The Standard Group Plc is a multi-media organization with investments in media
platforms spanning newspaper print operations, television, radio broadcasting,
digital and online services. The Standard Group is recognized as a leading
multi-media house in Kenya with a key influence in matters of national and
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A man inspects a carcass of a cow in the drought-hit Bangale village, Tana River County. The Famine Early Warning Systems Network has shut down. [File, Standard]
A leading global website that provides early warnings about potential famines has shut down after 40 years of operation.
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) was established by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to provide information on food security in response to devastating famines.
The website was, however, shut down on January 30, 2025 due to a funding disruption by USAID. The website has been operating since its establishment in 1985.
“The FEWS NET website, the FEWS NET Learning Platform, and the FEWS NET Data Warehouse and Data Explorer are currently unavailable,” the notice on the website reads.
For four decades, the website has been providing information on potential food security crises and factors influencing food security, such as weather, climate, conflict, agricultural production, markets and trade, as well as nutrition.
The website also provided timely, accurate, and evidence-based early warning information of current and future acute food insecurity while informing on humanitarian planning and responses in 30 of the world’s most food-insecure countries.
It published country-specific briefs that contained forecasts of crop and livestock production outcomes for six to twelve months in advance as well as analyses of food trade, price trends, conflict incidences, and performance of assistance programmes.
Having been critical in providing information on potential food security crises, experts have raised concerns on the ability of countries like Kenya to effectively respond to potential famines in affected regions.
Timothy Njeru, an agricultural economist at Tegemeo Institute, Egerton University, said that while it might take time for other institutions to replace that contribution, Kenya should increase financial investments to support food security as well as invest in producing reliable and timely food security forecasts.
“The Famine Early Warning Systems Network made a huge contribution to Kenya and the region as a whole. The seasonal food security forecasts enabled governments and development partners to respond to crises adequately and in a coordinated manner,” Njeru wrote on theconversation.com.
He explained that the website helped farmers to track local market price data and respond to early famine warnings through programs such as livestock offtake programmes at the height of droughts or famines, enabling them to sell their cattle before incurring losses caused by livestock deaths during drought seasons.
“These programmes help communities enhance their market participation and reduce losses as they can sell their livestock at fair prices,” he noted.
He warned that the absence of the early warning network will affect Kenya’s ability to address food insecurity. "It leaves a gap in financial and technical capacity to generate timely forecasts to inform decision-making," he said.
The Standard Group Plc is a multi-media organization with investments in media
platforms spanning newspaper print operations, television, radio broadcasting,
digital and online services. The Standard Group is recognized as a leading
multi-media house in Kenya with a key influence in matters of national and
international interest.
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