US embassy cable - 04ROME2839

UNCLAS  ROME 002839 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
FROM U.S. MISSION IN ROME 
 
STATE FOR PRM/P AND IO/EDA 
INFO USAID FOR DCHA/FFP LANDIS AND WHELAN 
 
 
USDA FOR FAS CHAMBLISS 
GENEVA FOR RMA AND NKYLOH/USAID 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: EAID, EAGR, PREF, UN 
SUBJECT: WFP AND FAO EFFORTS TO IMPROVE WORLDWIDE EMERGENCY 
ASSESSMENT AND RESPONSE SYSTEMS 
 
Ref: Rome 2298 
 
1. Summary.  The recent G8 summit at Sea Island, Georgia, 
ended with a pledge by G8 leaders that their governments 
would coordinate with FAO and WFP to improve worldwide 
emergency assessment and response systems.  FAO and WFP 
continue to work with stakeholders to improve emergency 
needs assessments and response systems despite funding 
uncertainties.  End summary. 
 
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G8 Statement on Improving Emergency Assessments 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
2. On June 10, the last day of the G8 summit at Sea Island, 
Georgia, G8 leaders agreed to expand efforts to fight 
famine, hunger and food insecurity, including efforts by 
FAO and WFP to improve worldwide emergency assessment and 
response systems, the USG news service reported.  The G8's 
official statement included the following: 
 
Acting individually and collectively, G8 members will 
take the following actions: 
 
-- Continue to work closely with the WFP and Food and 
Agriculture Organization (FAO) to improve global food 
emergency assessment methodologies and response 
systems.  G8 countries will support the piloting of 
the improved assessment process in two Southern 
African countries this year. 
 
-- Support the International Food Policy and Research 
Institute's "Strategic Analysis Knowledge Support 
System" for agriculture and market analysis. 
 
-- Support improvement of international needs 
assessment initiatives such as the WFP/FAO common 
approach and the Standardized Monitoring and 
Assessment of Relief and Transitions (SMART) 
Initiative. 
 
-- We will work to ensure that the outcome of the 
renegotiation of the Food Aid Convention promotes good 
food aid practices and improved assessments based on 
the needs of beneficiaries in food insecure countries. 
 
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FAO and WFP Efforts to Improve Emergency Assessments 
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3. The latest round of a series of stakeholder meetings 
sponsored by FAO and WFP took place in Rome from June 6 
through 8, 2004.  Technical consultations were held to 
recap milestones previously identified, crosscheck progress 
made regarding methodological and process issues, discuss 
key features of recent FAO/WFP crop and food supply 
assessments, and critique WFP's Emergency Food Security 
Assessment Handbook. 
 
4. The first two days of meetings began with the Second 
Joint Technical Meeting and Ongoing Review Process of the 
Crop and Food Supply Assessment Missions (CFSAMs) sponsored 
by FAO.  The meetings were well attended by representatives 
from FAO, WFP, the European Commission (EC) including ECHO, 
DFID, Germany, and the US, represented by USAID/FFP 
Officers, Drs. Will Whelan and Patrick Diskin, along with 
USUN Rome Program Specialist, Philip Lamade.  Day one 
included a review of background issues, process documents 
and recent CFSAMs. 
 
5. Some interlocutors expressed concern about the 
reliability of CFSAM data, e.g., for Malawi, and others 
said that reports might be more credible with more detailed 
analyses and explanations about the conclusions. 
 
6. Day two included the presentation of a regional cross 
border study in southern Africa, which was followed by a 
demonstration of the EC-funded Global Information and Early 
Warning Service (GIEWS) workstation, i.e., a Rome-based 
function which includes reports, database services, mailing 
lists and software. 
 
7. Day three consisted of discussions about WFP's draft 
Emergency Food Security Assessment (EFSA) Handbook and a 
 
 
few words about appropriate ways to finance assessments. 
To prepare for the meeting, WFP had earlier solicited and 
in turn received extensive comments on the Handbook from 
the European Commission and USAID/FFP.  In addition, WFP 
released a paper entitled "WFP Emergency Needs Assessments: 
Commitment to Transparency." 
 
8. With respect to financing EFSAs, WFP's Associate 
Director of Operations observed that in view of perceived 
conflicts of interest by some parties, an independent fund 
for EFSAs might be preferable to the current practice of 
using project funds for them.  An FAO representative 
concurred, stressing the importance of preserving the 
integrity of EFSA findings.  He also alerted the audience 
to FAO's Emergency Needs Assessment (ENA) Guidelines, which 
focus more broadly than WFP's on agricultural livelihoods, 
and he also touted FAO's neutrality vis--vis food aid. 
 
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Funding Uncertainties 
--------------------- 
 
 
9. Both FAO and WFP face funding uncertainites, although 
they are distinctly different kinds of uncertainties. 
FAO's funds for emergency needs assessments have been 
reduced, yet frequency of man-made and natural disasters 
has increased the need for reliable assessments.  In recent 
years, FAO's GIEWS budget has been about $3 million/year, 
plus $400,000/year funded exclusively by the EC for the 
GIEWS workstation.  About $2 million pays for a staff of 
about 22 people, and the remaining $1 million pays for 
publications, translation services, and CFSAMs.  In March 
2004, the GIEWS budget for 2004 and 2005 was reduced by 
12.5%.  In order to retain expertise and capacity, FAO has 
decided to maintain its current staffing levels and instead 
reduce expenses for CFSAMs.  Budget reductions have led FAO 
to eliminate planned CFSAMs this year for Eritrea, Haiti, 
and the Sahel.  CFSAMs for Afghanistan and Angola are only 
possible due to ad hoc provisioning of extra-budgetary 
funding. 
 
10. Per reftel, FAO established a new, extra-budgetary 
special fund for emergency and rehabilitation in order to 
fund the establishment of an ENA capability focused on 
preserving livelihoods.  The special fund is an outgrowth 
of FAO's Program Committee Report, "Progress Report on the 
Implementation of Recommendations Regarding the Thematic 
Evaluation of Strategy A.3," released in July 2003.  Per 
FAO, assessments responding to as many as 20 protracted 
crises covered by CAPs, including analyses, report writing, 
and project dissemination, will require up to $1.2 million 
in funding.  Similarly, in October 2004, FAO/GIEWS will 
propose the establishment of a multi-donor trust fund to 
finance CFSAMs, to which the EC is expected to contribute 
$300,000. 
 
11. As discussed in Paragraph 8 above, WFP's funding 
uncertainties do not pertain to funding insufficiencies, 
but to the source of the funds potentially coloring the 
integrity of the assessments.  WFP spends approximately $3 
million/year to perform about 200 assessments of all types 
e.g., CFSAMs, Joint Assessment Missions (with UNHCR), and 
ENAs, mostly from project funds.  In order to reinforce the 
integrity of its assessment findings, WFP is considering 
the establishment of an independent, multilateral fund for 
its assessment function much like the multi-donor trust 
fund contemlated by FAO to finance CFSAMs. 
 
12. Recent G8 satements supporting improvements in needs 
assessent initiatives provide an additional incentive to 
ensure FAO and WFP maintain and improve their capabilities 
in this area amid funding uncertainties.  USUN Rome and 
USAID/FFP continue to support FAO and WFP efforts in this 
regard and are monitoring developments closely.  Hall 
 
 
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 2004ROME02839 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED