Understanding poverty and food insecurity at the household level

FAO

Understanding poverty and food insecurity at the household level

Year of publication 2022

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 2p.

Author FAO

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Policy brief

ISBN 978-92-5-137221-0

Series title FAO Agricultural Development Economics Policy Brief

Series number No. 59

Full item page

Synopsis (short abstract) This policy brief introduces a working paper conducted by FAO that sheds light on the household-level relationship between poverty and food insecurity in various countries of sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. The paper finds a solid correlation between household poverty and food insecurity in all the examined countries, meaning that poor households are significantly more likely to be food insecure. However, the extent to which poverty and food insecurity overlap varies across countries and can be limited in some instances. The overlap strongly depends on the poverty lines used and it is much greater with international poverty lines (instead of national lines). It can also vary substantially within countries, with urban areas showing a greater overlap between the two deprivations than rural areas. Therefore, the working paper findings warn against superficial targeting approaches. Furthermore, the study found that in most of the examined countries, poorer households engaged in wage labour are penalized in terms of food security, suggesting potential lower-quality of wage jobs available to them.

The findings of this brief have been adapted from the FAO Agricultural Development Economics Working Paper 22-14 Food insecurity and poverty – A cross-country analysis using national household survey data. Last updated 25/01/2023

Cite this content as:

FAO. 2022. Understanding poverty and food insecurity at the household level. FAO Agricultural Development Economics Policy Brief, No. 59. Rome.

https://doi.org/10.4060/cc2993en

Language English

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