In Guatemala during the summer months of 2014, the lack of rain led hundreds of thousands of small scale farmers to lose their crop. A state of emergency was declared by the government with over 276,000 families requiring food support as a result of the drought. This problem exasperates a plague of coffee rust that hit the country some six months previously leading to a food security and nutrition emergency, affecting specially to rural and indigenous communities. 

In response to this crisis, TSF entered into collaboration with a consortium of humanitarian organisations that put together their expertise to try and prevent further nutritional disasters from occurring. Financed by the European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO), the project looks to strengthen and expand the coverage of the food assistance programme launched by the Guatemalan government and the international aid community. To enhance bilateral (NGO-government) coordination and collaboration, TSF has developed a data collection and monitoring tool for common and standardised use. 

The mobile data collection tool uses tablets to allow international and local responders to gain a global overview of the situation through data related to beneficiary selection, the evolution of food and nutritional statuses of vulnerable households as well as data sharing and methodologies. According to results, automated maps will be drawn up of priority intervention zones.

Data collectors intervene directly amongst the most vulnerable populations in 136 communities of 7 departments of Guatemala, collecting vital information using TSF-developed mobile tools, allowing them to monitor the nutritional indicators of beneficiaries to whom the following interventions are offered:

- Direct food assistance (in the form of cash transfer and vouchers)

- Promotion of good dietary practices;

- Implementation of agricultural production practices that are resilient to drought;

- Promotion of good practices for water management and soil production;

The advantage of this standardised tool is that vulnerability trends can be monitored in each target area, thus strengthening the communication between NGOs and government authorities,  allowing for a longer-term larger-scale response.