Analyzing Food Security Using Household Survey Data

Since the end of the Second World War, the international community has been focusing on reducing the number and the proportion of people who suffer from hunger. Over time it became clear that no single indicator would provide a comprehensive picture of the food security situation. Rather, a suite of indicators is necessary to describe food insecurity in all its dimensions. The demand for evidence-based policies, which brings together providers such as statistical offices and users of food security indicators including policy makers and researchers, has also been increasing. The stand-alone software, ADePT-Food Security Module (available for free downloading), was developed to produce food security indicators from food consumption data collected in household surveys. These indicators, derived at the national and subnational levels, include the consumption of calories and macronutrients, the availability of micronutrients and amino acids, the distribution of calories and the proportion of people undernourished. The book focuses on the theory, methodology, and analysis of these indicators. It has five chapters beginning with a brief overview on concepts of food security. The theory and methodology are further described in the following chapter. To help users with the interpretation of the results some examples are given in chapter 3. Chapter 4 of the book provides guidelines for the preparation of the input datasets. Finally, chapter 5 explains how to use the software. Both the software and this book are products of decades of experience in analyzing food security. This project was made possible through collaboration between FAO and the World Bank, with financial support from the European Union.

'This is a thoughtful, comprehensive, well-written book that helps to bridge the enormous food consumption information gap that hampers the development of evidence-based, national food and nutrition policies in most middle- and low-income countries. It presents a balanced view of both the appeal and the shortcomings of National Household Surveys (NHS) as a data source providing information about the subnational distribution of food, food availability and food security. It provides a detailed description of how to prepare NHS data for use with the ADePT software to develop an extensive set of Excel tables on dietary energy, micro and macronutrients, the value of food expenditures and the cost of the diet. It is soon to become a standard, indispensable aid for food security analysts and policymakers.' --John Fiedler, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI, Washington DC, United States

'ADePT FSM software is a very useful tool that has been developed to facilitate food consumption data processing and generate statistics at national and subnational levels. The book provides guidelines on how to extract indicators on food security using food consumption data collected in household surveys, and how to interpret the output. It is no doubt that the information derived from the ADePT-FSM software will play a critical role in policymaking related to food security.' --Diana Martirosova, Head of Household Survey Division, National Statistical Service of the Republic of Armenia