Unit 1 Introducing FS and SP Flashcards
“Hunger”
o an uneasy sensation occasioned by the lack of food
o a weakened condition brought about by prolonged lack of food
1.1.1.1
“Malnutrition”
Faulty nutrition due to inadequate or unbalanced intake of nutrients or their impaired assimilation or utilization (first known use of word: 1862) (Merriam-Webster online dictionary)
1.1.1.1
“Food Security” - current vs. earlier definitions
Situation that exists when all people (distribution), at all times (stability), have physical (availability), social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious (utilization) food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences (cultural acceptability) for an active and healthy life (FAO 2002: current widely accepted).
1.1.2.1 Evolving, broadening, more complex definition since 1948 (though practical responses = narrower p.16)
Prior definitions:
Right to adequate living standard (Universal Declaration of Human rights 1948)
Improve production, conservation, distribution methods (…) ensure equitable distribution of food supplies (ICESCR 1966).
Every man, woman, child has inalienable right to be free from hunger and malnutrition (Universal Declaration of Eradication of H&M 1974)
Availability at all times of adequate world food supplies of basic foodstuffs to sustain a steady expansion of consumption and to offset fluctuation in production and prices (World Food Summit 1974 – 1. int. agreed definition)
Ensuring that all people (distribution), at all times (stability), have physical (availability) and economic access (access) to basic food that they need. (FAO 1983)
Food security, at the individual, household, national, regional and global levels [is achieved] 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 (World food summit 1996).
(Unit 1.1)
“Food availability”
&Policy
“The availability of SUFFICIENT quantities of food of appropriate QUALITY, supplied through domestic production or import (including food aid)” (FAO 2006)
Policy: Enhance production, trade flows, build stock, aid (emergency).
70s and recent years: Concern due to global food price rise; “availability” in early food security definitions.
(Unit 1, also see Unit 5)
Food “Access”
How was it popularized?
“Access by individuals to adequate resources (entitlements) for acquiring appropriate foods for a nutritious diet”
A. Sen’s Analysis (80s) of large scale famines: ¾ famines had no availability decline! Can coexist with export of food. Access by different groups = issue. Changes international debate to access/entitlements.
(Unit 1.1, also see unit 6)
“Utilisation”
Whose responsibility?
“Utilization of food through adequate diet, clean water, sanitation and health care to reach a state of nutritional well-being where all physiological needs are met. This brings out the importance of nonfood inputs in food security.” (FAO 2006)
Determined by healthy food choice and good health to digest.
Whose responsibility? 70s: Agriculturalist, trade specialists, home economists, doctors? Post-70s: Multisectoral, collaborative approach not very successful (ministries of health, welfare, women’s department? ministries of food, agriculture, industrial dev.? – split between agencies). Unresolved issue.
(Unit 1.1, also see Unit 7)
“Nutrition security”
“Nutrition security is achieved when secure access to food is coupled with a sanitary environment, adequate health services, and knowledgeable care to
ensure a healthy and active life for all household members. The ability of an individual to fully reach his or her personal and economic potential, however defined, must depend to a large degree on his or her level of nutrition security.” (Benson 2004)
No internationally agreed definition, confusion due to lack of consistent use of terms (UNCFS).
(Unit 1.1 p.19)
“Stability” of access to food
What causes unstable access?
“To be food secure, a population, household or individual must have access to adequate food at all times. They should not risk losing access to food as a consequence of sudden shocks (eg an economic or climatic crisis) or cyclical events (eg seasonal food insecurity). The concept of
stability can therefore refer to both the availability and access dimensions of food security.” (FAO 2006)
CHRONIC (long-term), TRANSITORY (temporary, due to conflict, price rises, disasters), SEASONAL (annual hungry period) food insecurity
Unit 1.1
What does normalisation of crisis refer to?
Policy reaction to transitory, but not to chronic food insecurity although chronic (e.g. 13% malnutrition in Somalia) can be more acute (severe) than transitory (e.g. rise from 2.5 to 5% malnutrition in another SSA country). Can be due to confounding “acute” with “transitory”! Important distinction. (Devereux)
Unit 1.1 - stability of access p.20
Dimensions of well-being according to „voices of the poor“ (Narayan, WB, 2000)
- Material wellbeing (having enough food, assets, work)
- Bodily well-being (being and appearing well, physical environment)
- Social well-being (being able to care for, bring up, marry, settle children; self-respect and dignity; peace, harmony, good relations with family, community)
- Security (civil peace, physically safe and secure environment, physical security, lawfulness and access to justice, old age security, confidence in future)
- Freedom of choice and action
- Psychological well-being (peace of mind, happiness, harmony)
(Unit 1.2.1.1 p.23)
What are the main differences between food security and nutrition security, as reflected in the definitions given by FAO (2006) and Benson (2004)?
Nutrition depends on additional factors such as health, sanitation, care and knowledge and choice of healthy food. Some of these concepts are supposed to be included in the food security concept of ‘utilisation’, but in practice the focus of food security tends to be on food rather than non-food factors affecting nutrition.
(Unit 1.1 self assessment)
Poverty: different definitions based on…
1.2.1
o Dimensions of well-being according to „voices of the poor“
o Income poverty, money metric, consumption poverty: lack of goods and services (consumption) and money (income) to purchase these. Widely used. Criticism: money cannot buy happiness, does not measure what is important to people.
-Absolute (below given poverty line) vs. relative (fraction of median income).
-Chronic (always, usually) vs. transient (churning, occasionally) poverty & non-poor (1.2.1 f)
-Lifecycle and dependency ratio - maternity and old age support (1.2.1 g)
o Basic needs: deprivation of material needs, then psychological needs (Maslow’s hierarchy 1943). No agreement on what constitutes “basic needs”. Conceptual issue: making poor choices ”poor”?
o Happiness: quantifies qualitative perceptions of poor people, e.g. Bhutan’s “Gross National Happiness.” Criticism: poor, oppressed people can report being “happy”.
o Capabilities and Human Development: (Sen 1999 “Development as Freedom”). Poverty = unfreedoms to realize full potential; objectives of development = mobilize capabilities & functionings. Taken up in HDR (UNDP 1990), HDI. Human development = process of enlarging people’s choices
“Vulnerability”
“Shock”
“Uncertainty”
“Risk”
Vulnerability
o Condition of weakness, defencelessness
o Lack of ability to cope with or mitigate effect of shocks (vs. resilience: capacity to absorb or mitigate shocks without long-term decline in wellbeing)
o Combination of likely exposure and inability to cope with shocks, thus higher probability of passing below given welfare threshold (poverty, food insecurity) (definition used in module).
- Shock = uncertain event with negative welfare effect; natural or man-made; idiosyncratic, common, covariate.
- Uncertainty = potential shock which is not sufficiently predictable to be insurable, e.g. earthquake
Risk
o Potential shock whose probability can be predicted to some extent (insurable)
Unit 1.2.2
Coping strategies (in developing countries) and disadvantages
Ex post strategies: food selection (inferior foods), infant feeding, food intake, credit, social capital, extra work, cut non-food consumption, sell assets, socially adverse strategies; most damaging: eating seeds intended for planting;
Ex ante risk management strategies:
- Lower risk activities, e.g. less investment, lower loss (poorest=risk-averse! less lucrative);
- diversification of production: no economies of scale; diversify livelihoods: social and health risk – HIV; 3. risk sharing, e.g. share cropping: reduces overall reward
- keep buffer, i.e. build up assets, savings in cash or kind, social credit (support networks): opportunity cost, value loss; informal social networks: excludes migrants, minorities, etc; credit: social risk of non-repayment, asset seizure
- formal insurance (increasing in poor area: health, crop, weather, vaccination of animals): reduces profit.
(Unit 1.2.2)
Causes of poverty trap
and implications
Ex-post strategies undermine human and physical capital, no livelihood development (trade-off between current and future consumption )
Ex-ante strategies reduce poor hh profit in favour of stability (trade-off between risk aversion and profit maximisation: poor choose defensive strategy)
Implications: lower household wealth, soc. networks discourage investment at community level, leading to lower economic growth. Social protection can help overcome vulnerability
Poor disproportionately affected by shocks, thus inequality is perpetuated.
Unit 1.2.2
