Food Access IndicatorsFood Access Indicators

ENCAP TRAINING ENCAP TRAINING

Bangkok 12-17 January 2009Bangkok 12-17 January 2009

Objectives

• Review food access indicators

• Share experiences

Food and Nutrition Security Conceptual Framework

We cannot measure food security directly. It is a function of:

•food availability

•food access

•food utilization

Definitions & Key Concepts

Food access: physical & economical ability of a household to acquire adequate amounts of food.

Households have access to food supplies through a variety of livelihood strategies:

i. own production (e.g., harvest)

ii. market purchases

iii. transfers from other sources (e.g., remittances, food aid, gifts, credit, bartering, etc.)

Even though “food access” is easier to observe than “food security”, still it is a

difficult concept to measure

In fact…

Key Concepts

Key Concepts

…The way the households access food:

• depends on household livelihood activities

• is context-specific (e.g., new challenges in urban contexts)

challenging to prescribe ‘a priori’ food access indicators valid for each analysis (each country, each livelihood group).

+It is not advisable to use JUST one FOOD ACCESS indicator

therefore

From HH questionnaire several questions related to access…

The actual current household food consumption depends upon the ability to acquire adequate amount of food. Food consumption (FCS) is therefore a proxy of food access (and food security).

o Households with low FCS are likely to have difficulties in acquiring adequate amount of food (i.e., poor food access). Otherwise they would eat more!

Current Food Consumption

Sources of food

Questions on sources of food consumed during the 7 days before the assessment play a crucial role in assessing the ability of the household to acquire adequate amount of food.

o Household’s food access is poor if the HH has high dependency on food aid, gifts, or tends to buy food on credit

o the relative contribution of each source (% of food from own production, purchase, etc.) suggests what are the other access indicators to consider.

Ex: would you look at “production-related indicators” in a situation where the vast majority of the households acquire food through purchase?

(Source: Liberia, Greater Monrovia, 2009)

Sources of food (cont’d)

Expenditures

Expenditures are useful as a proxy for wider purchasing power, which is another important component of food access.

o Households that: i. devote most of the expenditures to buy foodii. have low per capita total expendituresiii. have debts (especially to satisfy basic needs)

are likely to have difficulties in acquiring adequate amount of food (i.e., poor food access).

Consider the context!! (e.g., urban vs rural, etc.)

Total Income

(If what is produced for auto-consumption is considered in the estimation of total income), total income can be used as a proxy of purchasing power – which is, in turn, a component of food access.

o It is likely that households with higher total income have higher capability to acquire adequate food compared with the poor households.

Wealth

Wealth should be included while analysing household access to food. It gives an idea of the coping potential of the households.

o It is likely that rich households have higher capability to acquire adequate food compared with the poor households.

o Rich households can cope better to shocks compared with poor households

Type of livelihood activities

Likewise some food sources, some livelihood activities help understanding the level of sustainability of the current food consumption.

o Household’s ability to acquire food is poor if the HH has high dependency on gifts, support from neighbours, casual labour, etc.

Consider the context while evaluating the type of income sources!!

Crop Production

Crop production-related indicators can be crucial in evaluating food access of households that rely mainly on agriculture (farmers):

o Farmersi. with scarce amount food stock,ii. with a bad harvest,iii. whose production does not satisfy HH food needs

are likely to have difficulties in acquiring adequate amount of food (i.e., poor food access).

Choosing food access indicators

There is no golden rule, but basic recommendations:

• Do not rely only on one food access indicator. Use more food access indicators

• Consider the survey context and livelihood activities in order to choose the most appropriate indicators.

• Results from the “main sources of food” can suggest appropriate food access indicators

What do we do with these indicators?

Using Food Access Indicators

Food Access Indicators can be used to complement/enrich the Food Security classification from the FC groups. This is particularly important if:

• The FCS is not a sufficient indicator of household FS in the local context (e.g., no convergence of evidence, food aid recipients)

• Substantial changes in food access will take place across the population in the short run (e.g., as a result of a recent shock).

Example: looking at food sources

10

8

17

15

50

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

population

acceptable

borderline

poor

Food consumption

Food aid recipients

10

25

65

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

population

acceptable

borderline

poor

Food consumption

– 10% poor food security– 25% borderline food security

Or: – 10% poor food security– 25% borderline, including 8% receiving food aid– 15% with acceptable food consumption but who also receive food aid

Farmers: FCGs & own production

15%

70%

5% w ith bad production

10% good production

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

poor

bordeline

acceptable

% HHs

Example: considering livelihood

15% of the farmers have poor consumption, 15% borderline consumption, 70% acceptable consumption…

…however, 5% have a borderline consumption AND bad production.

They face a more instable food security situation compared with the 10% borderline that produce well.

Profiling the food insecureProfiling the food insecure

ENCAP TRAINING ENCAP TRAINING

Bangkok 12-17 January 2009Bangkok 12-17 January 2009

• Once the food consumption groups are identified, it is important to explore the socio-economical characteristics of the food insecure

Who are they?

Profiling the food insecure

Demographic factors

Demographic Factors by FC groups

22%

10%

30%

5%

30%

11%

27%

1%

23%

7%

16%

1%

24%

8%

19%

2%

0%

5%

10%

15%20%

25%

30%

35%

Female-headed HHs elderly-headed HH Illiterate headed HH CI/disabled HH head

% H

Hs

poor borderline acceptable Total

0%20%40%

60%80%

100%no

ne

inco

mpl

ete

prim

ary

com

plet

epr

imar

y

mor

e th

anpr

imar

y

Poor Border line Good

Education Head of HH

Demographic factors

Economic factors

Food Consumption Groups (FCS) by Livelihood Profiles

2%

9%

12%

7%

9%

0%

0%

0%

7%

10%

0%

13%

22%

30%

23%

29%

13%

13%

25%

30%

12%

54%

85%

69%

58%

71%

62%

87%

87%

75%

63%

79%

46%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Employees

Petty trade

Casual Labourers

Skilled Labourers

Support receivers

Other (charcoal)

Traders

renting

Food Crop Farmers

remittance

pensioners

poor borderline acceptable

Economic factors

Employment status by Food Consumption Group

12%25%

39%22%16%

8%42% 36%

38%

24% 23% 15%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

poor borderline acceptable

% H

Hs

Wage/salary Casual Self-employed Unemployed

% HHs w ith one income source by Food Consumption Group

53%

55%

51%

49%

50%

51%

52%

53%

54%

55%

56%

poor borderline acceptable%

HH

s

Assets

Food Consumption Groups

poor borderline acceptable

Own 34% 34% 39%

Rent 42% 46% 45% Squatter 12% 8% 7%

Caretaker 13% 12% 8%

Bed frame (wood, metal) 30% 38% 63%

Sponge mattress 80% 91% 94% Table/chairs 67% 76% 85%

Radio 28% 41% 60%

Television 4% 5% 26%

Generator 3% 5% 25% Cell phone 41% 44% 64%

Comments?