International Activities Related to Dryland Degradation Assessment and Drought - Monitoring and Predicting Agricultural Drought: A Global Study - page 426

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food commodities through an analysis of trends and prospects. These re-
ports vary with need and often contain analysis and statistical information
on developments in world cereal markets and export prices. These reports
also include the impact of El Niño and La Niña on food grain production
and reveal trends in any food emergencies around the world.
GIEWS provides an example of how international early warning systems
are ultimately truly interconnected to many other international efforts,
many benefiting from the efforts and expertise of other groups. GIEWS
maintains connections with many other international bodies: (1) the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which supplies data on refugee
numbers, (2) the WMO, which provides climate and weather data, (3) the
International Labor Organization, which provides information on unem-
ployment and poverty, (4) the United Nations Children's Fund, (5) the
International Grains Council, which provides information on the global
market, export prices, and freight rates, (6) the Organization for Economic
Co-operation and Development, (7) the World Bank and International
Monetary Fund, and (8) UNEP's Global Resource Information Database.
The NOAA Climate Prediction Center/ National Centers for Environ-
mental Prediction takes on the task of monitoring El Ni no/Southern Oscil-
lation (ENSO) conditions and passing the results and warnings on to user
communities ( http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/index.html). As an example,
researchers at Clark University have been using normalized difference vege-
tation index time-series data in conjunction with ENSO data to help predict
drought conditions in eastern Africa (www.clarku.edu). One of the early
warning systems that provides crucial information to both countries and
large regions is the Famine Early Warning System (chapter 19).

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Fu ture Directions
A review of international activities relating to land degradation leads to
the conclusion that there is a need for international cooperation for (1) de-
ve loping standardized methods and guidelines for dryland degradation as-
se ssment and monitoring; (2) developing a baseline map of dryland land
de gradation at subregional scale; (3) global assessment of dryland degrada-
tio n; (4) detailed assessment of land degradation at national level, focusing
on areas at greatest risk (“hot spots”) and areas where degradation has
be en successfully reversed (“bright spots”); (5) analysis of the effects of
la nd degradation areas at risk; (6) developing best practices for the control
an d prevention of land degradation; (7) communicating and exchanging
land degradation information and promoting its use in decision-making;
and (8) strengthening early warning systems to generate seasonal to inter-
annual climatic predictions to improve effectiveness of programs that aim
to mitigate effects of droughts and food shortages on local population.
Some of these issues are being addressed through an international Dry-
land Degradation Assessment project funded by the Global Environment