PEER REVIEWED ARTICLE No 3 A FRAMEWORK FOR EVALUATING FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION MONITORING SYSTEMS

Identifying cost and time-efficient approaches to food security and nutrition monitoring programs is fundamental to increasing the utility and sustainability. Food security and nutrition monitoring systems should be periodically evaluated to ensure that their objectives are met, and re-oriented towards the changing information needs for food policy interventions. In meeting these challenges, the role of continued evaluation of food security monitoring systems- for their impact on food security decision-making- cannot be overemphasized. The linkage between the information generated by these systems, planning and policy processes to improve food security remains weak in several sub-Saharan African countries. This paper aims at developing a framework for evaluating food security and nutrition monitoring systems. Among the criteria used for evaluation are the capacity for data processing, analysis and, reporting, timely generation of information, commitment of decision makers and cost-effectiveness. Using this framework, the paper evaluates the National Early Warning System (NEWS) and the Famine Earl