The World Food Program (WFP) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) undertook several steps to enhance their food security and nutrition monitoring capacities in response to the high commodity food and fuel process and global financial crises. Since the onset of the global crises, both WFP and UNICEF have significantly contributed to country-wide initiatives piloting more consistent, integrated and collaborative local food and nutrition security monitoring systems (FNSMS).
In a variety of countries, the two agencies collect data on a variety of food and nutrition security indicators through their data-collection and monitoring systems: some systems are managed jointly by the agencies, others are managed in collaboration with local governments and a few were conducted independently by WFP.
As part of UN Global Pulse’s “Rapid Impact and Vulnerability Assessment Fund,” this study was launched to explore whether the data from these systems were compatible, allowing for integrated and richer analysis to better inform decision makers on vulnerability and food and nutrition security in a timely, evidence-based manner. The WFP-UNICEF RIVAF study aimed to inform headquarter-lead capacity building efforts and provide guidance to the respective country offices, including those in the five countries studied as well as others seeking to engage in similar activities. Emphasis was placed on the efficacy of the systems with respect to the provision of critical information for decision makers as opposed to an assessment of interagency structures and interactions.
The summary report, available to view or download below, aims to compare and draw lessons from across the group of five countries, and make recommendations that have a broader geographical reach.
