Data and information use and attribution policy

Background

The information provided on the FEWS NET Website is not official U.S. Government information and does not represent the views or positions of the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), nor the U.S. Government.

The data and information provided by the FEWS NET Wesbite have been compiled to serve the needs of decision makers within USAID and partner organizations and governments, as well as a wide audience of analysts and practitioners in the food security realm. The data and information shared through the website are available to the staff of USAID, other agencies within the U.S. Government, international partners, academic institutions, and others for their own uses and purposes.

Data sources

Data on the FEWS NET Website are gathered from a variety of sources, including data provided to FEWS NET by national government partners, data compiled from public online sources, and data collected directly by FEWS NET itself. Please note:

• All data are published according to permissions provided by the original source institutions.

• All data sources are fully attributed and there is no attempt to otherwise duplicate the information or systems of other organizations.

Data collected directly by FEWS NET are noted as such and are managed according to USAID’s policy on sharing Agency-funded data for public benefit, while ensuring proper protections for privacy and national security (ADS 579).

Terms of use and disclaimer

FEWS NET provides this information as a public service and makes every effort to provide accurate and complete information. Please note that FEWS NET:

• cannot guarantee that there will be no errors;

• makes no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the data on this website; and

• expressly disclaim liability arising from use, reference to, or reliance on any data contained on this website.

This is a service that is continually under development, and FEWS NET will make every effort to keep this website current and to correct errors brought to our attention. Please email data.policy@fews.net with any questions or concerns.

Users should exercise their own skill and care with respect to their use of data from this website and evaluate the accuracy, currency, completeness and relevance of the data for their own purposes. For the most complete and up-to-date information, users should reference the original data sources.

Attribution policy

Please note the following:

• If using data provided through the FEWS NET Wesbite in any way, direct or manipulated, you must include attribution for the data you use in the manner indicated in the metadata included with the data or documentation.

• If generating a data file for public use or private use and presenting those data to another party, you agree to include the same acknowledgment requirement in any sub-licenses of the data that you grant, and a requirement that any sub-licensees do the same. You may meet this requirement by providing the uniform resource locator (URL) of these terms of use when it is developed.

  • You may use our application programming interfaces (“APIs”) to facilitate access, whether through a separate website or through another type of software application.

  • You must not claim or imply that FEWS NET endorses your use of the data, or use the FEWS NET name, logo(s) or trademark(s) in conjunction with such use.

  • Some data are provided by third parties, and may not be redistributed or reused without the consent of the original data provider, or may be subject to additional terms and conditions. Where applicable, these conditions are included in the dataset or indicator metadata.

• If using data collected by FEWS NET in a visual, graphic, map or infographic of your own, please attribute the source data clearly and prominently on the visual itself or within the key/legend and include a link to the FEWS NET Website.

• If using third party data from other organizations hosted by the FEWS NET Data Warehouse or provided by the FEWS NET Website, please check the primary source’s website, and follow their policies on use and re-distribution of data. For instance, some data sources, such as the UN COMTRADE data, cannot be disseminated in any form without written permission of the United Nations Statistics Division. In the absence of specific guidance from the primary source any visual, graphic, map or infographic that you produce should attribute the primary source organization clearly and prominently on the visual itself or within the key/legend.

• If you wish to reproduce or publish a graphic, graph, or map FEWS NET has already published (rather than creating an original image using raw data) please cite the graphic, graph or map, including the author, using the following sample format [1]:

  • Author: Famine Early Warning Systems Network

  • Title: Complete title of the graphic, graph or map, including the edition or version number, if applicable.

  • Date of publication: Year the graphic, graph or map was published or disseminated.

  • Publisher and/or distributor: Famine Early Warning Systems Network

  • Electronic location or identifier: Web address or unique, persistent, global identifier used to locate the graphic, graph or map. Append the date retrieved if the title and locator are not specific to the exact instance of the graphic, graph or map you used.

These elements can be combined as in the examples below, Chicago-style.

• If you wish to reproduce or publish a graphic, graph, or map that appears within a published FEWS NET report (rather than creating an original image using raw data) please cite the report using the format above with the following additions:

  • Before the citation of the report:

    • Creator of the graphic or image: Name(s) of each individual or organizational entity responsible for the creation of the graphic/image.

    • Title of the graphic or image: Complete title of the graphic/image.

  • After the citation of the report:

    • Page number where the graphic or image is found.

    • Number of the image or figure, if applicable.

These elements can be combined as in the example below, Chicago-style.

Example of a note

20. Kenya Food Security Steering Group, “Figure 1. Estimated 2021 short rains maize production in Kenya compared to the five-year average,” in Widespread Crisis (IPC Phase 3) outcomes following third consecutive below-average season, (February 2022), distributed by Famine Early Warning Systems Network, 3, fig. 1. https://fews.net/east-africa/kenya/food-security-outlook/february-2022

FEWS NET makes no warranties with respect to the data and you agree that FEWS NET shall not be liable to you in connection with your use of the data.

If you have any questions about this data use and attribution policy, or its application, please feel free to contact us directly at data.policy@fews.net.