Abstract:
The current lack of consensus on the relationships
between hunger, malnutrition and food insecurity frustrates
efforts to design good policies and programs to deal with the
many problems. Disputes over terminology distract from the
need for urgent action. This paper argues that our understanding
of food insecurity is incremental: it develops as new research
in a variety of food-deprived and nutrition-deprived
contexts reveals causes, experiences and consequences and
how they are interlinked. If we are to improve beneficiary
selection, program targeting and intervention impact assessment,
it is vital to coordinate our new understandings. The
paper brings convergence to our understanding of food insecurity
by introducing a new framework that visualizes levels
of food insecurity, and the concomitant consequences and
responses, as a continuum. Some potential benefits of using
the continuum as a diagnostic tool are increased focus on less
extreme but nevertheless urgent manifestations of food insecurity,
more accurate targeting of interventions and better follow-
up, and improved accountability for donor spending.
