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Using the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) to monitor the impact of COVID-19











​FAO. 2020. Using the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) to monitor the impact of COVID-19. Rome.



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    Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet
    Voices of the Hungry Food Insecurity Experience Scale: One Metric for the World
    Infographic
    2016
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    FAO launched the Voices of the Hungry project in 2013 to provide up-to-date information about food insecurity that is policy-relevant and contributes to strengthening political will - information that speaks to people and leads to change.
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    Project
    The Food insecurity experience scale
    development of a global standard for monitoring hunger worldwide
    2013
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    FAO has been a partner in the development, validation and use of food (in)security scales since 2006 and has had an important role in furthering the research on the Latin American and Caribbean Food Security Scale (Escala Latinoamericana y Caribeña de Seguridad Alimentaria - ELCSA) through financial support for regional conferences on food security measurement and capacity-building in developing countries regarding validation and use of these tools (Melgar-Quinonez, 2010; FAO, 2012a). Because no single instrument measures food (in)security in all its dimensions, there has been substantial research devoted to developing, refining and validating different approaches for measuring the state of food insecurity. The development of measures of whether people are experiencing food insecurity because of limited access to food, and if so at what level of severity, constitutes an important addition to the suite of commonly used food security measures. Building on the experience of the Latin Ame rican scale, the FAO Voices of the Hungry project (VOH) has developed an experience-based food insecurity scale module called the Food Insecurity Experience scale (FIES), which is based on a short form of the ELCSA. The FIES will be used as a common metric for measuring food insecurity at several levels of severity, across different geographic areas and cultures.
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    Book (stand-alone)
    Agricultural livelihoods and food security in the context of COVID-19
    Results from household surveys in 11 countries with high pre-existing levels of food insecurity – Cross-country monitoring report, May 2021
    2021
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    The assessment presented in this report uses livelihood survey data collected by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) from June to November 2020 in 11 highly food insecure countries. These efforts have led to the assembly of the survey data into one of the largest datasets so far used to look at coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related impacts on rural and agricultural livelihoods. It contributes to the growing body of evidence by focusing specifically on agricultural households, and sheds new light on the impact of COVID-19 and other shocks on the lives and livelihoods of these households. All countries selected appear in the list of “food crisis countries” published annually by the multi-agency Food Security Information Network (FSIN). These countries are Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Yemen and Zimbabwe. This report shows that the enforcement of COVID‑19‑related restrictions has reduced the incomes of agricultural producers as well as their food security with an impact comparable to that of major shocks, such as conflict or natural disasters. The overall decrease in income was particularly high for vegetable and fish producers whose products are highly perishable, highlighting how movement restrictions and consequent transportation delays of agricultural goods affected these groups the most, causing severe losses that could not be compensated once restrictions were lifted. Livestock producers were also among the most severely affected by the restrictions, however the impact for many of them has been cushioned though either delayed sales or through asset depletion, which can lead to a cycle of poverty. As the pandemic and associated restrictions continue, both supply and demand‑side measures are necessary. This report is made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents of this report are the sole responsibility of FAO and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.

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