Index-based measures for identifying and targeting food insecure households. Gabriela Alcaraz

Transcription

1 Index-based measures for identifying and targeting food insecure households Gabriela Alcaraz Food and Nutrition Security February 2008

2 Concepts Food security (FS) when all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. Rome Declaration on World Food Security and World Food Summit (1996)

3 Concepts (cont.) Index A number derived from a formula Used to characterize a set of data Scale Instrument of data collection and measurement Latent variables: needs, attitudes or preferences ( constructs ) assigns numbers Indicators forming the scale = items

4 FS Components Food Availability Food Access Food Utilization Sufficiency Adequacy Stability Food security If this doesn t happen: Food insecurity (FI)

5 FS Measurement Availability Access Utilization Consumption Biological assimilation Food Security not necessarily = Nutrition Security!

6 Food availability indicators Aim to reflect food supply Information on natural resources Meteorological data Agricultural production data (Market) Infrastructure Exposure to conflict Likelihood of shock or disaster (drought...) Food balance sheets Regional / national scale Some overlap with food access indicators

7 Example: FEWS Famine Early Warning Systems Data Monitoring of climatic/environmental data Identification / monitoring of livelihoods Identification of hazards and risks Satellite and meteorological data Livelihoods Market and social conditions Purpose Prevention of famine or food crises Targeting food aid

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10 Example: Food Balance Sheet Provide estimates of quantities available for human consumption in a country during a specified period. Supply: food production, imports, change in stock Utilization: food consumed, lost, used as feedstock, as seed, exports, and manufactured for food or non-food uses. Expressed in per capita terms

11 China 1996 Per capita supply of Cereals = 1671 kcal Information on FBS:

12 Food access indicators Focus on the means or strategies used by the households to meet food needs / to acquire food Vary by region, season, ethnic group, socioeconomic conditions, etc. Indicators Assets Access to credit Migration Strategies for agricultural production Access to food aid

13 Examples Poverty status Agricultural production practices Stock, diversification, overexploitation Participation on programs Social development Food aid

14 Food utilization indicators Measure food utilization / consumption Direct Indirect Household or individual level

15 Utilization - Direct indicators Focus on actual food consumption Perception of food Expenditures on food Food frequency Dietary diversity Caloric intake Coping strategies

16 Caloric and/or nutrient intake Individual or household level Measurement of food served for each person and food wasted (7 / 14 days) Recall (24h) + Snacks, food between meals, and food eaten outside Type and quantity of food consumed Nutrient content (kcal, prot., fat, vits., mins.) Edible portion information Caloric requirements (gender, age, level of activity) FS status: consumption vs. requirements

17 Caloric and/or nutrient intake, cont. Accurate measurement of intake Individual estimates ~ allocation But... Repeated measurements are needed Requires highly skilled enumerators Can induce changes in consumption If recall data: the estimates may become inexact If using household averages: impossible to draw conclusions about the individuals Local measurements hard to interpret (bowl vs kg?)

18 Source: Hoddinott, 1999

19 Indices of dietary diversity Sum of different food or food groups consumed over a certain period (30 d) Can use weighting scheme Household or individual Alternative food groupings are possible But... No information about quantities and therefore about nutritional value of food Need a comprehensive list of food items How to account for food preferences?

20 Groups based on type of food Alternative: Groups based on nutrient content i.e. High protein, high vit. C, etc...

21 Source: Hoddinott, 1999

22 Food security scales Coping strategies: adaptation or responses to food shortages by different household members (adults and children) Ex: USDA FS Scale, FANTA Fast Module Captures sense of vulnerability But... Subjective assessment May induce missreporting

23 Reference period: 7, 15, 30 days or even 12 months Source: Hoddinott, 1999

24 Example FS Scale Bangladesh and Uganda Household adults 12 months Budget constraint for buying food 10 questions 7 binary items Ordered following design Increasing severity of FI Additive w/o weighting Check for: Multidimensionality Internal consistency External validity 1. Food assessment 2. Worried about food 3. Ate same food 4. Ate less food 5. Skipped meals 6. Stopped eating 7. Lost weight

25 Group Bangladesh (%) Uganda (%) Non Food Insecure (0-1, NFI) Moderately Food Insecure (2-4, MFI) Severely Food Insecure (5-7, SFI) Mean score Food security score Proportion of households FS Score Careful with interpretation! Different perceptions Relative to context Bang: +- Ok Ugan: no Ok Bangladesh (%) Uganda (%)

26 Utilization - Indirect indicators Used when direct indicators can t be obtained Storage estimates How long food will last in critical periods Nutritional status assessment Anthropometric measurements Signs and symptoms of deficiencies Composite indexes Child feeding index... FS view!

27 Nutritional status Zscores, BMI... General health and health factors, and feeding practices have an effect Primary caretaker characteristics and children pre- and postnatal care (i.e. breastfeeding) should be considered Reflect rather long term conditions

28 Child feeding index To asess child feeding patterns, age specific Quantifies the relevance of combined practices for child nutrition and health outcomes Practices evaluated as poor, average, or good BUT... practices can be context specific

29 Important: How feeding takes place (~interactions) Example 1: extent of breastfeeding, timing of introduction of complementary food in the child s diet, caregiver-child interactions, health behavior (immunization, seek for treatment) Example 2: current breastfeeding practices, dietary diversity, food frequency, meal frequency

30 Source: Arimond and Ruel, 2001

31 Still open issues... Food quality, food safety Food distribution Individual vs household Change in consumption patterns and food preferences Indicators are not perfect measures of FS/FI

32 Targeting

33 Targeting Process by which benefits are channeled to members of a high priority group that a program seeks to serve, with the aim of reaching the highest potential benefit per capita Implies the recognition of different needs, problems, and priority groups to whom efforts and aid should be directed Helps in the design of the type of intervention suitable for a given situation Depends on objectives, population characteristics, instruments used to transfer benefits, administrative capacity, political conditions, selection criteria, budget limitations, etc.

34 Types of targeting By type of spending: health, safe water, school lunchs for all, mother and infant care (~indirect) Direct for the food insecure Self targeting Administrative Indicator based (index, scales...) Categorical (women, children under 5) Geographical

35 Targeting for FS programs Purposes of targeting: proportion of the food insecure (1) food insecurity gap (2) severity of FI (3) Impact of targeting: Depends on program/project objectives Prop. (1) vs. Severity (3)

36 Example: Mali Using caloric availability: 69% FI persons in study area Project: targeting all, at area, or village level? All: too costly, less help for each one, but no exclusion Area with lowest average: good for the neediest, waste on the better off villages; FI villages in other parts are neglected Most FI villages: more help to less hh, highest impact on severity

37 Source: Hoddinott, 1999b 3 villages Higher impact on participants Similar performance Performance OK, Highest effect in P2

38 Example, cont. Which approach is the best? Costs will differ (data, provision) Random might be the cheapest Inclusion / exclusion will always occur Impact on FI will differ Villages might be the best The priority of social programs is to improve the welfare of the poor, therefore it should be more important To achieve low exclusion To reduce severity measurements

39 Example 2: Argentina Nutrition supplement program Mid 1980 s, food supplements for mother and children (milk) Mother and children up to 2 years of age living in low income areas Delivery through heatlh care units Mother and children were weighted and examined and for elegibility Poorest province not very successful in participation associated costs?

40 Example 2: Argentina, cont. Emergency food program Mid-late 1980 s, delivery of food (including milk) to vulnerable families Initially, food distribution in areas where poor households were concentrated (housing characteristics) Within areas, priority given to hh with pregnant women or small children Problem: reduced mothers visit to clinics since milk was available in this way Pfeffermann and Griffin, 1989