PEOPLE'S VOICES

SERVING THE WORLD

EIGHT KEY
QUESTIONS FOR
ONE PLANET
In many countries, the capacity and national
budgets for data collection and analysis are
limited, making it difficult to understand the
food insecurity situation in the country and
develop strategies to address it.
Through the Voices of the Hungry (VoH)
project, FAO has finally achieved a crucial
goal: finding a way to measure food
insecurity worldwide, using an experience-
based tool that can easily be applied broadly.
The Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) is
part of a measurement system developed by
VoH - an experience-based metric of severity
of food insecurity that relies on peoples
direct responses to eight questions regarding
their access to adequate food. The FIES
questions focus on self-reported food-related
behaviors and experiences associated with
increasing difficulties in obtaining food due to
resource constraints. The measure is based on
a well-grounded construct of the experience
of food insecurity composed of three
domains: uncertainty/anxiety, changes in food
quality, and changes in food quantity.
The FIES is very simple to apply at low cost and
produces relevant information for many
different actors. It can be easily incorporated
into individual and household surveys and has
the potential to promote the link between
different sectors, such as nutrition and
agriculture.
The information resulting from use of the FIES is
not only straightforward and easy to understand
but also available in a timely manner and
relevant for a variety of audiences, including:
advocates
community leaders and activists
researchers
programmeme managers
government officials at all levels
VoH complements other initiatives related to
food security monitoring such as the
Integrated Phase Classification and the Global
Strategy to improve agricultural and
rural statistics.
FAO/Carl de Souza
2
Whats the main advantage of
using the FIES?
The innovation
Lorum Ipsem ...
Building on the content and experience of
similar tools, such as the US Household
Food Security Survey Module, the
Household Food Insecurity Access Scale
and the Latin American and Caribbean
Food Security Scale, the FIES reliably
measures the severity of food insecurity at
the individual or household level. Thanks
to the newly developed analytic
framework that enables cross-cultural
comparability, it will be possible to
compare food insecurity severity across
countries and explore how food insecurity
may affect men and women differently,
with implications for policy and
programmes.
The FIES measurement system is a key
innovation, compared to existing metrics or
indicators which focus on determinants of
food security (e.g. food expenditures or
income), or its consequences like nutritional
status. It represents a different approach to
measurement by directly evaluating the
severity of peoples food insecurity
condition. As different levels of food
insecurity severity can have different causes
and lead to different outcomes, the FIES is
the link that was missing to complete the
analytic toolbox necessary for a thorough
understanding of the causes of food
insecurity and its possible solutions.
3
For world-wide application of the FIES, VoH will
leverage on the Gallup World Poll
(GWP), a branch of Gallup, Inc. that has
conducted nationally representative surveys in
more than 150 countries annually since 2005.
Beginning in 2014, the FIES is being
incorporated into the World Poll questionnaire.
The data will be gathered from a nationally
representative sample of adults in all of the
countries covered by the World Poll and used to
derive estimates of the prevalence of food
insecurity at different levels of severity, VoH
also aims to help Governments include the FIES
in their own food security monitoring systems
using data from country-led surveys to produce
estimates of food insecurity severity at the sub-
national level and of specific population groups.
With assistance from FAO, countries will acquire
the capacity to produce data and indicators
suitable for national and global monitoring, and
for developing evidence-based policies.
Door to door in more than 150
countries
Voices
of the
Hungry
Food and Agriculture
Organization of the
United Nations
Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations
Organisation des Nations Unies
pour lalimentation
et lagriculture
Organisation des Nations Unies
pour lalimentation et lagriculture
Organizacin de las Naciones
Unidas para la Alimentacin
y la Agricultura
Organizacin de las Naciones Unidas
para la Alimentacin y la Agricultura
Organizzazione delle Nazioni
Unite per lalimentazione
e lagricoltura
Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite
per lalimentazione e lagricoltura

Achieving FAOs goals to end hunger and poverty

challenging and complex task.
HELP ELIMINATE HUNGER, FOOD INSECURITY AND MALNUTRITION