Monitoring & forecasting acute food insecurity
Acute food insecurity refers to rapid-onset or short-term food insecurity of an extent that merits emergency response. Its severity is defined by assessing the degree to which households can meet basic survival needs and maintain normal livelihoods. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) phases mapped above represent FEWS NET’s analysis of the most likely acute food insecurity outcomes for near-term (4 months into the future) and medium-term (8 months into the future) projection periods.
FEWS NET classifications are IPC-compatible . IPC-compatible analysis follow all IPC methodological protocols but do not necessarily reflect the consensus of national food security partners.
Countries that host FEWS NET offices and analysts are referred to as “presence countries.” More detailed, subnational analysis are produced for these countries, which is reflected on FEWS NET maps by fully classifying by IPC phase the area within the country borders.
Countries routinely monitored by FEWS NET that do not have FEWS NET offices in the country are referred to as “remote monitoring” countries. These countries are indicated on FEWS NET maps through the use of a colored outline of the national border. The outline color represents the highest IPC classification for areas of concern within the country, but not necessarily for the country as a whole.
