Opening Ceremony
by
FAO Deputy Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific

Distinguished Participants,

FAO Colleagues,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my great pleasure to extend to you a warm welcome to this National Demonstration Centre (NDC) on Food Consumption Statistics from Household Income and Expenditure Surveys". This NDC is oriented toward the analysis of survey data and the results will be applied to the detection of food insecurity.

FAO, under the leadership of our Director General, Mr. Jacques Diouf, has been deeply involved in the global efforts to reduce the number of undernourished. The Economic and Social Department of FAO is involved in many programmes to identify and reduce food insecurity throughout the world. For example, Food Insecurity Vulnerability Information and Mapping Systems (FIVIMS) projects have been funded by many donors and are currently operational in several countries in Southeast and East Asia.

The World Food Summit in 1996 and the World Food Summit (five years later) in 2002 have brought together world leaders to discuss an action plan and the steps to follow in combating one of the world's most important problems.

FAO's Director General, Mr. Diouf has stated that "the original goal can be met if countries and their development partners have the political will to do so". Furthermore he said "Once problems are understood at the community level, resources can be focused first on the direct relief and basic service interventions that ensure that people have the health and energy to participate in their own development."

Through this analysis of national and sub-national level data we hope that we assist in the identification of those areas where food insecurity exists and of some of the characteristics of those households affected.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Researchers and analysts believe that various identifiable factors contribute to undernourishment and to poor nutritional practices.

The need for analysis at local levels was underscored by a recent study conducted by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). In this study the relationships between a variety of factors and reductions in the number of underweight children in 63 developing countries between 1970 and 1995 were examined. The study indicated that the statistical explanation of lower numbers of underweight children centers on the following proportional determinants:

• level of women's education (43 percent);
• national per capita food availability (26 percent);
• health and environmental factors (19 percent);
• women's status in society (12 percent).

In a symposium at FAO Headquarters in June 2002, it was pointed out that the main methods in current use in the estimation of food deprivation and poor nutritional status are those that rely on data from

a. national dietary energy supply (DES) complemented by information on the inequality in its distribution from household income/expenditure surveys (the method primarily used by FAO and USDA/ERS in global assessments of undernourishment),

b. dietary energy consumption data entirely derived from household expenditure surveys,

c. dietary energy consumption data from individual food intake surveys,

d. anthropometric data on children and adults, and

e. qualitative and indicative self-assessment survey data (such as the US Measure of Food Insecurity).

Everyone agrees that it is vital for analyses to be conducted not merely internationally but within individual countries, using reliable baseline data and deploying the resources necessary to monitor and evaluate changes in key indicators over time.

During this ten-day meeting, you will be shown the different procedures and techniques that can be used in the analysis of the food consumption data from household income and expenditure surveys. Your participation in this important NDC will then give you the opportunity to analyze the state of food insecurity in your respective countries. This analysis is an important tool for your countries in the identification of areas where there are undernourished and in the detection of factors contributing to this condition.

I would like to encourage you to actively participate in order to have a more fruitful experience and to have a better understanding of the concepts and definitions and analysis procedures. This interaction, I am certain, will be beneficial not only to you and to your countries but also to the whole region of Asia and the Pacific.

Finally, my best wishes for a successful meeting with positive outputs and for an enjoyable stay in the City of Bangkok.

Thank you.