Data in Emergencies Information System: A new tool in the emergency response toolbox to support agriculture in food crisis contexts
Washington, DC - With food crises becoming increasingly complex, a critical factor in addressing these crises effectively and efficiently is access to reliable data. To advance the deployment of its groundbreaking Data in Emergencies Information System (DIEM), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’(FAO) development team was in Washington, DC on July 14 for a full day of working sessions with partners from the USAID Bureau of Humanitarian Affairs (BHA) as well as academic partners from Cornell and Tulane Universities, and research partner IFPRI.In addition to technical discussions, the DIEM team, which was comprised of Neil Marsland, Josselin Gaury, Andrea Amparore and Paige McGreevy, introduced this innovative tool to a broader group of USAID partners.
Rein Paulsen, Director of the FAO Office of Emergencies and Resilience (OER) highlighted that, “USAID BHA and FAO have an impactful relationship, especially in the area of evidence for decision making in emergencies. FAO’s DIEM is an innovative tool providing the granular and timely data that we need. The time spent in D.C. will solidify DIEM’s contribution to the critical role of data and analysis when scaling up agriculture in emergencies.”
Launched in June 2020 by the FAO Office of Emergencies and Resilience (OER) during the first wave of the COVID-19 global pandemic, the DIEM Information System enables decision-makers to understand the impact of shocks on agricultural livelihoods in food crisis contexts. Unlike existing tools that measure hunger using statistical tools to estimate or forecast the numbers of people who are undernourished, food insecure or suffering from acute food insecurity, DIEM provides timely and specific data to assess acute food insecurity of agricultural households and to analyze the key drivers when shocks occur. USAID BHA is a main resource partner for the DIEM project.
“The Data in Emergencies platform is a great example of how FAO and USAID are working together in emergency situations. With this innovative technology, we are positioned to meet the need for timely, reliable data on how shocks are affecting the livelihoods and food security of agricultural communities,” observed Jocelyn Brown Hall, Director of the FAO Liaison Office for North America.
Driven by regularly collected primary data, combined with geospatial data, the DIEM Information System is a breakthrough development in terms of its size, sophistication, quality and speed. With DIEM, data focused on agricultural livelihoods in food crisis contexts is now being collected regularly across a broad population and geographic base.Through the DIEM initiative, regular household surveys are conducted in more than 25 of the world’s most food insecure countries.
DIEM is complementary to long-standing and trusted information and data sources, such as the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) system. First, DIEM collects ongoing information on agriculture livelihoods to measure how rural households are dealing with shocks from conflict, COVID or climate change. Since nearly 80 percent of the world’s food insecure are farmers, it is critical for development and humanitarian programs to know the effects of crises on rural incomes. Second, the data is refreshed routinely and can provide key insights within 72 hours of a shock. Finally, given the breadth of the sample size, the data can provide insights of medium- and longer-term effects of food insecurity and shocks to rural areas that cannot be found elsewhere.
“FAO continues to focus on the importance of supporting agriculture and agricultural livelihoods before, during and after emergencies. The Data in Emergencies Information System provides the evidence needed to make the right decisions at the right time for both FAO and its many partners across the globe,” emphasized Neil Marsland, FAO OER Senior Technical Officer and DIEM team leader.
Just prior to arriving in Washington, DC the FAO DIEM team was in San Diego, California to receive the Global Humanitarian Sector Prize for its innovative use of mapping and analytics technology at Esri’s Annual User Conference.