To ensure that the work of setting up a sustainable Food Security and Early Warning Information System proceeds steadily but surely, each of the stages described in this second part of the handbook must be completed in order. The time needed to complete any one stage will vary from one country to another depending on the availability of existing studies, the suitability of existing statistics, past experience of decentralization, the level of intersectoral integration, the technical expertise of national managerial staff, etc. It is, however, imperative that none of these stages be omitted as this will affect the sustainability and validity of the final result.
The various stages in setting up a FSIEWS are set out below: each stage is covered in its own chapter in the second part of the handbook.
The first stage deals with the basic study of food security. This analysis is necessary as each country has its own specific constraints and actors that must be taken into account. It serves to define precisely for each country or each region:
Some knowledge of the minimum food requirements of the population is indispensable in order to decide what products should be monitored in the context of a FSIEWS (availability of these products, stability of supplies, access for all to these products and biological utilization). A list of the quantities of staple food products traditionally consumed by the population to meet their energy and nutritional requirements is therefore compiled for each homogeneous dietary region. The list encompasses three important concepts: basic energy requirements, the food shopping basket, and the diet of each population group:
The basic (physiological) energy requirements of a population (whether country-wide or a homogeneous group within a country) generally varies between 2000 and 2350 Kcal/day/person, depending on the age, sex, structure and average weight and health status of the population, as well as the level of physical activity. These estimates are based on a population in a well-nourished condition (account being taken of work and free time activities). Proteins should make up between 10 and 12 percent of energy intake while the recommended energy amount of fats is between 15 and 30 percent.
It should be noted that the World Food Summit16 emphasized not only access to a dietary minimum for all, but access to good quality food ("sufficient, safe and nutritious") 17. The safety of foodstuffs is a fundamental characteristic of their quality. By "the safety of food" is meant the absence, or acceptable safe levels, of contaminants, impurities, natural toxins or any other substance that could be excessively or chronically damaging to health. The quality of a food is a complex characteristic that determines its value or acceptability to the consumer. Besides safety, the attributes of quality include: nutritional value, organoleptic characteristics such as appearance, colour, texture, taste; and functional properties. Monitoring food safety is a government responsibility, but monitoring quality is a task that can be carried out by a FSIEWS.
In determining the dietary minimum for each more or less homogeneous population group, it is also essential that a concrete and objective analytical approach is adopted: i.e. analysis should not be based solely on market information (food products consumed by the most deprived sections of the population do not necessarily follow the rules of the market), or the number of products limited to those that are easy to monitor (cereals for example). Products of animal origin (milk, cheese, eggs, honey, fish, etc.), and some of plant origin (dates, roots and tubers, etc.) are often largely under-estimated in the minimum food requirement, either because they are obtained by harvesting wild resources (including fishing and hunting) and therefore often available in negligible quantities, or because it may be difficult to estimate production (dates, roots, etc.), or for both reasons.
It should not be forgotten that the whole monitoring system is based on the calculation of the dietary minimum, and that it should therefore be calculated as precisely as possible with the participation of all the actors in the food systems, if possible at a decentralized level (of production, marketing, health and social affairs).
Some groups or individuals are particularly prone to chronic, seasonal or accidental exposure to food insecurity having no access to the dietary minimum. It is therefore necessary to identify as precisely as possible who these vulnerable groups are (areas, groups, households, individuals) and to estimate their number, location and how they deal with food insecurity. The information on vulnerable areas, vulnerable groups, vulnerable households and vulnerable individuals must be clearly distinguished.
In order to detect vulnerable groups in a national or regional population, the methods adopted by each homogeneous group to obtain staple food must be analysed, their vulnerability being dependent on these methods. The coping strategies adopted by these groups when the risk of food insecurity arises must also be analysed at this stage. The information obtained can then be used to determine the indirect indicators for forecasting the risk of malnutrition (see Chapter 3).
In order to guarantee food security over time, the structural risks of food insecurity must be clarified (urban poverty, areas lacking water, etc.), as must the economic risks (drought, floods, over-production, devaluation, etc.) and their probability.
The principal constraints to guaranteeing a dietary minimum to everyone at all times should also be clarified: geo-climatic constraints leading to total or partial isolation (in time and space), other constraints of a social, economic, political or religious nature.
In this area particular attention must be paid to phenomena having a direct impact on individual diets: for example, rural exodus and urbanization that leads to changes in dietary habits, or the health problems that affect the assimilation of food.
For some groups of people, the nature of their vulnerability will vary according to the type of food insecurity18. There are three types of food insecurity19:
What do the terms undernourished, food insecurity, As defined by the World Food Summit, the term undernourished is applied to people whose level of food consumption is consistently insufficient in terms of calories consumed in relation to their requirements. Food insecurity is applied to a situation in which people do not have access to sufficient quantities of healthy nutritious food and therefore do not take in sufficient food for growth, normal development, and for a healthy active life. Food insecurity may be chronic or transitory. When it is chronic it is known as undernourishment. Vulnerability refers to the group of factors that places people in a situation where they are at risk of food insecurity, including factors that undermine people's capacity to deal with the situation. Nutritional status refers to the physiological status of people based on food intake and health and hygiene conditions. |
There is a growing tendency to look at food security in the broader context of "minimum well-being" including basic health and education (but often also the physical security of goods and people), since the absence of one of these minimum needs automatically has repercussions on the others. The ideas of "sustainable human development", "poverty threshold" etc. are similarly manifestations of the search for a "minimum well-being for all".
It should be noted that people's own perceptions of this minimum varies from one region to another according to the human environment, the level of development, religion, history, etc.
The minimum well-being is similar to what is now called "livelihood security", which is a much broader concept than food security. Indeed, satisfying food requirements cannot be considered the only need of human beings. Moreover, it depends on how important other fundamental needs are and on its priority in the decision-making system: household decisions regarding its food security always take into consideration the other competing needs (health, education, free time for example), as well as choosing between immediate consumption and deferred consumption, keeping in mind how the choice will affect future consumption. The prioritizing of these different aims, as well as the preference given to the present or the future, can vary during a food crisis.
Human beings have cultural and spiritual needs, live in communities and try to flourish. Food requirements fall into the category of physiological needs, just like the need for protection against the elements (clothes and housing), against physical insecurity, and the need for rest and sleep etc. Food security is therefore necessary for a minimum level of well-being, although it does not on its own guarantee this minimum, since other needs, cultural ones for example, may be more pressing at a given moment. Indeed some groups choose to put up with famine in order to protect their assets and preserve their cultural and social heritage.
Although the minimum well-being would seem to be becoming a global objective, it is difficult to transform this minimum into operational indicators that would make regular monitoring possible. The minimum well-being is often interpreted by a series of indicators representing the health and education minimum, assuming a situation of food security and a minimum level of income to avoid poverty. Theoretical studies of how to faithfully translate the concept of minimum well-being into operational indicators are still needed. Too often economists take minimum income indicators as a guarantee of minimum well-being.
The Commodity Chain Approach
This approach allows the flow of food products in the economy from producers to consumers to be analysed. The analysis of a commodity chain reveals the relationships between the different actors and should bring to light any constraints that could explain its lack of efficiency.
It should, in particular, help to explain low producer prices (which hinder availability), high consumer prices (which limits the access of the most under-privileged), and poor marketing, which could lead to unstable supplies amplifying problems of seasonal shortfalls and remoteness.
The first step in analysing a commodity chain is to identify the products derived from a primary product (in the case of the cassava commodity chain, for example, gari, tapioca, dried cassava chips, cassava flour, etc. could be identified). A list is then drawn up of the owners of these products at each stage of the chain (different types of peasant farmers, collectors, processors, wholesalers, etc.) and of those who provide essential services, such as haulage contractors. Imports and exports of staple food products (including food aid) should be included in this analysis as they are part of the country's available food supplies.
The objectives and strategies adopted, the specific constraints and the information requirements (market prices and conditions, the technology available, etc.) of each of these actors should be identified.
The technical role of each of these agents in the commodity chain should also be analysed and the information needed to monitor the flow of products through the commodity chain established: the technical conversion ratio (extraction rate), the loss rate, the quantity and quality of the products, etc.
How prices change as products move through the commodity chain should also be observed. The financial situation of the actors in the chain (income, expenditures) can also be analysed to get an idea of their profits or losses.
To gain a better understanding of the functioning of the commodity chain it is also worth examining trade between the actors in the chain as well as the market structure (are they competitive comprising many buyers and sellers? Or is there a monopolistic tendency, which could explain large profits and steep price increases.).
In the case of a FSIEWS, we are mainly interested in analysing commodity chains for staple food products (as defined in Section 1 of this chapter). Once this initial work is completed, data for each commodity chain can be compiled and the results passed to the multidisciplinary working groups (see the next section) to analyse the available data.
Brief Outline of a Commodity Chain
All the information assembled during the analysis can lead to a better understanding of decision-making among the actors in the commodity chain and to identify the various constraints they experience or create.
It should be noted that some institutions can play an important role in its overall functioning and in decisions taken regarding policies that may affect it. This is particularly the case of coordinating bodies for the commodity chain (which may or may not be set up by a government body), of various pressure groups (organizations of agricultural producers, traders, processors, etc.) or inter-professional organizations.
The diagram below gives another view of a commodity chain
Analysis of food security policy is also necessary. This is achieved by becoming familiar with the main decision-makers in all the areas that have a direct influence on food security or the resolution of related problem: availability of food (production, foreign trade); stability of supplies (transport, prices, market management), access to these supplies (employment, income, food aid, the eradication of poverty); biological utilization of foods (nutrition, health).
Limitations of the Commodity Chain Approach
The main limitation of this approach is a tendency to overlook the larger economic setting in which the commodity chain is situated. The decisions taken by various actors in the commodity chain are not based solely on factors within the chain, quite the opposite. At farm level, the production of a particular staple food is part of a very complex crop system. For example, in an area with the right rainfall for cotton21 (>700 mm) the arguments for or against maize crops (staple food production) and cotton (cash crop) can overlap considerably. The same interaction occurs with agriculture/livestock farming. This kind of consideration can also be applied to actors in other commodity chains.
Finally, experience shows that as a country develops, and in particular when its market starts expanding, the production function, so heavily favoured by the commodity chain approach, tends to become overshadowed by the marketing and distribution function. It is the latter that often dictates conditions to the other actors in the commodity chain modifying the flow of these products at the convenience of the main marketing agents.
The relevance of the analysis of food security monitoring is closely linked to the quality of the databases used. Control of the four main aspects (production, marketing, nutritional monitoring and monitoring of vulnerable groups) should be achieved through combined quantitative and qualitative information, stimulating the coordinated participation of the partners in order to ensure the viability of the system, and information that is sufficiently accurate and detailed22.
Only if there is cooperation among the services concerned and between government bodies and civil society, will the monitoring system be able to generate ever more reliable information and analyses. There must be cooperation at national level by means of the Multidisciplinary Working Groups (MWGs) that bring together the different information providers and users in each sector. In general, there are at least three MWGs, one for production, one for marketing and one for vulnerable groups, this last group including both social monitoring and health and nutrition monitoring.
The creation of MWGs is always difficult at the beginning. As participatory an approach as possible should always be adopted. For example, a national workshop can be organized to present the FSIEWS methodology. Representatives of the ministries concerned, NGOs, associations and the private sector interested in food security can be invited and each one asked in which MWG they would like to participate. This initial group, whose first task will be to draw up an inventory of the available information in its area, will gradually co-opt other members, and it will be necessary at a later stage to adapt the group's composition and way of working until it reaches a balanced range of ministerial representatives, NGOs and the private sector; specializations; ages and responsibilities of the participants, etc. When the composition and way of functioning of each MWG has been unanimously accepted it can be written up in an official document.
It should be clear to all from the beginning that as coordinating structures the MWGs are indispensable to the functioning of a FSIEWS. They must adapt and evolve in keeping with the deployment or functioning of the database and control panel, the technical resources of the Information System, the frequency of bulletins and other information updates to be prepared, etc. The MWGs should function as specialized technical committees in the principal food security areas, and have a central role in the FSIEWS, since they not only decide which indicators to monitor but are also involved in the processing of data and the preparation of articles for publication (see the example of an MWG in Mauritania on the next page).
On the other hand there should also be collaboration at provincial level (and at other local levels). The Provincial Food Security Committees23 comprise representatives of the different food security bodies at local level. These national and local coordinating instruments should be representative of the sectors or regions for which they are responsible, and include representatives of national bodies, civil society and the private sector. They should represent a net improvement in support services for rural settings as a whole and in food security for all. In addition, the information that is exchanged should have a better balance of simplicity, clarity and flexibility, have good quality statistics, and enable the ongoing refinement of the approach and its methodology.
The Provincial Food Security Committees (PFSC) are usually organized at a later date, in the set-up phase of a FSIEWS, when the preliminary studies have been carried out. Nevertheless, if there are already decentralized food security organizations in the country (that may, for example, have been created to monitor food aid or set up at the instigation of NGO associations), they must be integrated into the analysis and proposal process right from the very first stage.
The table below shows the composition and tasks of an MWG of the FSIEWS in Mauritania, which, although responsible for agricultural production, also monitors food products of animal origin.
The synthesis of the basic study should be presented in summary form in a simple table with the following minimum information:
16 Rome, October 1996. It established the following definition of food security: "Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life."
17 See also the World Food Security Committee document: FAO CFS: 99/3 "The Importance of Food Quality and Safety for Developing Countries".
18 As mentioned above in section 2.
19 Quoted from FAO document CFS: 99/2 "Assessment of the World Food Security Situation".
20 Quoted from the CFS 1999, FAO CFS: 99/2 " Assessment of the World Food Security Situation".
21 Refers to the "Sudanian zone" of West Africa.
22 As regards both the parameters and the basic geographic units.
23 See Part Two, Chapter IV, Section Four, Institutional Organization, and Chapter V, Steps to the Institutionalization of a FSIEWS.
24 Summary of a document presented at the national workshop in September 1998.
