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DEFINING FOOD SECURITY
& VULNERABILITY
Food security and vulnerability? There is a direct link between
the definition of these terms and the methods that should be used
to measure and assess them in the field.
The Standard Analytical Framework (SAF),
and therefore VAM assessments, are built on specific and commonly
accepted definitions of two key terms: food security and vulnerability.
FOOD SECURITY
Like health or social welfare, there is no single,
direct measure of food security. The food security status of any
one area, community, household or individual, over a defined period
of time, is determined by the interaction of a wide range of factors:
agro-environmental, socio-economic, political and cultural as well
as biological.
Such complexity is simplified for assessment
purposes by focusing on several distinct, but inter-related, functional
dimensions of food security:
- Aggregate food availability in a specified
area: Are the food stocks already in, or brought to, the
area from all sources - local and national production, international
imports -- and distributed by whatever method - markets, food
aid, gifts -- sufficient to meet human consumption requirements
in that area?
- Household food access:
do the amount and timing of a household's income, food production
and entitlements give all its members the means to acquire enough
food to meet consumption requirements?
- Food utilisation: will the quantity, type,
and quality of food consumed be sufficient to maintain an active
and healthy life?
VULNERABILITY TO FOOD INSECURITY
Vulnerability can be defined as the probability
of an acute decline in "food access" or "consumption".
It can be measured as a function of two factors:
- Exposure to risk: a factor of the frequency,
probability of occurrence, and severity of impact of natural
/ man-made hazards.
- Ability to cope: determined by the existing
level of food security and the ability of vulnerable groups
to offset income and food production losses caused by natural
/ man-made hazards
ANALYSIS OF
FOOD SECURITY / VULNERABILITY
Food security analysis takes a "snapshot"
of how much food availability, access and utilization a group
has, and compares it with the amount the group needs to be secure
for a specified period of time.
Vulnerability analysis is a forward-looking analysis
that considers how food secure (or insecure) a group is, and then
assesses the likelihood that "shocks" (drought, floods,
etc.) could make them insecure in the future.
It also gauges whether they can effectively mitigate
the impact of the shocks and re-establish their food security
once it is lost.
THE FOOD INSECURE AND VULNERABLE
There is always a significant overlap between families
currently food insecure and those that risk becoming food insecure
in the future.
From a WFP operational perspective, the priority
of both food security and vulnerability analysis should be pinpointing
households that are already or close to being food insecure.
But WFP vulnerability analysis also pays particular
attention to the conditions of the following groups:
- Young children, and pregnant and lactating women,
because of their special developmental and dietary needs
- Female-headed households (see below), the
elderly, the sick and the disabled.
| Gender-sensitive
Vulnerability Analysis |
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WFP has made a special commitment to women, and
views food aid as an important means to ensure women gain
access to social and economic resources
Understanding the gender aspects of food insecurity and
vulnerability - for example what stops women from developing
sustainable coping mechanisms or gaining access to a key
assets such as finance, food or livestock - is a key dimension
of all SAF assessments
Gender-sensitive vulnerability analysis is an important
means for WFP to better understand the particular problems
women face in developing countries and to identify opportunities
where food aid can be used to redress the situation
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