Local studies on household food security – lessons from recent studies using anthropometric and...
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Local studies on household food security – lessons from recent studies using anthropometric and food access measures DST and HSRC seminar on “Policy-relevant
Local studies on household food security lessons from recent
studies using anthropometric and food access measures DST and HSRC
seminar on Policy-relevant indicators to monitor household
food-security status in South Africa Cape Town 12 th of November
2013 Prof L. DHaese, Prof H.C. Schnfeldt & Prof M. Karaan
Slide 2
Food Security is a multi-dimensional phenomenon Since 1996:
more than 200 different definitions Yet it only originated from the
mid 1970s From the definition/vision of food security four
dimensions of food security have been determined: 1.Food
availability 2.Food accessibility 3.Food utilisation 4.Food
stability AVAILABILITY ACCESS UTILISATION STABILITY
Slide 3
Case Study: Food Security of rural Limpopo Province (2011) Five
frequently used food security indicators included in the study:
1.Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) 2.Food/Household
expenditure 3.Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) 4.Months of
Adequate Household Food Provisioning (MAHFP) 5.Food poverty (FP)
and Low Energy Availability (LEA) also known as the Rose and
Charlton indices
Slide 4
Data collection (July August 2011) DISTRICTMUNICIPALITY
1MUNICIPALITY 2RESPONSIBLE? CapricornBlouberg (60)Molemole (60)
Total: 120 surveys data collection data entry 4 enumerators + 1
controller + 1 data entry MopaniGiyani (60)Maruleng (60) Total: 120
surveys data collection data entry 4 enumerators + 1 controller + 1
data entry SekhukhuneFetakgomo (60)Tubatse (60) Total: 120 surveys
data collection data entry 4 enumerators + 1 controller + 1 data
entry VhembeMutale (60)Thulamela (60) Total: 120 surveys data
collection data entry 4 enumerators + 1 controller + 1 data entry
WaterbergMogalakwena (60)Mookgopong (60) Total: 120 surveys data
collection data entry 4 enumerators + 1 controller + 1 data
entry
Slide 5
Food insecurity & poverty rural Limpopo province 53%
severely food insecure on the basis of the HFIAS 32% less then
1$/person per day 60% less then 2$/person per day
Slide 6
Validating Limpopo Case Study results Figures from 2002 43% of
SA households suffer from food poverty A state where physiological
human needs are not adequately met as the available amount of money
is not enough to purchase a basic nutritionally balanced diet
National Food Consumption Survey -Fortification Baseline (NFCS-FB),
2005 Limpopo, 2011 1 in 2 hh experienced hunger 1 in 3 hh were at
risk of hunger 1 in 5 ppl were food secure 53% severely food
insecure 26% moderately food insecure 21% food secure
Slide 7
Current National Values vs. Limpopo Case Study SANHANES-1
(2012)( South African National Health and Nutrition Examination
Survey) Hunger (food insecurity) assessed by means of the Community
Childhood Hunger Identification Project (CCHIP) The CCHIP index is
based on eight occurrence questions A score of one to four
indicates that members of the household are at risk of hunger A
score of zero indicates that the household is food secure Compared
to Limpopo Case Study, SANHANES-1 (2012) Included both rural and
urban areas Method to measure food insecurity was different
IndicatorDefinition of food insecurity is different Food
poverty (IES)Household spending on food less than minimum food
basket Income poverty (GHS) Household spending less than R1200 per
month Dietary diversity (DDS) Less than 4 food groups consumed out
of 9 groups Dietary diversity (NFCS) Less than 6 food groups
consumed out of 13 groups Stunting and underweight (NFCS) Stunting
measures HAZ below -2SD; underweight measures WAZ below -2SD CCHIP
index (SASAS & NFCS) Additive scale combines coping strategies
& perception of hunger Food insecure when more than 4/8
questions answered yes HFIAS (GHS)Additive scale combines coping
strategies & perception of hunger Food insecure when more than
2/4 questions answered yes Hunger index (GHS)Perception of hunger
by household 2 questions asked General problems in measuring Food
Security in studies (NFCS 1999 & 2005; GHS 2001 & 2011;
SASAS 2008; DDS 2009; IES 1995, 2000, 2005/6, 2010/11; SANHANES-1
2012)
Survey Food access Food utilization Food availability Time
frame Sample size IES Every five years 30 000 NFCS Not done since
2005 2894 SASAS Once off3500 DDS Once off3827 GHS Yearly30 000
SANHANES-1 (2012) provided updated clinical data such as
anthropometric & biomarker data (such as iron status) on 12,025
participants
Slide 12
Results from various studies vary No regularized ways of
monitoring food security in SA Different methodologies Different
samples & sampling techniques Assess different aspects of food
security Bound to give different results As a result, difficult to:
Compare indicators across studies Come up with a single food
security estimate for SA Difficult task since there is no gold
standard to compare results to Never a national survey was
conducted to assess all food security dimensions (Labadarios et al
2011)
Slide 13
Slide 14
Food Security Today Food security analysis become more
associated to poverty & inequality The approach moves more to
livelihood indicators and deprivation of capabilities to lead a
minimally acceptable life As objective verifiable indicators are
making place for subjective measurements (i.e. HFIAS)
Slide 15
Distribution of the various Food Security indicators in rural
areas of Limpopo
Slide 16
Slide 17
Food security is difficult to measure 1.Multi-dimensionality of
food security makes it technically complicated to develop
indicators 2.Difficult to develop an indicator for every element
3.The conceptual challenges refer to the translating of multiple
elements of food security into meaningful indicators
Slide 18
Developing food security indicator(s) for South Africa A good
measure of food security needs to be: Relevant Credible Low cost
Time sensitive Appropriate for the decisions that needs to be made
Needs to be comparable across locations and cultures It needs to be
tested for validity The form depends on the needed information and
the purposes and decisions for which it will be used no golden
standard exists
Slide 19
Slide 20
Developing a Composite Food Security Index for SA Needs to
integrate national, household, individual level + 4 dimensions of
FS Similar approach to the Human Development Index Weights of each
indicator could be calculated according to the Principal Component
Analysis (PCA) Or as HDI: 1/3 of a composite food security
indicator National Level Household Level Individual Level
Slide 21
Weight 1/3 Using the EIU food security index 25 different sub-
indicators of a wide range of trusted organisations are taken in
account EIU index is regularly updated comparing South Africa with
107 countries using a scale from 0 to 100 Developing a Composite
Food Security Index for SA 1 st Component National and Global Level
http://foodsecurityindex.eiu.com/
Slide 22
On the basis of the important determinants of the food security
situation at household level being: household income household size
dependency ratio Food poverty index = relation of income to a
minimal acceptable food consumption of the household Developing a
Composite Food Security Index for SA 2 nd Component Household Level
National Level Household Level Individual Level
Slide 23
Food poverty index Relies on data from: income and expenditure
surveys household size rural and urban food prices monetary value
of the home production caloric value of an adequate basic food plan
Outcome of this index is the % of households able to purchase a
nutritionally adequate basic diet Available funds for food vs. Cost
of nutritionally adequate basic food basket Two main suppliers of
informations related to income in SA South African Advertising
Research Foundation (SAARF) Living Standard Measure (LSM )
(www.saarf.co.za)www.saarf.co.za IES
Slide 24
LSM Spectrum (SAARF, 2013) (BFAP, 2013) Divides population into
three lifestyle levels: 1.Poor consumers (LSM 1-4) 25% of adult
population 50% contribution to income & expenditure Available
funds for food
Slide 25
Average income According to IES survey (Stats SA 2010, 2012) :
Average income per household is between $11 200 and $11 570 (US
dollars) per annum Average earnings by a South African worker is
$313/month 25% of workers earn a monthly salary of less than $168
Share of income derived from government support ranged between 26%
to 40% of households in the lower income groups (BFAP 2013) With
nearly 1/3 of the population being unemployed, the reality is that
1 salary often carries an entire household (Stats SA 2011) Poorest
South Africans (30%) spend nearly 40% of their income on food (NAMC
2012) Available funds for food
Slide 26
Estimating cost of a food basket Two approaches: 1.Based on
balanced daily food plates Basis for the calculation of the cost of
an individuals ideal nutritionally adequate daily food intake
(Schnfeldt et al., 2013) 2.BFAP Poor Person Index (BPPI) Based on a
typical daily food plate Cost of a nutritionally adequate basic
food basket
Slide 27
Approach 1. Balanced daily food plates A.Basic, economical,
nutritionally adequate daily diet 61% energy value of the ideal
option Considers the national Food-Based Dietary Guidelines for a
balanced daily basket Developed for low socio-economic consumers
(LSM 14) R22/person/day; R666/month R3 300 per month per household
of 5 persons (Schnfeldt et al 2013, BFAP 2013) B.Ideal option of
balanced daily food plate Compiled to provide adequate energy &
dietary diversity for an adult through affordable food choice
options R44/person/day; R1 320/person/month R6 600 per household of
5 persons (BFAP 2013) Recommended daily energy intake of adults
10,000 12,000kJ & Children 8,000kJ (Whitney & Rolfes, 2010)
Cost of a nutritionally adequate basic food basket
Slide 28
Considering that: part of agricultural products are produced in
home gardens part of income (40%) used for non-food products Basic
food basket requires: A minimum of R4333 / household (5 persons)
/month in the range of LSM 5 Ideal food basket (adequate dietary
diversity) requires: R9 900 / household (five persons) / month in
the range of LSM 7 These values could be used for the index at
household level Approach 1. Balanced daily food plates Implications
Cost of a nutritionally adequate basic food basket
Slide 29
2 nd Approach: BFAP Poor Person Index (BPPI) Based on a typical
daily food plate Poor South African consumers typical portion sizes
5 most widely consumed food items Grounded on values obtained from
a range of scientific nutritional literature Not nutritionally
adequate, insufficient: total energy value (only providing 2500 kJ)
dietary diversity Cost of a nutritionally adequate basic food
basket
Slide 30
In April 2013 : cost of the BPPI Daily food basket = R4.26 /
person / day = R130 / person / month = R650 / five member household
/ month (assuming equal portions for adults and children) (BFAP
2013) This value can also be used for the index at household level
Cost of a nutritionally adequate basic food basket .stunting, vit
A, zinc & iron deficiencies most prevalent
Slide 31
Weight 1/3 Diet diversity score at individual level Stunting
Micronutrient deficiency Opportunity to evaluate the component
through SANHANES-1 Personal interviews with standardized physical
examinations, diagnostic procedures and a variety of laboratory
tests Developing a Composite Food Security Index for SA 3 rd
Component Individual Level National Level Household Level
Individual Level
Slide 32
AVAILABILITY ACCESS UTILISATION STABILITY National Level
Household Level Individual Level Need to integrate national,
household, individual level + 4 dimensions of FS
Slide 33
Often, choice of an appropriate indicator probably arbitrary
& open to dispute However, the political and social consensus
that merges around the chosen indicator determines to a large
extent the success of the indicator (Oosthuizen 2012) Consensus
over the chosen Food Security Indicator
Slide 34
Conclusion Different components of the composite food security
indicator Selected to agree On the evolution of the food security
situation To verify the outputs and impacts of the food security
policies Towards: Adequate availability of nutritious food
Physical, social and economic accessibility of nutritious food
Utilisation, quality and safety of nutritious food Stability of
nutrition-sensitive food supply
