Global food security assessment guidelines: A step-by - International ...

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International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societiespeppers may not be able to grow during these months. Similarly, cocoa planting and/or lobstercatching are not seasonal activities in November. However, you may wish to focus your food securityintervention on people who are dependent on these resources, so as to ensure that their food needsare met. One specific group to monitor closely may be those people involved in tourism: they maybe at risk if the hurricane deters visitors from travelling to Belize; on the other hand, they may beamongst the first to recover, if tourism returns and they can earn money as usual.May June July August September October November December January February March AprilRainfallHeavy rainHurricane seasonDay Temperature in Celsius 40 40 40 32 32 32Lobster catchingTourismHigh(hotels and water sports)seasonSweet pepper Planting HarvestTomato Planting HarvestStaple inland crops Plant Harvest Plant Harvest Plant Harvest– maize, beans food stocks maize maize beans beans maize maizeCash crops – cocoaFirst harvest after 4 yearsPlantMake sure that you double-check the seasonal calendar with a number of key-informants, and checkagain when you are discussing possible food security interventions: geographical differences, whichyou did not capture during the assessment, may emerge later and will need to be included in yourintended programme area.Example ofa country in AsiaWET SEASONDRY SEASONFISH CATCHILL HEALTHFOOD AVAILABILITYINCOMESource:DoF/NACA-STREAM/FAO,Workshop on LivelihoodsApproaches and Analysis,Yangon, Myanmar (2004)http://www.streaminitiative.org/Library/pdf/myanmar/MyanmarReport.pdfPARTICIPANT 1 PARTICIPANT 276This seasonal calendar on fishing activities was prepared by a key-informant, with assistance fromanother member of the community. It clearly shows that at the end of the dry season, families haveless food security than normal.
Global food security assessment guidelinesAnnex 5How to do proportional pilingProportional piling helps in estimating quantities and proportions, especially when working with peoplewho are not used to quantifying certain information. Proportional piling is often used to determinethe relative importance of things; for example, the proportion of income that a family receivesfrom several different sources, its main expenditures, oritsfood consumption and different waysof obtaining food.10AnnexesIn addition to helping us quantify issues, proportional piling is a good facilitation tool. In a group,giving people an activity of this kind can break down barriers. It can also act as a focus for discussion.Typically there is a lot of debate about the relative size of the piles. This encourages participationand enhances accuracy.It can be very useful to do such an exercise twice during the food security assessment: once referringto the normal situation (i.e. the situation before a crisis) and a second time with regard to thecurrent situation. In this way you can detect how a crisis has changed the situation.It is important to note that you should not always do proportional piling for all subject areas (i.e.income, expenditure, food consumption, and food acquisition). This would take a lot of time andpeople will lose interest. You can vary and choose the subjects you use for proportional piling, as longas you are consistent throughout the assessment. This will enable you to compare different groupsand areas, each one over time. It is nevertheless crucial to always ask about food consumption patterns;make sure you always include this topic (especially during focus groups discussions withwomen).To undertake a proportional piling, you will need about 100 dried beans, stones, beads or anythingof a similar size, with some additional ones as a reserve in case of loss. In urban settings,where people may be more literate, you may be able to ask them to respond directly, using percentagefigures.Example: proportional piling for sources of incomeExplain the objective of the exercise to the people; namely, that you would like to know what sourcesof income they have in a normal or average year. Ask them to name the main ones.List these and then ask them to divide up the beans according tothe relative importance of each source of income. For instance,they may have received income from selling milk and producingwheat, with wheat providing twice as much income as milk. Inthis case, the wheat pile would contain about 70 beans, while themilk pile would contain about 30.Then you could ask them to repeat this process with regard totheir current sources of income. For example, a bad harvest dueto a drought might have reversed the situation: their incomefrom milk may now have doubled, while wheat only generates asmall income.Examples of sources of income:■ Labour and employment for wages■ Crop sales■ Livestock and sales from related products■ Trade (transport, re-sale of goods)■ Craft-making (mats, baskets, pots)■ Sale of firewood, charcoal, wild foods(such as mushrooms or berries), scrapmetal, recycled garbage■ Social welfare, remittances, gifts,allowance, zakat.77
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Abbreviationsand acronymsAbbreviati
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1Introduction1Who this guide is for
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International Federation of Red Cro
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12Arne Hodalic / Slovenian Red Cros
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