Title: A method for assessing food security information system

Authors: Tugrul Temel; Kinlay Dorjee

Addresses: ECOREC Economic Research and Consulting, Wilhelminastraat 164-3, 1054 WS Amsterdam, The Netherlands ' FAO Representation in the Kyrgyz Republic, Tabaldieva Str 10, 720044 Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Abstract: This paper develops a method for assessing food security information system with respect to its structure, connectedness and performance. The paper illustrates how to set up an operational food security information system, identify its leverage components and pathways of information flow, and qualitatively measure its performance in terms of utility obtained from the information. Both a workshop and a questionnaire were designed as means of gathering the data required for the measurement of the performance. The workshop identifies priority information flow patterns and the associated utilities, while the questionnaire gathers the data for the estimation of the organisational learning and information dissemination capacities. Finally, the evaluation of the system is put in perspective by integrating the traditional structure-conduct-performance approach into the method developed.

Keywords: food security information; information systems; system performance evaluation; food security strategy; priority information; information flow patterns; organisational learning; information dissemination.

DOI: 10.1504/IJISAM.2014.062277

International Journal of Information Systems and Management, 2014 Vol.1 No.1/2, pp.166 - 194

Received: 21 Jan 2013
Accepted: 28 May 2013
Published online: 07 Jul 2014 *