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Exploring definitions of food insecurity and vulnerability: time to refocus assessments

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  • Hart, Tim G.B.

Abstract

Recent high food prices and changes in the world food situation are exacerbating the conditions of households that are vulnerable to food insecurity, especially those with weak livelihood strategies. To address the impact of these and other stressors it is necessary to develop a deeper understanding of concepts such as ‘vulnerability’ and ‘food insecurity’. This is challenging as both concepts are used rather loosely in the food security literature, despite both having at least two dimensions. Vulnerability has an external and internal dimension, and food insecurity has a temporal and intensity dimension. However, assessments are often only concerned with one dimension at a time. An exploration of the two concepts suggests that in both cases the dimensions need to be combined in order to understand the different interactions and the interconnections between different dimensions and the multiple levels of the systems in which they are embedded. This combination of dimensions is important for understanding the significant role that livelihoods play in the accumulation of assets and for accessing food. It makes the understanding of the multiple causes and consequences of vulnerability and food insecurity for different households clearer. Those households and individuals considered chronically poor or food-insecure are likely to experience severe food insecurity in the long-term, as a result of their weak livelihoods and minimal assets. Consequently, future studies on vulnerability to food insecurity should focus on these chronically food insecure households in order to determine the multidimensional nature of the stressors they experience and their ability to cope and adapt to these stressors. This would contribute to our understanding of the contexts in which the data from larger quantitative studies are embedded.

Suggested Citation

  • Hart, Tim G.B., 2009. "Exploring definitions of food insecurity and vulnerability: time to refocus assessments," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 48(4), pages 1-22, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:ags:agreko:58212
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.58212
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    Cited by:

    1. Oluwaseun Samuel Oduniyi & Sibongile Sylvia Tekana, 2020. "Status and Socioeconomic Determinants of Farming Households’ Food Security in Ngaka Modiri Molema District, South Africa," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 149(2), pages 719-732, June.
    2. Andy Sumner & Richard Mallett, 2013. "Capturing Multidimensionality: What does a Human Wellbeing Conceptual Framework Add to the Analysis of Vulnerability?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 113(2), pages 671-690, September.
    3. Muhammad Masood Azeem & Amin W. Mugera & Steven Schilizzi & Kadambot H. M. Siddique, 2017. "An Assessment of Vulnerability to Poverty in Punjab, Pakistan: Subjective Choices of Poverty Indicators," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 134(1), pages 117-152, October.
    4. Azeem, Muhammad Masood & Mugera, Amin W. & Schilizzi, Steven, 2016. "Living on the edge: Household vulnerability to food-insecurity in the Punjab, Pakistan," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 1-13.
    5. Brunie, Aurélie & Fumagalli, Laura & Martin, Thomas & Field, Samuel & Rutherford, Diana, 2014. "Can village savings and loan groups be a potential tool in the malnutrition fight? Mixed method findings from Mozambique," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(P2), pages 113-120.
    6. Mousumi Das, 2021. "Vulnerability to Food Insecurity: A Decomposition Exercise for Rural India using the Expected Utility Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 156(1), pages 167-199, July.
    7. L. Baiyegunhi & B. Oppong & G. Senyolo, 2016. "Mopane worm (Imbrasia belina) and rural household food security in Limpopo province, South Africa," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(1), pages 153-165, February.
    8. Saswati Chaudhuri, 2017. "Some Dimensions of Vulnerability: A Study of the Urban Poor in Kolkata," Indian Journal of Human Development, , vol. 11(1), pages 109-123, April.
    9. Million Sileshi & Reuben Kadigi & Khamaldin Mutabazi & Stefan Sieber, 2019. "Analysis of households’ vulnerability to food insecurity and its influencing factors in East Hararghe, Ethiopia," Journal of Economic Structures, Springer;Pan-Pacific Association of Input-Output Studies (PAPAIOS), vol. 8(1), pages 1-17, December.
    10. L. J. S. Baiyegunhi & B. B. Oppong & G. M. Senyolo, 2016. "Mopane worm (Imbrasia belina) and rural household food security in Limpopo province, South Africa," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(1), pages 153-165, February.
    11. Sandile Mthethwa & Edilegnaw Wale, 2021. "Household Vulnerability to Food Insecurity in Rural South Africa: Evidence from a Nationally Representative Survey Data," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-17, February.
    12. Charlotte Bauch & Liv Elin Torheim & Kari Almendingen & Marianne Molin & Laura Terragni, 2023. "Food Habits and Forms of Food Insecurity among International University Students in Oslo: A Qualitative Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-20, February.

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    Consumer/Household Economics;

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