Table 1 Summary of characterization of experience-based food security indicators
From: A systematic literature review of indicators measuring food security
Indicators | Description/method | Recall period | Level of analysis | Dimension covered | Components covered | Possible purpose | Validity and Reliability | Data requirement and availability | Strengths and weaknesses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSSM) (Bickel [111]) | Measures households’ experience of FI using 18-item questionnaire (the 8 questions only for households with children) Used to monitor FS in USA Categorical scale based on the sum of affirmative responses (4 categories) -Continuous scale (0–9.3) based on a Rasch model with cut-off points | 1 year; 1 month possible | Household | Access | Quantity, perceived quality | - Estimate FI prevalence - Monitor trends in FI at national level Program monitoring, evaluation and targeting | Can be collected using the 18-items questionnaire | -It is simple to implement, and has also a validated short version with 6-questions. It does not quantify/assess ‘actual’ food consumption, and diet quality | |
Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) (FAO [18]) | Measures individual’s experience of FI using an 8-item questionnaire Used by FAO to monitor global FS Categorical scale based on the sum of affirmative responses (4 categories) Continuous scale based on a Rasch model with cut-off points | 1 year | Individual | Access | Quantity, perceived quality | Estimate prevalence of FI FS monitoring at global (SDG) and national levels Program monitoring and evaluation | Valid and reliable | Can be collected via the 8-items questionnaire For most countries data is available from FAO’s survey via Gallup Inc | Comparable FS estimates across countries/cultures/sub-populations; FAO provides software program and learning materials for computing FIES. Yet, FIES is complicated for non-specialists, does not quantify the ‘actual’ food consumption and diet quality, does not measure child FS |
Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) (Coates et al. [112]) | Measures households’ experience of FI using a 9-item questionnaire Categorical scale derived from the affirmative responses (4 categories) Continuous scale can also be derived based on a Rasch model | 4 weeks | Household | Access | Quantity, perceived quality, Preference | Monitoring and evaluation of FS programs, Targeting Estimate FI prevalence | Can be collected via the 9-items questionnaire | It has a specific question about the ‘food preference’ component; straightforward to apply. Yet, it does not quantify the ‘actual’ food consumption and diet quality | |
Latin American and Caribbean Household Food Security Scale (ELCSA) | Adapted from HFSSM to measure households’ experience of FI using a 15-item questionnaire (the 7 are questions only for households with children) Categorical scale based on the sum of affirmative responses (4 categories) Continuous scale based on a Rasch model with cut-off points | 3 months | Household | Access | Quantity, perceived quality | Estimate FI prevalence Program monitoring, evaluation and targeting | Valid and reliable [10] | Can be collected via the 15-items questionnaire | Harmonised for its application in Latin American and Caribbean; easy to apply. A continuous scale based on a Rasch model can also be derived. ELCSA does not quantify the ‘actual’ food consumption and does not consider diet quality |
Household Hunger Scale (HHS) (Deitchler et al. [22]) | Estimates the prevalence of severe experiences of lack of food access and experiences of hunger HHS is derived from data collected using the last three HFIAS questions Categorical scale based on the sum of affirmative responses (3 categories) | 30 days | Household | Access | Quantity | Estimate prevalence of severe FI or hunger across contexts Early warning for humanitarian responses | Valid and reliable [10] | Can be derived from HFIAS dataset or data collected via the 3-items questionnaire | Comparable across contexts; easy to apply. Yet, it does not quantify the ‘actual’ food consumption and does not consider diet quality |
Food Adequacy Questionnaire (FAQ) [23] | Subjective indicator of FS based on individual’s self-reported adequacy of food | – | Household/Individual | Access | Quantity | Estimate prevalence of FI Rapid FS assessment | Not valid and reliable [24] | Data can easily collected using one question | Capture the behavioural aspects of FI, Suitable for conducting preliminary FS assessments Yet, prone to subjective biases |