Food Security Early Action
Based at the International Livestock Research Institute in Nairobi, Kenya, the Jameel Observatory for Food Security Early Action is an international partnership led by the University of Edinburgh with the International Livestock Research Institute, Save the Children, the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab and Community Jameel
Our vision is that vulnerable pastoral and agro-pastoral communities in target regions of East Africa are more prepared for and resilient to the effects of evolving environmental shocks and stresses on their food security and nutrition.
Our mission is to broker science, knowledge, and real-world action to develop inclusive solutions to environmental shocks facing dryland communities. Our core convening activity is through a Community of Practice that unites data, science and practice to identify, prioritize and deliver action research, learning and innovation.
Living in harsh and often remote environments, the lives and livelihoods of many men, women and children in pastoralist and agro-pastoralist communities – such as in the drylands of East Africa are threatened by conflict, insecure land rights, environmental degradation and, increasingly, climate change. Tomorrow’s food insecurity and malnutrition, however, can be overcome today by early actions and solutions that increase the resilience and adaptive capacities of pastoralist communities.
Facing these challenges, the Jameel Observatory for Food Security Early Action combines the local knowledge and concerns of communities facing on-the-ground threats of hunger with innovations in data science and humanitarian action; teaming up to devise solutions that can predict, prepare for and overcome climate-related food security and malnutrition challenges in dryland areas.
Our focus is on using data and evidence to prepare for and act on environmental shocks as well as those impacts of climate change and variability which threaten human and environmental well-being
Launching in East Africa, our global community of practice unites data, science and practice for food-secure and resilient lives and livelihoods in drylands worldwide.
About the people and organisations we work with
Our research, learning and innovation agenda
Watch two videos: The first frames the dryland resilience challenges we work on; the second introduces the ways we address these challenges:
Issues on our agenda
Pastoralists whose lives and livestock rely on seasonal rains in dry lands are among those most threatened by climate change.
Read more
What we do
Through research, dialogue, impact collaboration and communication, we co-create options and solutions to enhance food security. Read more
How we work
We work with diverse people and organizations already active in this area, brokering mutually beneficial synergies and collaboration. Read more
Latest news
Resilience from below: Rethinking development in northern Kenya’s Drylands
Tahira Mohamed and colleagues argue for a new ‘resilience from below’ approach to building resilience in the drylands
Why early action?
