Food security information systems (FSIS) are networks of technology-assisted sensing and data analysis platforms that provide information used to guide humanitarian actions. FSIS face disruption from abrupt shifts in political…
Daniel Maxwell
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Daniel Maxwell is the Henry J. Leir Professor in Food Security at the Friedman School of Nutrition and Research Director at the Feinstein International Center. In 2016-2017, he served as the acting director of the Center. His recent research focuses on food security and the re-emergence of famines in the 21st century. He teaches courses on humanitarian action and humanitarian policy, as well as famine and food insecurity. He directs the Master of Arts in Humanitarian Assistance (MAHA) program at Tufts.
He is the author, with Kirsten Gelsdorf, of Understanding the Humanitarian World (Routledge, 2019). He is the author, with Nisar Majid, of Famine in Somalia: Competing Imperatives, Collective Failures (Oxford University Press, 2016). He is the co-author, with Chris Barrett of Cornell University, of Food Aid After Fifty Years: Recasting Its Role (Routledge, 2005).
Since 2014, Dan has been a member of the Famine Review Committee for the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification system—the formal mechanism by which contemporary famines are analyzed and declared. Prior to joining the faculty at Tufts, Dan worked for two decades for humanitarian agencies, mostly in Africa. His most recent position was Deputy Regional Director for Eastern and Central Africa for CARE International.
He holds a B.Sc. from Wilmington College, a master’s degree from Cornell University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
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MOST CITED BOOKS & ARTICLES
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FEINSTEIN PUBLICATIONS
This policy brief examines the relationship between famine declarations and funding since 2011. It shows that, with that one exception, there is little evidence that famine declarations actually result in a rapid increase in funding.
This study reviews what we have learned regarding policies and interventions to prevent famine, and how these can be scaled up more rapidly.
This report rings the alarm about likely famine in Somalia in 2022 by comparing the situation today with the situation before and during the famine in 2011.
After more than seven years of conflict over 20 million Yemenis—66% of the population—are in need of assistance. Nonetheless, the humanitarian response in Yemen remains severely underfunded. This study examines the ways in which Yemenis have relied on their social networks to survive.
This landscape study about localization examined the literature and spoke to over five dozen key informants from different perspectives, positions, and countries across the humanitarian sector.
This report explores the nexus (small n), as a way of programming, and the HDP Nexus approach (capital N), as the approach promoted by the UN and OECD/DAC.
Multiple calls have been issued for better preparedness, early warning, and, above all, early action to prevent hunger and malnutrition, reduce the scale of food insecurity, improve resilience, and reduce…
This study examines the links between early warning and early action (EW-EA) in East Africa. The report deals specifically with new technology in predictive analytics and machine learning to enhance approaches to EW-EA.
This study examines the links between early warning and early action (EW-EA) in East Africa. The report describes existing regional and national EW-EA systems.
This study examines the links between early warning and early action in East Africa. The report provides the background to the study, a brief conceptual overview, the main findings of the study, and the recommendations to FAO and IGAD.
This brief report presents initial findings from a study investigating the role of social networks in Yemen’s humanitarian crisis.
This paper reviews real-time monitoring (RTM), how it fits into a humanitarian information system, how systems quickly adjusted toward RTM in 2020, and provides a series of case studies of RTM systems, their objectives, and their outcomes.
The nature of humanitarian crises has changed over the past two decades. These changes demand increased anticipatory humanitarian action and improved information to guide that action. The COVID 19 pandemic…
This study employed an active case identification approach to identifying the worst affected households in communities and make recommendations for how classification could be further improved.
This is a brief on the full report of the study that synthesized findings from six different country case studies, noting influences on data collection and analysis processes during emergencies.
This brief lays out lessons from our study of famine information systems and considers how they may be applicable to the coronavirus pandemic response.
This study synthesized findings from six different country case studies, noting influences on data collection and analysis processes during emergencies.
This study reviews fundamental questions about the humanitarian localization discussion in three contexts: a region of Haiti recovering from a hurricane, displacement and political crisis in Iraqi Kurdistan, and the pressures of migration, conflict, and climate change in Colombia.
Depi lontan, kritik sou èd imanitè entènasyonal yo sigjere li dwe pi enklizif pou aktè ki nan peyi kriz la touche. Yon atansyon ki pa sispann ogmante sou kesyon sa…
Por mucho tiempo, los críticos del sistemas humanitario internacional han llamado por una mayor inclusión de los actores y organizaciones locales en países afectados por diverso tipo de crisis con…
This report provides recommendations related to managing the political influences and improving the technical quality of the data and analysis in Kenya.
This study examines the politics of information and its influences on humanitarian information systems in Ethiopia today.
This paper reviews issues with contemporary humanitarian information and early warning systems. While the cases focus on the East Africa region, they have broader implications as well.
Attention to the growing number of people caught in crises characterized by extreme and often protracted levels of food insecurity, malnutrition, and mortality is increasing. The information systems that track…
This briefing paper examines changes in social connectedness in the Bentiu Protection of Civilians site and surrounding town.
A study of the effectiveness of the Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) system, as it is used to identify famine and levels of food insecurity in Yemen.
A study of the effectiveness of the Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) system, as it is used to identify famine and levels of food insecurity in Yemen.
The humanitarian situation in Somalia is among the world’s most enduring current crises. As a result of conflict and a very weak central state, the country ran for two decades…
The humanitarian situation in Somalia is among the world’s most enduring current crises. As a result of conflict and a very weak central state, the country ran for two decades…
A study of the effectiveness of the Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) system, used to identify famine and levels of food insecurity, in South Sudan.
The briefing paper about a study of the effectiveness of the Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) system, used to identify famine and levels of food insecurity, in South Sudan.
Dans le but d’identifier et de classifier la sévérité de l’insécurité alimentaire, y compris la famine, le Nigeria utilise l’approche du Cadre Harmonisé (CH), un processus analytique semblable au Cadre…
Ce rapport examine le Cadre Harmonisé pour mieux comprendre les contraintes techniques et politiques à l’analyse des famines et des urgences extrêmes.
The humanitarian community has technical definitions of famine and food security or nutrition emergencies: the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). The classification requires good quality and coverage of food…
This report examines the Cadre Harmonisé in Nigeria to better understand the technical and political constrains to analyzing famines and extreme emergencies.
This brief examines the Cadre Harmonisé in Nigeria to better understand the technical and political constrains to analyzing famines and extreme emergencies.
This report investigates food security resilience in Far-Western Nepal.
Resilience is defined as the ability of people to mitigate, weather, and “bounce back” from shocks or adversity. This definition is framed in terms of understanding capacities and risk—often particularly…
This is a briefing paper of the full report. Resilience is defined as the ability of people to mitigate, weather, and “bounce back” from shocks or adversity. This definition is…
This report synthesizes findings on livelihoods from research projects that took place over five years in eight countries affected by fragility and conflict as part of the Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium (SLRC).
This report uses South Sudan as an example to interrogate people’s perceptions of the state, asking what – if not service delivery – fosters state legitimacy.
This is an evidence brief, accompanying the full systematic review on shelter in humanitarian settings.
What effects do humanitarian interventions that support affected populations’ own shelter self-recovery processes have on household-level outcomes following a crisis? And what factors have helped or hindered the implementation of such interventions? This evidence synthesis represents the first ever attempt to systematically review the existing evidence for an answer.
Does the humanitarian system have the capacity and vision to respond effectively to the crises of today, tomorrow, and deep into the future? This report analyses the failings of the…
This paper explains that aid actors in South Sudan have largely failed because they applied technical solutions to political problems.
This briefing paper recommends a rethink in the way that aid actors approach questions of recovery and livelihood. Rather than a simplistic either/ or approach, what is needed is a much more localized and deeper analysis of conflict, inter-communal grievances and inter-communal relations.
This paper describes the findings from research carried out in several areas of South Sudan in the context of armed conflict and raiding. The findings show that despite state-building efforts, service delivery remained inadequate in remote areas and that the interface between service delivery and people’s perceptions of the state is complex.
What can international aid policymakers and practitioners learn from the history of international engagement with South Sudan prior to and during the current conflict? This paper traces international engagement shifts…
This protocol details the methodology for an evidence synthesis on shelter in humanitarian crises. The evidence synthesis asks: “What is the evidence on the effectiveness and efficiency of interventions that…
This paper is important reading for anyone working in or on Somalia because it presents the Somalian famine of 2011 from the perspective of those who lived through it in…
FEINSTEIN RESEARCH PROJECTS
This project includes studies on early warning and assessment of crises, specifically looking at real-time monitoring, anticipatory action, political constraints, data collection and analysis, and the validity of indicators.
This project aims to improve the lives and livelihoods of populations in pastoral areas of the Sudano-Sahel and Greater Horn of Africa by ensuring that early warning systems and humanitarian action are better attuned and more responsive to the needs and realities of these communities.
This project reconsiders our understanding of famines, the dynamics that give rise to famines, the resilience of populations subjected to these dynamics, and the means of prevention at the disposal of governments, humanitarian agencies, donors, and the affected populations.
This research program seeks to understand the enabling and hindering factors that support localized or locally led humanitarian responses to natural disasters, conflicts, and prolonged complex emergencies.
This page brings together multiple projects related to gender, sex, and age in humanitarian response.
The Academic Alliance for Anticipatory Action (4As) is a global consortium of universities supported by USAID that is building the evidence base on why acting ahead of hazards and risks saves lives.
This project is harnessing the power of interdisciplinary teams and community participation to co-create solutions that will guide better tailored responses to food crises.
This study seeks to understand the availability and quality of information, and the external influences on data collection and analysis for the classification of food emergencies.