Shaffi Ahmed presentaiton

1. Key Message
• Food security means access by all people at all times to sufficient, safe and
nutritious food for a healthy and active life.
• Inadequate food security is one of the three underlying causes of malnutrition.
• Access to food can often be disrupted during emergencies. It is therefore vital to
do EFSAs to plan interventions to protect food security and ultimately nutritional
status.
• Food security cannot be measured through a single indicator so multiple measures
have to be used.
• There is no single standard method for assessing food security in emergencies and
different agencies have developed approaches that suit their individual needs.

2. Key Messages
• These approaches can be classified into three broad types: (i) early warning and
surveillance systems; (ii) economic and livelihood approaches; (iii) nutritional
status approaches.
• Whilst there is no single ‘best’ way to conduct EFSA, certain elements from
different approaches can be taken to form a ‘hybrid’ suitable for a particular
working context.
• Major challenges exist in EFSA including: the need for standardisation and
minimum standards in methods; incorporation of market analysis; and difficulties
of application in urban and insecure contexts.
• Including nutrition information in a food security assessment improves the quality
of the results and ensures an appropriate response.

3. Introduction
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines food insecurity as a lack of
consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life.
• It is important to know that though hunger and food insecurity are closely related,
they are distinct concepts.
• Hunger refers to a personal, physical sensation of discomfort, while food
insecurity refers to a lack of available financial resources for food at the household
level.
• Food insecurity is one of the underlying causes of malnutrition.
• In this module different emergency food security assessment (EFSA) approaches
are summarised and their advantages and limitations in different contexts outlined.
• Major challenges in EFSA are discussed

4. Food Security
• Food security, as defined by the United Nations’ Committee on World Food
Security, means that all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic
access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their food preferences and
dietary needs for an active and healthy life
• Availability - Sufficient quantities of appropriate food are available from domestic
production, commercial imports or food assistance.
• Access - Adequate income or other resources to access appropriate food through
home production, buying, barter, gifts, borrowing or food aid.
• Utilization - Food is properly used through appropriate food processing and
storage practices, adequate knowledge and application of nutrition and child care,
and adequate health and sanitation services.

5. Food Security
• Over the coming decades, a changing climate, growing global population, rising
food prices, and environmental stressors will have significant yet uncertain
impacts on food security
• Adaptation strategies and policy responses to global change, including options for
handling water allocation, land use patterns, food trade, postharvest food
processing, and food prices and safety are urgently needed
• IFPRI’s work on food security includes analysis of cash transfers, promotion of
sustainable agricultural technologies, building resilience to shocks, and managing
trade-offs in food security, such as balancing the nutritional benefits of meat
against the ecological costs of its production.
• IFPRI’s research on this topic is closely aligned with the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs), including SDG 1, SDG 2, and SDG 3.

6. References
• https://www.ifpri.org/topic/food-security
• https://www.ifpri.org/topic/food-security
• https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg1