Work

Toward Improved Understanding of Food Security

Year: 2013

Type: article

Abstract: Accurate measurement of household food security is essential to generate adequate information on the proportion of households experiencing food insecurity, especially in areas or regions vulnerable to food shortages and famine. This manuscript offers a methodological examination of three commonly used indicators of household food security - experience of hunger, dietary diversity, and coping strategies. Making use of data from the Agincourt Health and Demographic Surveillance Site in rural South Africa, we examine the association between the indicators themselves to improve understanding of the different insight offered by each food security "lens." We also examine how the choice of indicator shapes the profile of vulnerable households, with results suggesting that dietary diversity scores may not adequately capture broader food insecurity. Concluding discussion explores programmatic and policy implications as related to methodological choices.

Source: Food Culture & Society

DOI: 10.2752/175174413x13500468045407

Authors: Tracy M. Kirkland, Robert J. Kemp, Lori M. Hunter, Wayne M. Twine

Institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of the Witwatersrand

Language: English

Topic: Food Security and Socioeconomic Dynamics

Subfield: General Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Domain: Life Sciences

SDGs: Zero hunger, No poverty, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: green

Funders: Wellcome Trust, Medical Research Council, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development