World Food Policy Volume/Issue 2-2/3-1 Fall 2015/Spring 2016 | Page 11

World Food Policy

on the definition, the following four
dimensions of food security are derived:
(i) availability–relates to the actual
disposability of food; (ii) access–refers
to households’ ability to acquire food
in sufficient quality and quantity; (iii)
use and utilization–captures behavioral,
health and hygiene components; and (iv)
stability–covers the temporal aspect of
food security, that is, seasonal income or
output fluctuations which should ideally
not affect food security.

There is a range of indicators
which attempt to measure the different
dimensions of food security at the
household level. However, as Maxwell,
Vaitla, and Coates (2014) point out,
the picture changes quite substantially
depending on the respective indicator
looked at. This is why we analyze the
FCS, the Household Food Insecurity
Access Score (HFIAS), the (reduced)
Coping Strategies Index (CSI and rCSI)4,
caloric intake, and protein intake in
parallel to proxy food security. The FCS,
calorie and protein intakes measure all
foods consumed by the household in
the past week, regardless whether they
are consumed during family meals or
in between the main meals. The H FIAS
and (r)CSI measures refer to the worst
month of the past year (according to the
subjective impression of the household)
and additionally we asked the households
to recall the food they have typically eaten
in a week in the pre-rice-harvest, postrice-harvest, rice planting season, and
the worst week of the past 12 months. For
a detailed description of the construction

of the different indicators please refer to
Appendix A.

The FCS asks about how often
certain food groups were eaten by the
household in the past week. To construct
the score, the frequency of each food
groups is weighted by a score according
to its nutritious value and all resulting
figures are summed up. The FCS
belongs to measures of dietary diversity
which have been found to indicate
diet’s micronutrient adequacy (Hatløy,
Torheim, and Oshaug 1998; Steyn et al.
2006). Evidence shows that it is a valid
measure of the food security access
dimension (Christiaensen, Boisvert
and Hoddinott 2000b; Wiesmann et al.
2009; Maxwell, Vaitla, and Coates 2014)
even across different cultures (MelgarQuinonez et al. 2006). Similar to the
FCS, the HFIAS measures the prevalence
of household food insecurity in terms of
access (Coates, Swindale, and Bilinsky
2007). In contrast to dietary diversity
measures this indicator draws on the
idea that households who experience
food insecurity will engage in predictable
reactions which can be measured and
quantified in a survey and displayed in
a scale. In addition, the (r)CSI measures
household behavior observed in times
of food shortage and therewith captures
coping strategies used to manage
food shortage (Maxwell and Caldwell
2008). While all of the indicators are
in principle capable of shedding light
on the availability and access aspect
of food security (Maxwell et al. 1999;
Christiaensen and Boisvert 2000; Ruel

4

The CSI is a context specific indicator using a broader range of questions whereas the rCSI is based on
questions addressing behaviors found to be frequently applied across countries.

11