Food Security
High levels of chronic malnutrition are the most reliable indicator of food insecurity. USAID defines food security as, “when all people at all times have both physical and economic access to sufficient food to meet their dietary needs in order to lead a healthy and productive life." There are three main components to food security:
Availability – Sufficient quantities of appropriate, necessary types of food from domestic production, commercial imports, or donors are consistently available to individuals or are in reasonable proximity to them.
Access – Individuals have adequate incomes or other resources to purchase or barter to obtain levels of appropriate foods needed to maintain consumption of an adequate diet and nutritional level.
Utilization – Food is properly used: proper food processing and storage practices, adequate knowledge and application of nutrition and child care, and adequate health and sanitation services exist.
Improved nutritional status is the ultimate goal of food security programs. Due to the price increase of foods from 2006-2008, food insecurity is on the rise in most developing countries. In this time of crisis, the quality of one’s diet is more important than ever. If people are eating less food, the food they are eating should be rich in micronutrients and sufficient in calories. When overall food consumption is low, women and children are the first to suffer. In a time when access is increasingly challenging, utilization of food within the household is often ill-distributed.
DCHA/Food for Peace (FFP) and Global Health (GH) are working together to ensure that Title II programs target food-insecure and vulnerable regions of each country receiving U.S. food aid. Based on a USAID-funded study from Haiti, FFP has adopted the “Preventing Malnutrition in Under Twos Approach,” or PM2A, as its recommended approach for all maternal and child health and nutrition (MCHN) programming in multiyear Title II programs. With effective targeting, FFP resources can mitigate the effects of food insecurity and improve the nutritional status of women and children. Through the PM2A approach, food supplementation activities in MCHN programs focus on all children under the age of 2 in communities with high rates of malnutrition. It supports the rationale that interventions should begin as early as possible and focus on the prevention of malnutrition rather than recuperation from malnutrition.
GH works with FFP to expand the evidence base on effective program approaches, undertake gold-standard evaluations to improve the evidence available on program impact, expand the availability of high-quality food security data in USAID food aid priority countries, and refine new tools for food security assessments. A critical component of the development relief approach is the incorporation of early warning and response (EWR) systems into Title II multiyear programs which can provide information on both chronic and transitory food insecurity and can anticipate shocks. FFP implementing partners are incorporating EWR into programs, harmonizing EWR systems and indicators among national partners, strengthening contingency response planning, and incorporating nutritional data.
Related Links
- Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance 2
FANTA-2 works to improve nutrition and food security policies, strategies, and programs through technical support to USAID and its partners, including host country governments, international organizations, and NGO implementing partners.
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