World Food Policy Volume/Issue 2-2/3-1 Fall 2015/Spring 2016 | Page 27

World Food Policy

The Coping Strategies Index (CSI) and
reduced Coping Strategies Index

how often strategies were applied by
a household using a recall period of 1
week. Specifically we asked households
to report the number of days they used
the coping strategies in the worst week
of the past year. The questions asked
to the households in Stung Treng are
displayed in Table A2. Third, based on
the FGD, the different coping strategies
are categorized according to their severity
and the categories are used to weight
the strategies. The weights used in this
calculation are based on four FGDs in
villages that were part of the survey sample
and are depicted in Table A3. Finally, the
frequency answers for each question are
multiplied by the according weight and
the resulting scores are added up for each
household to generate the CSI.

The coping strategies index (CSI) and
reduced coping strategies index (rCSI)
measure household coping behavior
which is related to household food
insec urity events (Maxwell and Caldwell
2008). Coping strategies are usually easier
to observe and it is less costly and time
intensive to collect data compared to
household food consumption levels. The
CSI is created in four steps based on the
Field Manual from USAID (Maxwell
and Caldwell 2008): First, the locally
relevant coping strategies are identified
through four Focus Group Discussions
(FGD) in the field from a list of possible
generally possible strategies. Second,
the data collection process counts

Table A2 CSI questions as asked in the questionnaire
No.

For the worst week between 05/13 and 04/14 please indicate the
number of days that your household experienced the following:

1

… you were not able to eat the kinds of food you preferred?

2

… you borrowed food or relied on help from a friend or relative?

3

… you purchased food on credit?

4

… you gathered wild food or hunted?

5

… you harvested immature crops?

6

… you consumed see stock held for next season?

7

… you sent household members to elsewhere?

8

... you sent household members to beg?

9

… you ate a smaller mean than you felt you needed?

10

… you fed working members at the expense of non-working members?

11

… you ate fewer meals in a day?

12

… you restricted consumption by adults in order for small children to eat?

13

… you went a whole day and night without eating?

27