Food Access Indicators

ENCAP TRAINING
Bangkok 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.)
 Key Concepts

Even though “food access” is easier to

observe than “food security”, still it is a
difficult concept to measure

In fact…
 Key Concepts

…The way the households access food:

• depends on household livelihood activities
• is context-specific (e.g., new challenges in urban contexts)

therefore

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
From HH questionnaire several
questions related to access…
 Current Food Consumption

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!
 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.
 Sources of food (cont’d)

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)

 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 food
ii. have low per capita total expenditures
iii. 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 Farmers
i. 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
100% 100%
Food Food
90% 90%
consumption consumption
80% 80%
50
70% acceptable 70% acceptable
65
60% borderline 60% borderline
50% poor 50% poor
40% 15
40%
30% 30%
25 17 Food aid
20% 20%
8
recipients
10% 10%
10 10
0% 0%
population population

– 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
 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.

Farmers: FCGs & own production

acceptable 70%

10% good
production
bordeline
5% w ith bad
production

poor 15%

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

% HHs
Profiling the food insecure

ENCAP TRAINING
Bangkok 12-17 January 2009
 Profiling the food insecure

• Once the food consumption groups are identified, it is

important to explore the socio-economical characteristics
of the food insecure

Who are they?

 Demographic factors

Dem ographic Factors by FC groups

poor borderline acceptable Total

35% 30% 30%

30% 27%
22% 23%24%
25%
19%
% HHs

20% 16%
15% 10%11%
10% 7% 8%
5%
5% 1% 1% 2%
0%
Female-headed HHs elderly-headed HH Illiterate headed HH CI/disabled HH head
 Demographic factors

Poor Border line Good

100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
none

complete
incomplete

more than
primary

primary
primary

Education Head of HH
 Economic factors

Food Consum ption Groups (FCS) by Livelihood Profiles

pensioners 0% 54% 46%

remittance 10% 12% 79%

Food Crop Farmers 7% 30% 63%

renting0% 25% 75%
Traders 0% 13% 87%
Other (charcoal)0% 13% 87%

Support receivers 9% 29% 62%

Skilled Labourers 7% 23% 71%

Casual Labourers 12% 30% 58%

Petty trade 9% 22% 69%

Employees 2% 13% 85%

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

poor borderline acceptable

 Economic factors

Em ploym ent status by Food Consum ption Group % HHs w ith one incom e source by
Food Consum ption Group
Wage/salary Casual Self-employed Unemployed

56% 55%
100%
15% 55%
24% 23%
80% 54% 53%
38%

% HHs
60% 53%
% HHs

42% 36%
8% 52% 51%
40%
16% 51%
20% 22% 39%
25% 50%
12%
0% 49%
poor borderline acceptable poor borderline acceptable
 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?