6. New Publications

State of Food Insecurity in the World, 2000

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

According to the latest edition of FAO's The state of food insecurity in the world (SOFI 2000), little progress has been made in bringing about significant reductions in the number of the world's hungry - estimated at 826 million. Released annually on World Food Day, SOFI monitors the progress made in reaching the World Food Summit goal of reducing the number of undernourished by half before the year 2015. SOFI 2000 indicates that, unless more determined efforts are made to speed up progress, this goal will not be reached until 2030.

A reduction of at least 20 million every year between now and 2015 is needed to reach the Summit's target. During the 1990s, the rate of decline in the number of hungry people was slightly less than 8 million per year!

SOFI 2000 provides estimates of the varying depths of hunger around the world, including for the first time countries in transition. The depth of hunger, or food deficit, is measured by comparing the average amount of dietary energy (kilocalories) that undernourished people get from the foods they eat, with the minimum amount of dietary energy they need to maintain body weight and undertake light activity.

The Deepest Hunger
These are the 23 countries where the undernourished - not the population as a whole- have the greatest dietary energy deficit. The deficit is expressed in kilocalories per person per day. The higher the number, the deeper the hunger.
country	kilo calories
Somalia	490
Afghanistan	480
Haiti	460
Mozambique	420
Burundi	410
Liberia	390
Congo, Democratic Republic	380
Sierra Leone	380
Eritrea	370
Niger	350
Bangladesh	340
Ethiopia	340
Korea DPR	340
Zambia	340
Zimbabwe	340
Chad	330
Rwanda	330
Angola	320
Guinea	320
Central African Republic	310
Madagascar	310
Malawi	310
Mongolia	310

On average, the 826 million chronically hungry people worldwide need to consume between 100 and 400 more kilocalories per day. In some countries, the depth of hunger is much higher. For example, in Somalia the food deficit for the undernourished reaches 490 kilocalories and in Afghanistan it stands at 480.

SOFI 2000 also reports some good news. It cites examples from Ghana, Nigeria and Thailand, where government policies have succeeded in bringing about rapid improvements in national nutrition standards; and recent policy initiatives taken by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other donors to strengthen debt relief for many heavily indebted poor countries.

SOFI 2000 can be downloaded in PDF format from FAO's web site at: http://www.fao.org/news/2000/001002-e.htm.

The Household Economy Approach: a resource manual for practitioners

Save the Children (SCF/UK)

August 2000, Development Manual 6, £ 9.95

Part of SC UK's "Development Manual" series, this manual offers an introduction to HEA, SC UK's methodology for analysing the impact of crop failure and other shocks on household income and access to food. The manual aims to provide an introduction to HEA for field workers with experience of emergency relief and rural development, and can be used as a reference tool for people who have already had some practical training in HEA.

The HEA was developed by SC UK in order to provide an effective approach to predicting the effects of drought and other economic shocks on rural populations. It has been widely adopted within SC UK, by the UN and by governments, both to provide a quantitative description of the economy of a defined population and to analyse the relationship between a shock and the ability of households to maintain their food and non-food consumption.

The manual aims to give an introduction to household economy, the practical techniques of getting information about households, and an approach to using this information to develop arguments about the vulnerability of households to drought and other changes in economic context.

Chapters include:

1. Introduction to HEA: definitions; household management; markets and exchange; expenditure and consumption needs; food requirements.

2. Household Vulnerability: effects of shocks on households; compensating for loss of income.

3. Overview of HEA: defining food economy areas; wealth groups and baseline years.

4. Getting the information: interview techniques; areas of inquiry.

5. Putting the information to work: converting the data; analysis of information; identifying possible interventions.

Manuel de détermination et de mise en place d'un Système d'Information pour la Sécurité Alimentaire et l'Alerte Rapide (SISAAR)

Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO)

Bien avant la création de SICIAV à la suite du Sommet Mondial de l'Alimentation, de nombreuses initiatives au niveau national et local visaient déjà à promouvoir ses objectifs. L'une de ces démarches, développée d'abord en Afrique francophone, est celle de la méthode SISAAR que ce manuel propose comme l'un des outils à disposition des acteurs engagés dans la lutte contre la faim. Cette contribution à l'initiative SICIAV s'adresse aux cadres techniques nationaux des échelons centraux et décentralisés, ainsi qu'à leurs collaborateurs de l'assistance technique. Elle veut leur fournir à la fois une marche à suivre, et une panoplie d'outils utiles aux différentes étapes.

Le manuel sera disponible incessamment en français, anglais et espagnol, dans la série de la FAO (TCA/ESA) "politiques agricoles et développement économique " sous le N° 5. Pour tout renseignement, s'adresser à G.Coullet experte sécurité alimentaire FAO/ESAF ([email protected]).

FIVIMS Documents prepared for the 26^th session of the Committee on World Food Security

Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO)

In September 2000 the annual session of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) examined the progress achieved in the implementation of the World Food Summit Plan of Action. For this purpose a series of FIVIMS related document were prepared.

Assessment of the World Food Security Situation (CFS:2000/2) - reports on the latest estimates of the number of undernourished people and related information about the food, health and nutrition situation worldwide. Reviews food availability and access to food at global and national level and investigates a core set of indicators and indices that can be used to monitor trends for outcome and vulnerability factors.

Suggested Core Indicators for Monitoring Food Security Status (CFS:2000/2-Sup.1) - reviews and proposes core FIVIMS indicators for the purpose of cross-country comparison. Fifteen information domains have been identified by the IAWG as being relevant for FIVIMS and indicators available at international data sources are listed accordingly.

Who are the Food Insecure? (CFS:2000/5) - describes the methodology developed for identifying and characterising the food insecure.

Report on the Development of Food Insecurity and Vulnerability Information and Mapping Systems (FIVIMS) (CFS:2000/6) - reports on the progress made in the implementation of the FIVIMS programme both at national and global level.

Information Note on the Status of FIVIMS at Country Level (CFS:2000/Inf.9) - provides summary information on the status of FIVIMS in 120 countries in tabular format.

The documents are available in English, French, Spanish, Arabic and Chinese and can be found at: http://www.fao.org/unfao/bodies/cfs/cfs26/CFS2000-e.htm