Expert system prototype of food aid distribution.

The aim of this study was to improve efficiency of the food aid distribution process of international food relief organizations. An overall objective of this study was to develop a prototype expert system for monitoring and evaluating food aid by international disaster relief organizations. The research identifies data related to monitoring and evaluation processes of various international food-aid organizations. It then applies an artificial intelligence-based expert system to develop a prototype for those processes. Existing data related to monitoring and evaluation program cycles were obtained. An expert system shell called CLIPS(c) (National Aeronautics Space Administration) was used to develop a prototype system named Food Aid Monitor, a rule-based expert system, which uses facts and heuristic rules to provide an adaptive feedback regarding monitoring and evaluating processes at various stages of food aid operation. The Food Aid Monitor was evaluated and validated by three expert panels checking the prototype system for completeness, relevancy, consistency, correctness, precision, and use-ability. Finally, the panels indicated a belief that the system could have an overall positive impact on the stages of monitoring and evaluating food aid processes of the food relief organizations.