Integrating relief and development to accelerate reductions in food insecurity in shock-prone areas

Integrating relief and development to accelerate reductions in food insecurity in shock-prone areas

Published Jan 2003

Authors

L. Haddad, T. Tim Frankenberger

Publisher

Focus themes

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Vulnerability and risk in food security analysis

Drawing on recent empirical literature on trends in food security location and causes, this paper argues that:

  • the use of a fuller definition of food security, incorporating risk and vulnerability, will strengthen programmes that aim to reduce food insecurity
  • relief and development programs both play important roles in meeting current food needs and reducing risks of losing the ability to meet future needs
  • an explicit recognition of the pre- and post-shock continuum, will promote the ability of relief and development programs to collaborate more effectively.

The authors argue that emergency and development actors have failed to incorporate vulnerability (the ability to manage risk) into their analysis of food security. It is argued that vulnerability can be lessened by:

  • reducing exposure to risks from shocks that affect many or shocks that affect individuals, households, or communities
  • increasing the ability to manage such risks
  • both.

This paper concludes that the food assistance community can and should do the following:

  • develop a new conceptual framework to integrate relief and development interventions to accelerate reductions in food insecurity. Vulnerability concepts should be at the core of this framework. In addition, the framework should be flexible enough to allow adaptation to different contexts such as urban areas and areas heavily affected by HIV/AIDS
  • play a more active role in the broader development and poverty debate. Safety net transfers are not just residual to the growth process, they should be an integral part of a growth strategy
  • form partnerships with applied research organisations that work in these areas to update the food aid community on concepts such as vulnerability, targeting, livelihoods, governance, rights, and social capital. Research organisations will also benefit from the operational experiences of development organisations
  • support rigorous evaluations of key programming issues
  • contribute to improving and widely disseminating good data on global food insecurity levels and changes over time

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