In early May 2002 a group of government ministries and other stakeholder agencies held a meeting, where it was agreed that there was a need for a Livelihoods Based National Food Security and Nutritional Surveillance System in Afghanistan (NSS). The purpose of this meeting and the establishment of the subsequent system was to coordinate food security monitoring work so that scarce resources were tailored to the Afghanistan context and to ensure that food security information system was government run.

During 2003 and 2004, piloting work on appropriate tools, evaluation and development of government structures for carrying out these activities, and a variety of food security related assessment work occurred. These efforts indicated that information needs must be able to distinguish between humanitarian crisis triggered by shocks and those resulting from chronic poverty. A three tiered approach, comprised of interdependent components, constitute the necessary instruments for providing adequate information for an effective response to chronic vulnerability and emergencies as well as to sustainable development and poverty reduction issues.  The three components include:

 1. Baseline Vulnerability and Poverty Assessments/Specific Program Planning Information:   These assessments provide information for medium - and long-term policymaking and programming.  They collect baseline information on livelihoods; risk and vulnerability; and the capacities, services and resources existing to mitigate vulnerability. The information is used to formulate poverty reduction and social safety-net programs as well as to collect specific information that helps design sector specific programs. The following assessment work was recently completed or planned for the near future in Afghanistan: Household Income and Expenditure Survey (CSO 2005); National Micro-nutrient Survey (MOH 2004); Winter Farmer Survey (MAAH 2003); National Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (MRRD 2003, CSO/MRRD 2005).

 2. Early Warning Information System: A light ongoing inter-ministerial monitoring system that includes a variety of different components (rainfall data, crop monitoring and market prices) aimed at predicting the deterioration in household food and water security. This system allows government and stakeholder agencies to identify the emergence of a problem, the speed at which it occurs and its geographic dimensions in order to decide if an in-depth emergency assessment needs to be undertaken in a specific location.

 3. Emergency Needs Assessments: A localized rapid assessment triggered by either a natural disaster or signals from the early warning information system that food and/or water security is declining in a specific location. The rapid assessment teams should be composed of trained staff from a variety of sectors and are tasked with identifying the nature and dimension of the problem and the best response given the logistical and resource considerations at hand.

Inter-ministerial Early Warning System - Draft Structure Nov 30 04 is a draft document of the structure for how the collabarationg ministries will combine data collection efforts to ensure a comprehensive government early warning information system.  

Draft structure of the Inter-Ministerial Early Warning System