utilized. The satellite images up to the date of issuance of the report have also been utilized for final updating.