FEWS NET Food Insecurity Severity Scale

The primary purpose of the FEWS NET Food Insecurity Severity Scale is to provide a common classification of the severity of food insecurity, which can be used to highlight priority areas and populations in need of emergency response that have been identified based on food security analysis. Achieving statistically comparable measures of food insecurity is not currently possible, even with a major investment – nor necessarily required for early warning purposes. Therefore, the FEWS NET Food Insecurity Severity Scale aims to support the development of the most comparable analysis possible to support decision making and planning at different levels. FEWS NET fully recognizes the significant amount of judgment that underlies this type of analysis. FEWS NET uses the latest available assessment and monitoring data, as well as baseline and historical data, to inform its scenario analysis. A consensus-based process engaging relevant experts in each country is conducted to determine the appropriate level of food insecurity to assign to each area.

Since FEWS NET performs food security outlook analyses regularly over the course of the year, FEWS NET has designed this food security classification to be dynamic. For example, an area or population may be classified by FEWS NET as no acute food insecurity, moderately food insecure, or highly food insecure at different times over the course of the year depending on seasonality and the timing of specific shocks, coping strategies, and other factors. Also, in the interest of highlighting key areas of concern for decision-makers, FEWS NET explicitly incorporates assumptions about likely humanitarian assistance in its analysis of food security outcomes.

FEWS NET Food Insecurity Severity Scale
	No Acute Food Insecurity	Moderately Food Insecure	Highly Food Insecure	Extremely Food Insecure	Famine
Summary Description	Households face no acute food insecurity. They are able to meet basic food requirements without depending on external assistance. This means that there is adequate food available and that households have adequate resources to obtain sufficient food. No major macro- or micronutrient deficiencies exist in the diet. However, households may face less severe manifestations of food insecurity that reflect poor chronic conditions. These may include less than ideal dietary diversity, inability to consume preferred foods, chronic malnutrition, and/or anxiety about future food security.	Households are able to meet their basic food requirements, but to do so, they are relying on external assistance and/or coping strategies that begin to erode their asset base. Levels of acute malnutrition remain within typical seasonal norms.	Although households may be receiving external assistance and employing coping strategies, modest shortfalls in meeting basic food requirements remain. Negative household response strategies are prominent, and more extreme coping, including liquidation of productive assets, may be present. The prevalence of acute malnutrition is above normal.	Households face substantial or prolonged shortfalls in their ability to meet basic food requirements. Reduced food intake is widespread, resulting in significantly increased rates of acute malnutrition and increasing mortality. Significant erosion of assets is occurring, and households are gradually moving towards destitution.	Destitution and starvation become prominent, and populations face high mortality risk, due to an extreme lack of access to food and other basic needs.
Coping Strategies	No coping strategies employed –or- Coping strategies are employed, but while they may require additional time or effort, or be less culturally/socially preferred, they have no medium or long term negative impacts on livelihoods or wellbeing. Examples include normal seasonal reductions in expenditure, sale of less important assets, above-normal but sustainable livestock sales.	Households employ negative coping strategies which help to mitigate current food insecurity but may have medium- to long-term impacts on the ability of households to maintain food security and current livelihoods (e.g., removing children from school, unsustainable charcoal/firewood production, unsustainable livestock sales, accumulating excess debt, atypical migration of household members).	In addition to coping strategies described in earlier phases, households may begin to utilize more extreme strategies. These include the liquidation of productive assets (e.g. draft animals, ploughs, land, remaining breeding stock, or whole herds) and/or other strategies that disrupt preferred livelihoods (e.g., whole-household migration, prostitution).	Same as Highly food insecure.	Coping ability exhausted. Complete destitution widespread. Whole-household famine-related migration common.
	No Acute Food Insecurity	Moderately Food Insecure	Highly Food Insecure	Extremely Food Insecure	Famine
Reliance on External Support	No reliance on food aid or external assistance to meet basic food needs or maintain current livelihoods.	Households may meet some food needs through a reliance on food aid or other external assistance.	Same as Moderately food insecure.	Same as Moderately food insecure.	Same as Moderately food insecure.
Food Security Outcomes (Access)	Households are able to meet their basic food requirements.	Households meet their basic food requirements, but do so though a reliance on negative coping strategies, external assistance, or both.	Households are unable to meet basic requirements and face modest food deficits despite negative coping and/or external assistance -or- Households are meeting food needs but are doing so through extreme coping strategies.	Households are unable to meet basic requirements and face food deficits that are either substantial in size or are sustained despite coping and external assistance.	Sustained and substantial food deficits are widespread, despite coping and external assistance. Extreme lack of access to food and other basic needs.
	No Acute Food Insecurity	Moderately Food Insecure	Highly Food Insecure	Extremely Food Insecure	Famine
Food Security Outcomes (Utilization and Mortality)	Nutritional situation is stable and household members are healthy enough to receive the nutritional benefits of food. Levels of acute malnutrition remain within acceptable levels. (Global Acute Malnutrition [GAM] <3%)	Levels of acute malnutrition are above those of a healthy population. Dietary quality is poorer than usual. Levels of acute malnutrition are stable, at or below typical seasonal average, -or- in the absence of historical data, GAM<10%	The prevalence of acute malnutrition is increasing unseasonably -or- is above the typical seasonal average - or- in the absence of historical data GAM is >10%	Levels of acute malnutrition are substantially higher than the seasonal reference prevalence or, in the absence of historical data, GAM > 15%, or Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) > 4% -or- Death rates are more than double the reference rate, or in the absence of historical data, CDR>1, U5DR>2 or Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) <115mm > 1%	Widespread famine-related death occurs: The crude death rate (CDR) > 5 deaths/10,000/day, or the under-5 death rate (U5DR) > 10 deaths/10,000/day -or- In the absence of mortality data, GAM >30% and conditions described under “coping” and “food access” are evident.
Livelihoods Maintenance and HEA Thresholds	Livelihoods are maintained successfully. No Household Economy Approach (HEA) deficit.	Households lack the resources to make needed current investments (e.g., ag inputs, health, education) to maintain livelihoods and food security in the future. HEA: Households face livelihoods protection deficits.	In addition to lacking the necessary resources to maintain current livelihoods, households also lack the food and cash income necessary to meet basic food requirements. HEA: Households face survival deficits.	Same as Highly food insecure, though the size of deficits may be larger.	Same as Highly food insecure, though the size of deficits may be larger.
Corresponding IPC Reference Indicators
Crude mortality rate (# deaths per 10,000 people per day)	CMR ‹ 0.5	CMR ‹ 0.5 U5MR ‹ =1	CMR 0.5-1, increasing; U5MR 1-2	CMR 1-2, increasing, or › 2x reference rate	U5MR › 4 CMR › 2
Acute malnutrition (weight/height ‹ - 2 z-scores)	‹ 3%	› 3% but ‹ 10% ; usual range, stable	10-15% ; › usual, increasing	› 15%; > usual, increasing	> 30%
Food access/ availability	Usually adequate, stable (2,100 kcal pppd)	Borderline adequate, unstable (2,100 kcal pppd)	Lack of entitlement (2,100 kcal pppd), meeting minimum needs through asset stripping	Severe entitlement gap, unable to meet minimum needs	Extreme entitlement gap; much below 2,100 kcal pppd
Coping	NDC	Insurance strategies	Crisis strategies; CSI › reference, increasing	Distress strategies; CSI significantly ‹ reference	NDC
Livelihood assets (5 capitals: human, social, financial, natural, physical)	Generally sustained utilization	Stressed unsustainable utilization	Accelerated and critical depletion or loss of access	Near complete and irreversible depletion or loss of access	Effectively complete loss; collapse

Note: NDC = not a defining characteristic; pppd = per person per day; ltrs = liters; CSI = Coping Strategies Index developed by CARE and WFP

The FEWS NET Food Insecurity Severity Scale utilizes reference thresholds for acute malnutrition, mortality and food deficits that are similar to those developed as part of the FAO-led Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) process, of which FEWS NET is a partner.

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FEWS NET Food Insecurity Severity Scale