In October 2004, the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) funded a WFP project to Strengthen Emergency Needs Assessment Capacity (SENAC). The objective of the SENAC Project was "to reinforce WFP's capacity to assess humanitarian needs in the food sector during emergencies and the immediate aftermath through accurate and impartial needs assessments". To achieve this, the Project aimed to:

• develop improved analytical methods, tools and guidance materials;
• strengthen WFP's field capacity by deploying 12 assessment specialists in its
• regional bureaux; and
• improve the availability and management of pre-crisis information in countries
• exposed to recurrent and protracted emergencies.

During the first phase (October 2004 to September 2005), the SENAC project focused on five thematic areas:

1) the role of markets in emergencies and the effect of food aid on markets;
2) the effects of food aid on targeted and non-targeted households (dependency and
induced migration);
3) chronic and transitory food insecurity;
4) non-food responses to food crises; and
5) pre-crisis baselines and food security monitoring systems.

The SENAC Advisory Group was convened for the first time on 14-15 March 2005, two months after the project became operational. The objective of the first meeting was to provide guidance, within the parameters of the project agreement with ECHO, on a research programme leading to tools to strengthen WFP's capacity to better assess emergency food needs.