Declaration of the World Food Summit

The World Food Summit (WFS) was held in Rome, Italy, in 1996 with participation by Heads of State and Delegation from over 100 countries including Cambodia. According to the latest estimation by FAO, 815 million people subsist on diets that are deficient in calories. The participants agreed to the ultimate long-term goal of eradicating hunger and establishing global food security. They also recognized the need for an appropriate tool to monitor progress towards this goal.

In response to the commitments made by Heads of State and Governments at WFS, FIVIMS activities in Cambodia started in 1999. The establishment of National FIVIMS is a direct response to the needs of the National Poverty Reduction Strategy (NPRS), Cambodian for Nutrition Investment Plan (CNIP) and Cambodian Millennium Development Goals (CMDGs) as well as the requests from international organizations, UN agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) concerned with food security and poverty reduction.
FIVIMS is a system or network of systems that assemble, analyze and disseminate information about people who are food insecure or at risk of becoming food insecure. It helps identify, locate and estimate the number of the food insecure and vulnerable and understand the causes of food insecurity and vulnerability, being built on the information systems and database already existing in the country.

Start-up Activities

An initial attempt to launch FIVIMS was carried out in Cambodia in June 1999 under the responsibility of the Ministry of Rural Development (MRD). However, based on a top-government decision, the FIVIMS Focal Agency was transferred from the MRD to the MAFF in October 2002.

Inter-Ministerial Committee, Technical Sub-Committee, and FIVIMS Secretariat

As part of the overall national FIVIMS effort and in accordance with the the Letter of Agreement, the FIVIMS Inter-Ministerial Steering Committee (IMSC), the FIVIMS Technical Sub-Committee (TSC) and the FIVIMS Secretariat were established by the MAFF in early 2003. Subsequently, the MAFF designated His Excellency Mr.IT NODY, Under Secretary of Sate of MAFF, as the FIVIMS National Focal Point (NFP) as well as the Chairman of the IMSC and TSC. A small group of experts consisting of officers from the MAFF and the MOP, called Core FIVIMS Analysts, was also established who are engaged in data collection and processing, map development, vulnerability assessments, etc.

(i) The FIVIMS Secretariat is located in the Department of Planning, Statistics and International Coorperation in the MAFF compound under the overall supervision and management of H.E. Mr.IT NODY. The FIVIMS Secretariat has since been equipped with good quality and efficient office facilities and furniture including computers, a photocopy machine, printers and a scanner.

(ii) The IMSC established on 11 December 2002 is comprised of representatives from key line ministries including:

· Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF)
· Ministry of Health (MOH)
· Ministry of Planning (MOP)
· Ministry of Water Resources and Agricultural Meteorology (MoWRAM)
· Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA)
· National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM)
· Cambodia Red Cross (CRC)
· Council for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD)

(iii) The Technical Sub-Committee (TSC) was also established on 11 Decemeber 2002 consisting of representatives from:

. Department of Planning, Statistics and International Coorperation (MAFF)
. Department of Agricultural Extension (MAFF)
. Department of Agricultural Engineering (MAFF)
. Department of Fisheries (MAFF)
. Department of Agriculture and Land Improvement (MAFF)
. Department of Drug and Food (MOH)
. General Statistics Department (MOP)

National FIVIMS Network

In addition to the IMSC and the TSC, a network between all involved line ministries and leading agencies concerned with food security, including FAO, WFP, UNICEF, UNDP, GTZ, CARE, OXFAM-Great Britain, HEKS, the Church World Service (CWS), and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) was established.

Organization of Workshop

In order to introduce the FIVIMS to all involved agencies and gain the inputs and recommendations to compile the Manual of Operations, various workshops and meetings were conducted. The focus of workshops and meeting was to indentify possible/best approaches to establishe a FIVIMS in Cambodia, identify data requirements, develop suitable indicators, determine appropriate methodologies, design an operational framework, and agree on role of the IMSC, the NFP, the TSC and the FIVIMS Network.

Conducting In-country Training

Based on the recommendations from the workshops and meetings, a number of training needs were identified. From December 2002 to January 2004, various in-country training course were conducted from TSC members- such as Excel, SPSS, Access, MapInfo, Arc View, Survey Design and Factorial Analysis. In addition, a national FIVIMS consultant participated in a training course on food security concept, assessment and monitoring help in Germany support by the GTZ/FSNPSP.