1. Bridging food security and nutrition
Standing Committee on Nutrition: Working Together
Bridging food security and nutrition
Simple tools for measuring households’ access to food and dietary diversity
Marie Claude Dop
Terri Ballard
Amélie Solal-Céligny
Gina Kennedy
FAO Nutrition and Consumer Protection Division
In collaboration with the Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance (FANTA) Project, under the EC-FAO Food Security Information for Action Programme

2. Outline
The conceptual framework
Our approach
Description of the tools
Description of the project
Next steps

3. The conceptual framework
Our approach
Description of the tools
Description of the project
Next steps

4. 1. The conceptual framework
Anthropometry
Individual Dietary Diversity
Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS)
Household Dietary Diversity
Adapted from UNICEF conceptual framework for malnutrition

5. The conceptual framework
Our approach
Description of the tools
Description of the project
Next steps

6. 2- Our approach
Our approach is to :
Use existing tools (not create new tools)
Promote standardization
Assist countries in adaptation of the tools to the local context
Identify entry points for integration into food security and nutrition information systems
In order to :
build capacity of national institutions to produce relevant food security and nutrition information for decision-making on a timely basis

7. The conceptual framework
Our approach
Description of the tools
Description of the project
Next steps

8. 3- Description of the tools
Household Dietary Diversity Questionnaire
Expanded FANTA tool with 14 food groups
Indicator of access to food
Validated in a multicountry study against energy intake
(Hodinott and Yohannes, 2002)

9. 3- Description of the tools
Individual Dietary Diversity Questionnaire
Adapted from DHS questionnaire to mothers of infants
16 food groups
Indicator of dietary quality
Dietary diversity validated against nutrient adequacy in various age groups
On-going discussion on choice of food groups and interpretation

10. 3- Description of the tools
FANTA Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS)
9 questions about food-related experiences of households when facing inadequate access to food
In the past 4 weeks,
did it happen that you or any household member had to eat some foods that you really did not want to eat because of lack of resources?
did it happen that you or any household member had to eat fewer meals in a day because there was not enough food?
did it happen that you or any household member went to sleep at night hungry because there was not enough food?
The development of the tool is described in a Supplement of Journal of Nutrition, vol. 136, 2006

11. 3- Description of the tools
Potential uses:
→ together with other indicators (not stand alone tools)
situation and vulnerability assessments in contexts of chronic food insecurity or for early warning and Integrated Phase Classification
targeting communities for food security interventions
monitoring and evaluation of the impact of strategies and programmes, including at decentralized level

12. 3- Description of the tools
Strengths:
early indicators
specific to food
easy to administer
easy to analyze at decentralized level
Limitations:
risk of biased responses due to expectation of aid
more validation needed in different contexts
Further work needed:
refinement of scoring and interpretation

13. The conceptual framework
Our approach
Description of the tools
Description of the project
Next steps

14. 4- Description of the project
In 6 countries:
Burkina Faso, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, West Bank/Gaza Strip
Build capacity for adaptation, translation and field testing of the tools for use in the individual countries
Consult with national and international organizations for integration of the tools in on-going information systems
In several countries, provide technical support for analysis and interpretation of data

15. 4- Description of the project
Country-level activities in 2006
Kenya: Field adaptation done in August National stakeholder meeting in Nov
National team: Dr. Alice Mwangi and Ms. Gloria Mbera, University of Nairobi Applied Human Nutrition Programme with assistance of Ms. Muthoni Mwangi, FAO-Kenya and the Ministry of Agriculture.
Malawi: Field adaptation done in July National stakeholder meeting in Nov
National Team: Dr. Beatrice Mtimuni and Mr. Numeri Geresomo of the Bunda College of Agriculture, Home Economics and Human Nutrition Programme with assistance from the Ministry of Agriculture.
Mozambique: Field adaptation done in March Integration into baseline survey for BSF project, Nov/Dec 2006
National team: Ms. Kerry Selvester, ANSA, with assistance from personnel of provincial SETSAN offices.

16. 4- Description of the project
Planned country-level activities for 2007
Burkina Faso:
Tools were integrated into an Agricultural survey in The project will provide technical support to Government for further applications of tools, for data analysis and interpretation of indicators.
Somalia:
Field adaptation of dietary diversity and HFIAS questionnaires for use in on-going monitoring and periodic assessments. Validation of Dietary Diversity against children’s and women’s anthropometry.
→ Work to be done with FSAU-nutrition section
West Bank/Gaza Strip:
Capacity building in use of tools for rapid assessment on food insecurity in times of crisis.

17. 4- Description of the project
International Workshop on simple tools for measuring household access to food and dietary diversity
Nairobi: March 21-23, 2007
→ To discuss the tools and their integration into information systems
Participants coming from 6 countries with ongoing projects under the EC/FAO Programme, including representatives of key line Ministries, FANTA Project and South Africa.

18. The conceptual framework
Our approach
Description of the tools
Description of the project
Next steps

19. 5- Next steps
Produce guidelines for adaptation, use, analysis and interpretation of the tools
Repeat survey in Mozambique to detect seasonal changes in food security using the tools
Continue collaboration with governments and international agencies for application of the tools
Introduce the tools into M&E of National Programmes for Food Security (NPFS)

20. THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION