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| FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS |
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 What
is VAM? |
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VAM, which stands for "Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping",
is both an office in Rome and a function of WFP staff in the field,
as well as a set of food security and vulnerability assessment
activities.
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What
kind of information does VAM produce to help WFP?
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VAM, both the analysts and the assessments
they provide, offer WFP decision-makers accurate, timely analysis
and information about the state of food security and vulnerability
in developing countries. |
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Are
maps the main products of vulnerability analysis?
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Some of VAM's most visible and valued
outputs are maps, and the Unit sees mapping as an essential part
of its analytic activities.
But this is only one tool and one type of presentation that can
be used to describe food insecurity or vulnerability. |
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| Do
VAM officers have to be secondary data analysis or mapping experts? |
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The ability to analyse complex data and
information, and to map geographic patterns of food insecurity and
vulnerability, is vitally important to VAM.
But it is equally important for VAM officers to understand the dynamics
of food security and vulnerability and how to assess them. |
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What
analytic methods do VAM analysts use to assess food security and
vulnerability?
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VAM personnel use a variety of assessment
methods, depending upon the type of food security problem, the data
available, the WFP information needs, and the analytical skills
available.
In general, VAM assessments analyse the household: the nature
of its food security, the risks its faces and its ability to restore
security once it has been lost.
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How
do VAM analyses differ from other household food security assessment
approaches?
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VAM analyses differ from other household
food security assessments through their need to serve WFP decision-making
needs.
They must:
1) address both emergency and development settings
2) assess food security and vulnerability in any part of the world
3) provide essential information to a field operation within a
short timeframe
4) identify the appropriate role and quantities of food aid required
in food security crises.
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What is the Standard Analytical Framework (SAF)? |
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VAM's Standard Analytical Framework
(SAF) describes a common conceptual framework of food security and
vulnerability and 'best practices in assessment' that establishes
VAM's standard approaches, methods, tools and products.
The SAF also helps both VAM and non-VAM personnel to carry out
specific assessments in a way that meets WFP information requirements,
sets common standards and guarantees quality control.
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| What
is VAM's relation to FIVIMS? |
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FIVIMS - Food Insecurity and Vulnerability
Information and Mapping System - is an initiative of the 1996 World
Food Summit, designed to support both the creation and reinforcement
of national government capabilities in food security and vulnerability
assessment.
Where a national FIVIMS group exists, VAM is generally a key
member of it. Where they do not exist, VAM sees its role in food
security and vulnerability information collection and assessment
as a step towards creating such a grouping.
VAM avoids duplicating functions already provided by existing
FIVIMS groups.
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| What
is VAM's commitment to national capacity-building? |
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VAM supports the need to improve local
capacities in the assessment of food security and vulnerability.
Wherever possible, VAM encourages host countries to develop their
own skills in vulnerability analysis. |
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| What's
the difference between Vulnerability and Poverty Assessments? |
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While poverty is usually analysed in
relation to level of income or expenditure, in food security and
vulnerability analysis, the main three criteria are: the physical
availability of food stocks, people's ability to produce or purchase
food and their ability to achieve an acceptable level of nutrition. |
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| What's
the difference between food security and vulnerability? |
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Food security analysis is a 'snapshot'
view of whether there is enough food to meet the needs of a specified
population for a particular period of time.
Vulnerability analysis tries to predict the likelihood of a population
maintaining food security by looking at how exposed to risk it
is, and how well it can protect its food security when challenged
by a hazard, man-made or natural.
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| What
is the relationship between VAM and monitoring & evaluation? |
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As a rule, VAM is not involved in the
monitoring of WFP programme activities, eg, numbers of schools built,
wells dug, food distributed / received). However, VAM analysis may
provide an essential baseline against which the long-term impact
of WFP programming can be measured.
VAM is also supposed to monitor food security situation in the
country, even in areas where WFP is not currently operative, to
identify changes and emerging threats in people's food security.
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