Estimating prevalence and depth of hunger
- methodology

Here is a brief description of the method FAO uses to estimate the prevalence and depth of undernourishment:

1. Calculate the total number of calories available from local food production, trade and stocks;

2. Calculate an average minimum calorie requirement for the population, based on the number of calories needed by different age and gender groups and the proportion of the population represented by each group;

3. Divide the total number of calories available by the number of people in the country;

4. Factor in a coefficient for distribution to take account of inequality in access to food;

5. Combine this information to construct the distribution of the food supply within the country. This gives the percentage of the population whose food intake falls below the minimum requirement;

6. Multiply this percentage by the size of the population to obtain the number of undernourished people.

7. Divide the total calories available to the undernourished by the number of undernourished to obtain the average dietary energy intake per undernourished person

8. Subtract the average dietary energy intake of undernourished people from their minimum energy requirement (expressed in kilocalories per person per day) to get the average dietary energy deficit of the undernourished. This is the depth of hunger.