FEWS NET assigns FNIDs to new administrative units. Having a unique identifier for every administrative unit allows the query of specific administrative units. FEWS NET uses Microsoft Excel to organize the administration units and to create the FNIDs.
Type of Shapefiles
Administration Units (A codes)
Crop Regions (R codes)
Livelihood Zones (L code)
Food Security Classification Units (C codes)
All polygons are assigned a unique alpha-numeric FNID. The structure of these codes is explained below:
Code Element | Places Needed | Description |
|---|---|---|
ISO_CODE | 2 Digits | Standard ISO 2-digit country code |
Version (year) | 4 Digits | The effective year of the geographic unit set version |
Type | 1 Digit (letter) | A=Admin unit, C= Food security classification, L= Livelihood Zone, R= Crop region |
Unit level | 1 Digit | This is the location in the geographic unit hierarchy. For example, A3 is the type and level of an Admin 3 unit. |
Level codes | 2 Digits per level | Each level is represented by two digits (e.g., 00, 01, 13). At each level, each unit must have a unique ID. Apply this process for as many levels as necessary. See Example 1 below. |
Example 1: Level codes
To create the last part of an FNID, you will need to combine the codes for each relevant level. For example, if you are creating a code for an Admin 3 unit, you will need to combine codes for Admin levels 1, 2, and 3.
Note the following in the image below:
Every Admin 1 has its own ID. e.g., Tigray is 01 and Afar is 02
Every Admin 2 that falls within an Admin 1 has a unique ID. e.g., Zone 3 is 03, Zone 4 is 04.
ID numbering resets when a unit falls under a new unit at the previous level. e.g., Admin 2 ID go from 05 for Zone 5 to 01 for North Gondar because the Admin 1 unit changed from Afar to Amhara.
Admin 1 and Admin 2 codes combine to create an Admin 2 ID. e.g., for Oromia, the Admin 1 code is 03, the Admin 2 code is 10. These combine into an Admin 2 ID of 0310. This process should be applied to all necessary levels.
Example 2: Creating a C-type FNID in Afghanistan
In Afghanistan, FEWS NET maps FIC data using the intersection of Admin 2 (districts) and livelihood zones. The FNIDs for these intersect units are structured as follows:
Country: AF
Year: 2018
Type: C
Level: 3
Kabul admin 2 code: 0101
LHZ code: AF08
These are combined to create the following FNID: AF2018C3010108.