FY2015 Quarterly Technical Report First Quarter: Famine Early Warning Systems Network Technology Support Contract (FEWS NET TSC)

The report highlights the major accomplishments of the TSC Project, which include the rapid start-up of East Africa Data Collection activities upon receipt of funding in December 2014. The TSC staff initiated contact with monitoring organizations and began developing new monitoring instruments and a survey strategy. The FEWS NET Data Warehouse (FDW) continued to deliver new features in monthly increments following an Agile software development methodology. In Q1 2015, the FDW development focused on the final set of features for the price data domain, including improved online charts, support for weekly price data, and personal workspaces for analysts. The TSC also created an additional extract to replicate the historical FEWS NET price data spreadsheets and simplified the process for updating aliases and metadata. The Population Explorer online application was maintained with minimal help desk requests during Q1. The TSC continued to work on the resilience measurement project, which included the development of a methodology and work plan, data collection, and data collection from various sources such as the LSMS data set and the IFPRI Rural Household Survey data. The resilience team met in East Africa to finalize the work plan and approach, and a draft literature review was finalized. The TSC is interested in developing a series of analytical tools to exploit the easy availability of price data from the FDW. Preliminary discussions were held on the backlog of tools to fully exploit FEWS NET's price data, and an agreement was reached to develop a series of analytical tools. The project also reached an agreement to coordinate the development of a strategy paper outlining these analytical tools. The report highlights the progress made by the TSC Project in Q1 2015, including the rapid start-up of East Africa Data Collection activities, the development of new features for the FEWS NET Data Warehouse, and the work on the resilience measurement project. The TSC is committed to continuing its efforts to support the FENWS and to develop new analytical tools to enhance market analysis and better-support market-based food aid decisions.