Liliana Balbi
Senior Economist, Team Leader GIEWS
FAO Trade and Markets Division
Agricultural Market Information Network in the Mediterranean Region
Kick off meeting, 22-23 January 2014
CIHEAM, Paris
What is GIEWS?
 The FAO Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS)
was established in 1975 to monitor food security at global,
regional, national and sub-national level on a continuous basis
 GIEWS aims to provide policy-makers and the international
community with up-to-date information and analyses on all
aspects of food supply and demand, so that timely interventions
can be planned when necessary
What GIEWS does
 Collects and analyzes information on: current and prospective
cereal production; utilization; stocks; trade (including food aid)
and domestic food prices country-by-country
 Compiles and analyzes information at regional, subregional and
global level
 Provides regular updates on food crop production, markets and
food security through its web site, publications, special alerts,
e-mail and RSS
 Develops new approaches and technologies in early warning for
food security
Monitoring food security at country level
 Crop prospects and cereal production forecasts
 Country Cereal Balance Sheets (CCBS)
 Markets and access to food
 Vulnerability, sub-national food security
Crop prospects and cereal
production forecasts
Remote sensing
 Meteorological data
 NDVI
 Access to agriculture inputs
 Estimated rainfall
 ASIS (since 2013)
 Policies affecting production
or trade
 Planted areas
 Pests and diseases
 Crop growing conditions
Production forecasts are based on analysis of different variables
affecting production and statistical time series and are continuously
updated as new information becomes available.
Agricultural Stress Index System (ASIS) Monitoring Agricultural Drought with Remote
Sensing Data
Temporal
aggregation
over current
crop season
ASIS is a tool for early identification of agricultural areas
probably affected by drought in current season
Features of ASIS
 Temporal and spatial integration of vegetation index
and land surface temperature to simplify the
interpretation of the data for non-remote sensing
experts

Near real-time products on 10-day basis showing
“hot spots” i.e. agricultural areas probably affected by
drought

Unique time series of 30 years of vegetation index at
1km resolution

Archive of agricultural drought hotspots since 1984
Developed in collaboration with:
Spatial
aggregation for
crop area by
administrative
unit
Country Cereal Balance Sheets (CCBS)
 System covers 145 countries with data since 1980 on marketing
year basis
 Balances include data on: production, stocks, trade including food
aid, and utilization (food, feed, other uses) for 9 major cereal
commodities
 Continuous updates for early warning
 Used to estimate food deficit and import needs at country level
Country Cereal Balance Sheets (CCBS)
Markets and access to food
Benchmark international cereal prices
Soaring international
food prices 2007-2008
But what impact on domestic food prices around the globe?
Which countries most affected?
GIEWS Food Price Data and Analysis Tool
www.fao.org/giews/pricetool
Vulnerability, sub-national food security
FAO-GIEWS/WFP Food Security Assessment Missions
Crop Production
and Food
Supply/Demand
Assessment (FAO)
Macroeconomic
Context
Affecting
Food Supply,
Demand
(FAO)
Vulnerability and
Food Needs
Assessment
(WFP)
Regional and Global Food Security
 GIEWS estimates regional and global food supply and demand by
aggregating country-level information
 World market export prices are collected on a daily and weekly
basis and cereal trade on the main international grain exchanges
is monitored continuously
 Global cereal supply and demand indicators
COUNTRIES WITH UNFAVOURABLE PROSPECTS FOR CURRENT CROPS
GIEWS Information
Dissemination
GIEWS Information
Dissemination
Thanks