MEATing POINT Magazine: #03/ 2015

... PERSPECTIVES ...
practically unobservable
with standard data
collection methods.
Second, individual food
consumption is influenced
by disparities in intrahousehold
food allocation, the variability
of individual energy requirements, and the
day-to-day variation in food consumption
for reasons other than food insecurity
(including different workloads or lifestyles,
or cultural and religious habits).
Moreover, the cost of implementing
household surveys capable of properly
estimating undernourishment in the vast
majority of countries monitored by FAO
on a yearly basis would be very high. At
a minimum, these surveys would need to
capture food consumption at the individual
level and obtain sufficient information to
assess habitual consumption levels. They
would also need to secure information on
the anthropometric characteristics and
activity levels of each surveyed individual,
to estimate the relevant individual
energy requirement threshold. Such data
requirements imply that specific surveys –
different from, and much more expensive
than, existing household surveys – would
be needed for this purpose. In contrast,
the PoU methodology allows information
from household surveys to be integrated
with macro data sources, such as food
balances, censuses and demographic
surveys.
13. What is the minimum dietary energy
requirement and how does FAO compute
it?
The minimum dietary energy requirement
(MDER) is a country-specific normative
threshold that FAO employs as a cutoff
point to estimate the prevalence
of undernourishment. The MDER is a
standard energy requirement, specific for
age classes and sex, derived from a joint
FAO/WHO/United Nations University
expert consultation held in 2001. These
standards are obtained by calculating,
with reference to each age class and sex,
the needs for basic metabolism – that is,
the energy expended by the human body
in a state of rest – and multiplying them by
a factor that takes into account physical
activity, referred to as the physical activity
level (PAL) index. The FAO methodology
uses an age- and sex-weighted average
standard energy requirement as a
national-level MDER.
14. Why does the prevalence
of undernourishment indicator
underestimate undernourishment by
assuming a minimal level of physical
activity, when, in fact, many poor people
are engaged in demanding physical
activities?
As it is practically impossible to implement
the head count approach, FAO developed
the PoU estimate for the population as
a whole, summarized by the statistical
device of a “representative” individual.
As body weight, metabolic efficiency
and physical activity levels vary in any
population, there is a range of values
for energy requirements compatible
with healthy status. Hence, only values
below the minimum of such a range can
be associated with undernourishment
in a probabilistic sense. Thus, for
the PoU to indicate that a randomly
selected individual in a population is
undernourished, the appropriate threshold
must be set at the lower end of the range
of normal energy requirements.
15. What is the relationship between
hunger and undernutrition?
In many of our case studies, we find
that although there has been significant
progress in fighting undernourishment,
there have been no improvements in
nutritional outcomes, as measured, for
instance by the proportion of children who
are stunted or underweight. This means
that, although people may have stable
access to sufficient food for their energy
needs, this food is not always of sufficient
quality to provide all the necessary
vitamins and other nutrients, or that some
people are too ill to utilize the nutrients
they consume.
There are many reasons why undernutrition
may occur. Lack of dietary diversity can
result in undernutrition, especially where
diets are poor in micronutrient-rich foods
such as meat, fish and dairy products. Poor
access to safe water and sanitation – both
crucial for mitigating the risk of disease –
can inhibit efficient food utilization. Poor
education and lack of access to ante-natal
and child-care facilities are also important.
In many situations, nutritional supplements
may be needed to improve the nutritional
status of the population in the short
term. A range of food security and other
nutrition-enhancing interventions in
agriculture, health, hygiene, water supply
and education, particularly targeting
women, are necessary in the medium and
longer term.
16. SOFI 2015 takes stock of uneven
progress towards international hunger
targets and especially the MDG 1c of
halving the proportion of people that
are undernourished. Why did you decide
to focus on this issue?
The year 2015 marks the end of the MDG
monitoring period – about half a year
remains before the deadline for achieving
most of the MDG targets. It is important
to examine not only the progress towards
hunger reduction, but also the factors that
shape this progress, which give rise to wide
differences across regions and countries.
SOFI identifies remaining problems and
provides guidance on which policies should
be emphasized in the future.
17. What are these factors and why does
SOFI single them out for analysis?
A number of factors shape progress
towards food security and nutrition
goals. Economic growth, agricultural
productivity growth, markets (including
international trade) and social protection
can all determine the pace of hunger
reduction Protracted crisis situations also
have detrimental effects on food security
and malnutrition. This list is by no means
exhaustive, but provides a good picture
of what influences progress in the fight
against hunger.
18. SOFI mentions the economic growth
is necessary for hunger reduction. What
is the relationship?
Economic growth is necessary for
alleviating poverty and reducing hunger
and malnutrition – countries that become
richer are less susceptible to food insecurity.
But it is not sufficient – the relationship
between economic growth and hunger is
complex.
Looking at the numbers during the last 25
years, one can see that the rate of poverty
alleviation has been faster than that of
hunger reduction. This is because the
hungry are the poorest of the poor with no
assets, no or little education and skills and
are often characterized by ill health. Very
poor people cannot participate in growth
processes that require capital or generate
employment for the educated and skilled.
For example, economic growth generated
by exploitation of resources, such as
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