According to The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) famine exists in areas where, even with the benefit of any delivered humanitarian assistance, at least one in five households has an extreme lack of food and other basic needs. Extreme hunger and destitution is evident. Significant mortality, directly attributable to outright starvation or to the interaction of malnutrition and disease is occurring. Famine is declared when there is evidence of the following three conditions in a single location: at least 20 percent of households in an area face extreme food shortages with a limited ability to cope; acute malnutrition rates exceed 30 per cent; and the death rate exceeds two persons per day per 10,000 persons.[1]
FAMINE EARLY WARNING SYSTEM Network (FEWS NET) is a provider of early warning and analysis on acute food insecurity. Created in 1985 by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) after devastating famines in East and West Africa, FEWS NET provides objective, evidence-based analysis to help government decision-makers and relief agencies plan for and respond to humanitarian crises.[2]
A global, real-time database that records all reported international humanitarian aid (including that for NGOs and the Red Cross/Red Crescent movement, bilateral aid, in-kind aid and private donations). All FTS data is provided by donors or recipient organizations.[3]
Flash appeals are used for structuring and funding a coordinated humanitarian response for the first three to six months of an emergency. The Humanitarian Coordinator triggers a flash appeal in consultation with all stakeholders; ideally, a flash appeal should be issued within one week from the onset of an emergency. It provides a concise overview of urgent life and livelihood-saving needs, and may include recovery projects that contribute to enhance resilience, when these can be implemented within the appeal’s time frame.[4]
Are crops cultivated primarily for animal feed. By extension, natural grasslands and pastures are included whether they are cultivated or not.[5]
Access by individuals to adequate resources (entitlements) for acquiring appropriate foods for a nutritious diet, such as land, income and markets, among others.[6]There are three types of food access: physical, economic and social access.
The availability of sufficient quantities of food of appropriate quality, supplied through domestic production or imports (including food aid).[7]
The full range of instruments, activities, and platforms that empower vulnerable and food-insecure people and communities, so they can regularly have access to nutritious food. It seeks not only to save lives and livelihoods in the short term, but also to combat the root causes of hunger over the medium to long term. Food assistance thus includes instruments such as in-kind food, vouchers or cash transfers used to assure recipients’ access to food of a given quantity, quality, or value.[8]
The World Food Programme (WFP)’s Food Assistance for Assets (FFA) initiative addresses immediate food needs through cash, voucher or food transfers, while at the same time it promotes the building or rehabilitation of assets that will improve long-term food security and resilience. FFA activities aim to create healthier natural environments, reduce the risks and impact of climate shocks, increase food productivity, and strengthen resilience to crises and natural disasters over time.[9]
The Food Balance Sheet (FBS) as well as the Cereal Balance Sheet (CBS) is a tool for analysing the overall food supply situation and estimating import requirements of a country or a region. The food balance sheet shows for each food item - i.e. each primary commodity and a number of processed commodities potentially available for human consumption - the sources of supply and its utilization. The total quantity of foodstuffs produced in a country added to the total quantity imported and adjusted to any change in stocks that may have occurred since the beginning of the reference period gives the supply available during that period. On the utilization side a distinction is made between the quantities exported, fed to livestock, used for seed, put to manufacture for food use and non-food uses, losses during storage and transportation, and food supplies available for human consumption. The per capita supply of each such food item available for human consumption is then obtained by dividing the respective quantity by the related data on the population actually partaking of it. Data on per capita food supplies are expressed in terms of quantity and - by applying appropriate food composition factors for all primary and processed products - also in terms of caloric value and protein and fat content.[10]
List of items agreed by FSC partners to meet households’ dietary needs. According to the Sphere Standard,[11]on average a person needs to consume 2,100 kcal per day to be food secure. Humanitarian food assistance is meant to cover the gap to meet the required 2,100 kcal per person per day, thus the food basket has a specific percentage that may sometimes reach 100 percent in some situations. At country level, the FSC needs to work with partners to harmonize the food basket to the local context. The in-kind food basket can be converted to cash (based on local market prices); the value of the food basket in cash is the baseline used to determine the value of FSC context-specific cash interventions.
This activity, usually captured under the livelihood objective, consists of the distribution of food or cash as incentive for labour implemented to build or rehabilitate assets and livelihoods. These assets are usually linked to the improvement of long-term food security and resilience. Programmes typically revolve around either labour-intensive public works, such as market rehabilitation or irrigation canals, or income generating activities.[12]
Impact of threats on the human food chain at all stages (from production to consumption), causing detrimental effects on food security, human health, livelihoods, national economies and global markets. Outbreaks of transboundary animal and plant pests and diseases, including aquatic and forest pests and diseases, and food safety and radiation events that can affect any step of the food chain with a potential high impact on food and nutrition security.[13]
The frequency weighted diet diversity score or “Food consumption score” is a score calculated using the frequency of consumption of different food groups consumed by a household during the 7 days before the survey.[14] The FCS-N is a tool derived from the corporate indicator FCS looking at three main nutrients (Vitamin A, Protein and Hem Iron) of the food items consumed.[15]
FFE is defined as a program using food as a resource to improve educational outcomes. FFE programs are designed and implemented as part of a larger effort to improve educational quality. They combine food with other education resources – materials and supplies, teacher training, etc. – to enhance educational outcomes through integrated programming. In the short term, the link between FFE and food security is through the impact that FFE programs can have on increasing the participation and progress of children in school; in the long run, the link is through the contribution that FFE makes to household conditions thanks to improved education.[16]
Fortification is the practice of deliberately increasing the content of an essential micronutrient, i.e. vitamins and minerals (including trace elements) in a food, so as to improve the nutritional quality of the food supply and provide a public health benefit with minimal risk to health.[17]
A situation that exists when people lack secure access to sufficient amounts of safe and nutritious food for normal growth and development and an active and healthy life. It may be caused by the unavailability of food, insufficient purchasing power, inappropriate distribution or inadequate use of food at the household level. Food insecurity, poor conditions of health and sanitation and inappropriate care and feeding practices are the major causes of poor nutritional status. Food insecurity may be chronic, seasonal or transitory.[18]
Food loss refers to the decrease of food in subsequent stages of the food supply chain intended for human consumption. Food is lost or wasted throughout the supply chain, from initial production down to final household consumption. This may be due to problems in harvesting, storage, packing, transport, infrastructure or market/ price mechanisms, as well as institutional and legal frameworks.
The activities that take place within the food system between the farm gate and the consumer. This includes processing, wholesaling, retailing, food service, and transportation functions and excludes all functions performed by producers on the farm.[19]
A situation that exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. Based on this definition, four food security dimensions can be identified: food availability, access to food, food utilization and stability over time.[20]
Food Security Outcome Monitoring Initiative (FSOMI) allows for comparisons between beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries on their food security, expenditure and processes, and serves to inform programme adjustments and decision-making. The methodology consists on applying a questionnaire that includes close-ended questions to a random representative sample of assisted and non-assisted households.[21]
It is a system that allows tracking of changes and trends in food security conditions. In particular, it provides advance information of deterioration of a situation. It triggers an EFSA when the situation deteriorates progressively. It provides information to adjust contingency plans and supports programme monitoring by providing food security information about areas with and without assistance.[22]
Food systems encompass the entire range of actors and their interlinked value-adding activities involved in the production, aggregation, processing, distribution, consumption and disposal of food products. Food systems comprise all food products that originate from crop and livestock production, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture, as well as the broader economic, societal and natural environments in which these diverse production systems are embedded (FAO, forthcoming). Activities in the food system also include the provision of inputs and services in the extended value chain, which support (or constrain) the flow of goods through the different stages of the core value chain.[23]
To be food secure, a population, household or individual must have access to adequate food at all times. They should not risk losing access to food as a consequence of sudden shocks (e.g. an economic or climatic crisis) or cyclical events (e.g. seasonal food insecurity). The concept of stability can therefore refer to both the availability and access dimensions of food security.[24]
Utilization of food through adequate diet, clean water, sanitation and health care to reach a state of nutritional well-being where all physiological needs are met. This brings out the importance of non-food inputs in food security.[25]
A forward looking analysis, comparing plans against targets. It aims to identify gaps in future months and it provides key information to Cluster Coordinators to advocate to donors.
Information Management (IM) is the process by which FSC partners report to the country level FSC Information Management Officer (IMO) on a monthly basis in order to inform on achievements. The FSC aggregates the contributions from cluster partners’ into FSC output indicators that were set against FSC objectives (check example of dashboard).
Organisations that engage with the FSC at country level and have projects entered into the HRP under food security. Good examples of engagement would include: actively reporting to the country FSC, regularly attending meetings and participating in FSC working groups.
[1]http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-detail-forms/ipcinfo-resource-detail0/en/c/178965/
[2]Source: For a more detailed description please refer to http://www.fews.net/about-us
[4]For an example: https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/en/programme-cycle/space/documents/document-type/other-response-plans
[5]http://www.fao.org/ES/faodef/fdef11e.htm
[6]http://www.fao.org/energy/home/definitions/en/
[7]http://www.fao.org/energy/home/definitions/en/
[8]“World Food Assistance 2017” available at https://docs.wfp.org/api/documents/WFP-0000019564/download/?_ga=2.4140080.1666275957.1500537730-599216204.1487597303
[9]Source: For a more detailed description please refer to http://www1.wfp.org/food-assistance-for-assets
[10]http://www.spherehandbook.org/en/appendix-6/
[11]http://www.spherehandbook.org/en/appendix-6/
[12]For an example: http://www1.wfp.org/food-assistance-for-assets
[13]http://www.fao.org/food-chain-crisis/home/en/
[14]http://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/manual_guide_proced/wfp197216.pdf
[15]https://resources.vam.wfp.org/node/88
[16]https://www.wfp.org/content/food-education-indicator-guide
[17]Source: For a more detailed description please refer to Guidelines on food fortification with micronutrients available at http://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/guide_food_fortification_micronutrients.pdf
[18]“The State of Food Insecurity In The World 2015” available at http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4646e.pdf
[19]https://www.princeton.edu/~ota/disk3/1978/7806/780609.PDF
[20]“The State Of Food Insecurity In The World 2015” available at http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4646e.pdf
[21]Source: For a more detailed description please refer to https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/FSOM%20report_Apr%202017.pdf
[22]http://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/manual_guide_proced/wfp243771.pdf
[24]http://www.fao.org/energy/home/definitions/en/
[25]Ibid.