World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

The 2013 The Status of Poverty and Food Security in Egypt: Analysis and Policy Recommendations report serves a follow-up to a previous report published in 2011.1 It analyses data from the 2011 Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIECS) by Egypt’s Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS), with a view to providing an in-depth picture of the food security situation and the vulnerability of households in Egypt, particularly subsequent to the 2011 revolution. The HIECS included data from 24,000 households collected by means of a household questionnaire. It is supplemented by a panel sample of 8781 households who were visited in both 2008/09 and 2010/11. Panel data facilitates analysis of change that occurred in specific households between the previous HIECS survey (2008/09) and the 2011 survey. Both samples are representative at governorate level.
The specific objectives of this study are to: a) define food-insecure or vulnerable households in Egypt; b) identify how many are food-insecure; c) identify where they live; and d) identify the underlying correlations and repercussions of food insecurity; and e) put forward associated policy recommendations.

A series of shocks affected Egypt in 2011, including internal civil disturbances, the rise of food prices and a massive return of migrants from Libya. A review of secondary data was conducted to update the knowledge on the food security situation in Egypt, identify information gaps and support decision-making on food security interventions.

This vulnerability analysis report updates and expands the 2005 analysis conducted in Egypt, providing a reliable resource for the Egyptian government, donors and other interested parties in the design of policies, strategies and programmes.