NeKSAP and Food Security Monitoring

Food Security is a cross-cutting issue. Due to it's multidimensional nature, the precise measurement of it's status takes much effort. There are many initiative to measure the food security in Nepal. NeKSAP is one of the established food security monitoring system with it's wider area of coverage.

Nepal Khadya Surakchya AnugamanPranali ( NeKSAP) is an Integrated Food Security Phase Classification ( IPC) based food security monitoring system operating in Nepal. UnitedNations World Food Program (UN-WFP), Nepal launched this in Nepal. Currently, it is working in collaboration of WFP and Ministry of Agricultural Development. It is under institutionalization in government system. Therefore, handing over from WFP and taking over by Government is going on. 

NeKSAP uses both household as well as area based classification system. The smallest unit of analysis is generally Village Development Committee (VDC) in case of area and individual household in case of household classification. The household classification is conducted using information collected from household survey using standard  questionnaire in each trimester of an year. Likewise, for area classification, NeKSAP is working in 72  out of 75 districts of Nepal, except three districts of Kathamandu Valley. Acute state of food insecurity is analysed using phase classification system of IPC. All the relevant stakeholders in a district sit together and classify an area into specific phase based on some evidence.Altogether 17 following indicators are used to assess FS status of an area.  

1.    Food Consumption

2.    Livelihood Change (and Coping strategies)

3.  Acute child malnutrition (6-59m), wasting as per the prevalence of Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM)

4.    Crop production situation

5.    Food stock at household level

6.    Stock of main staples in key markets (food availability in the market)

7.    Employment opportunities within and neighbouring districts

8.    Income through sales: NTFP, cash/high value crops, and small enterprises

9.    Income: meat, milk, egg, fish, honey

10.  Market price of main staple like rice, wheat flour, and others.

11. Remittances

12. Human disease incidence, and epidemics

13. Water supply for drinking, sanitation

14. Out-migration (stress induced)

15. Civil security (social violence, and bandh/blockade)

16. Climatic hazards: floods, landslides, dry spell, snowfall, hailstorm , and strong wind

17. Disaster: Earthquake, fire

These Indicators are based on all the four dimensions of food security Viz Food Availability, Food Access, Food Utilization and Stability.Based on these indicators an area is classified in to five phases.

Phase 1	Phase 2	Phase 3	Phase 4	Phase 5
Minimal Food Insecure	Moderately Food In-secured (or Stressed)	Highly Food Insecure(or Crisis)	Severely Food Insecure (or Emergency)	Humanitarian emergency/Famine(or Declared famine)

The description of each phase is as described below.

Phase	NeKSAP Phase names	Equivalent phases IPC V2	Description
I	Minimal Food Insecure	Minimal	Households with secure food and non-food needs without shifting  or changing livelihood strategies. These households are capable of adjusting small scale stresses caused by hazards, disasters, shocks, epidemics and conflicts or violence by means of existing social, natural and economic capital.
II	Moderately Food Insecure (or Stressed)	Stressed	Households meet minimal food with traditional coping, but are unable to afford some essential non-food expenditures without engaging in irreversible coping strategies.
III	Highly Food Insecure (or Crisis)	Crisis	Households with food consumption gaps  high or above usual acute malnutrition. Or meet minimal food needs only with accelerated depletion of livelihood assets - lead to food consumption gaps.
IV	Severely Food Insecure (or Emergency)	Emergency	Households unable to meet food and non-food needs without losing livelihood assets. This induces very high acute malnutrition leading to high morbidity, mortality and shortened life expectancy. Probable high level of violence and movement restriction due to conflict. Some immediate interventions and assistance required.
V	Humanitarian Emergency (or Declared Famine)	Famine	Almost all households have an extreme lack of food and other basic needs where starvation, destitutions, irreversible loss of capital resources and loss of lives are evident. Households of the whole areas are challenged by acute shortage of food and other basic needs - hazards, disasters, epidemics or destruction of infrastructure, disturbances of services. Immediate humanitarian assistance required.

Based on this classification, food security phase map are prepared for an area. A map of phase classification of Nepal for period of Mid Nov 2013 to Mid March 2014 is shown as below.

(Image from , neksap.org.np, food security bulletine:41). Present work to institutionalize NeKSAP system in government system has great importance. If the NeKSAP is totally established in government system , it works as a evidence for designing food security related issues at policy level.  Ultimately, food security related response work both at local and central level will be immediate and effective.