Validating Operational Food Insecurity Indicators Against a Dynamic Benchmark : Evidence from Mali

Christiaensen, Luc J.; Boisvert, Richard N.; Hoddinott, John

Validating Operational Food Insecurity Indicators Against a Dynamic Benchmark : Evidence from Mali

2014

Christiaensen, Luc J. | Boisvert, Richard N. | Hoddinott, John

The authors develop an explicitly forward-looking indicator of food insecurity that takes into account both current dietary inadequacy and vulnerability to dietary inadequacy in the future. Application of this measure to data from northern Mali shows that neglecting the future dimension of food insecurity causes serious underestimation of food insecurity in this area. The authors evaluate the performance, relative to their dynamic bemchmark, of three readily available alternative indicators: an agricultural production index, a dietary diversity index, and a coping strategy index. Despite the uneven performance of these indexes relative to the individual components of the dynamic food insecurity indicator developed in the paper, they all demonstrate strong associations with that indicator. This is a promising result, given the urgent demand for reliable indicators of food insecurity.

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AGROVOC Keywords

agricultural development agricultural production agriculture bullocks calves cattle cereals cows developing countries draft animals famine food aid food availability food consumption food insecurity food intake food production food security food shortages foods household food security household income human capital livestock living standards nutrition poverty reduction primary education

Bibliographic information

Publisher

World Bank, Washington, DC

Other Subjects

Food policy; Food security indicators; Caloric shortfalls; Food assistance programs; Cereal production; Per capita consumption; Caloric intake; Economic characteristics; Household head; Household survey; Farm activities; Sample households; Multidimensional index; Relative importance; Probability distribution; Living standard; Calorie intake; Farm; Household size; Data requirements; Poverty dynamics; Non-food consumption; Household members; International food policy research institute; Adult male; Food shortage; Cumulative distribution; Poor people; Local food production; Multivariate regressions; Poverty index; Policy makers; Household food insecurity; Caloric requirement; Rank correlation; Poverty line; Dependent variable; Household characteristics; Food policy research; Community members; Correlation coefficient; Poverty measures; Development issues; Food items; Poverty measurement; Rural households

Language

English

Type

Working Paper; Text

In AGRIS since: 2016-03-15

Format: AGRIS AP

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Validating Operational Food Insecurity Indicators Against a Dynamic Benchmark : Evidence from Mali

2014

AGROVOC Keywords

Bibliographic information