Drought affects more people than any other type of natural disaster, and it is also the most damaging to livelihoods, especially in developing countries. The occurrence of droughts is increasingly becoming more frequent, and severe. The resulting crop and livestock damages lead to the degradation of livelihoods, famines, and economic losses that are usually felt well beyond drought affected areas.
FAO Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS) monitors the condition of major food crops across the globe to assess production prospects. Timely detection of developing droughts and accurately assessing the extent of the resultant stresses (both spatially and temporally) to crops and pasture goes a long way in putting in place mitigating factors and informed proactive responses. The newly developed FAO-Agricultural Stress Index System (ASIS) detects agricultural areas with a high likelihood of water stress (drought) at the global level. Based on Earth Observations, ASIS will support the vegetation monitoring activities of the GIEWS.
Visit ASIS and other indicators on GIEWS Earth Observation website: www.fao.org/giews/earthobservation/