Food Monitoring System (FMS)

Madagascar

RANDRIANASOLO Fidy Nirina

Commodity Manager CRS.MG

March 20, 2013

ICT4D Conference

Accra, Ghana

Mobile Services that Empower Vulnerable Communities

Plan of presentation:- Project Background- Context and issues in food management- ICT4D solution- Keys of successes- Challenges- What we learned

Project BackgroundGOAL: Reduce food insecurity in 98.500

households by 2014• SO1: Improve the nutrition and health

status of 96.000 children under five• SO2:Improve livelihood conditions of

82.000 food insecure households• SO3:Strengthen resilience of 592

communities• Cross – Cutting : Gender, Environmental

management, Governance and Partnership• Intervention Zones: 592 Communities,

in 112 communes, 21 Districts, and 7 Regions in Madagascar

• Consortium 04 INGOs: CRS-ADRA-CARE-LOL

• Implementing Partners: 5 Dioceses, and 15 Social Protection Centers

FOOD DISTRIBUTION ACTIVITIESADRA31%

LOL15%

CARE16%

CRS38%

27,170 MT food for distribution

Three sectors concerned: Mother and Child Health (MCH) under SO1; Food for Assets (FFA) and Safenet for Urban areas under SO3;

Four types of food for direct distribution

Summary for CRS food distribution:

* Food delivery serving the most vulnerable families in remote and landlocked areas

* Worked with Implementing partners (local NGOs)

* Committed with local carriers

* Supply chain managed from 3 main warehouses to sites

* Challenges to monitor the supply chain and quality of program indecisive

* Decision making difficult due to the lateness(more than one month) or inaccurate of information from the field

* Challenges in communication between main office and field staff

Context

ICT4D Solution: Implementation of Food Monitoring System(FMS) with Human Network International (HNI)

Keys successes Roll-out with all staff involved, and gave

them capacity in drafting/sending message by SMS

Systematic communication with field staff through administrator

Permanente checking of FMS to monitor the movement of food, and distribution

Data analysis to help management team for systematic information and/or decision

Summarize data for editing report required by the donor

Internal Control System

ChallengesDatasenders have access

reports based on dashboard information

FMS is a data collection system, and needs to be linked with other database used by M&E/ procurement.

For Compliance issues, need to perform end-use checking to confirm that data is really accurate and well documented. Need good supervision

Lessons LearnedService delivery improved :

Quick response in case of threat Canal of communication

available with field staff Quality of reports improved:

Involvement of technicians and support team

Appropriate decision made: information available in one day, and detailed for decision making

Sustainability strategyImplementing Partners

including local NGO trained to use it.

Use of the system to collect data in various activities: End-use Checking at recipients level, Warning system for emergency program, Monitoring of local market price, Monitoring of actions in environment issues

Share our experiences on it in large diffusion

Food Monitoring System or FMS is a tool based on the use of SMS and internet and that can help to increase efficiency, provide timely and accurate data to improve decision making in term of food distribution:

Increases our capacity to monitor our activities, the quality of report to donors, and the service delivery to beneficiary

Helps for decision making Enhances the impact in the life of

recipients that we serve focus of our mission

As a reminder…

THANK YOU!