Founded in 1985, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) currently monitors several countries in Africa, Central America, the Caribbean, Central Asia and the Middle East. FEWS NET is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by the private company Chemonics International, Inc. as well as the government agencies United States Geological Survey (USGS), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). FEWS NET works to provide timely and rigorous early warning and vulnerability information on emerging food security issues. FEWS NET issues monthly food security updates for 25 countries, regular food security outlooks, and alerts, as well as briefings to support contingency and response planning efforts and in-depth studies on livelihoods and markets.

These products include different information such as: current and projected food security conditions and implications, market reviews, livelihood information, weather conditions and others available on FEWS NET website. To gather this information, FEWS NET relies on professionals in the US as well as in the respective countries to monitor the situation. FEWS NET’s users are decision makers as well as the general public.

References:
FEWS NET Website (http://www.fews.net/, accessed on February 13, 2012)
V. Grasso and A. Singh, UNEP (Dec 2011, forthcoming): Early Warning Systems: State-of-Art Analysis and Future Directions.