Understanding Food Insecurity Key Features, Indicators, and Response Design

This book provides a comprehensive overview of key aspects of food insecurity, including definitional and conceptual issues, information systems and data sources, indicators, and policies. The aim is to equip readers with a sound understanding of the subject that will assist in the recognition of food insecurity and the design of suitable responses. The early chapters discuss the evolution and limitations of the concept and provide a set of conceptual frameworks for the analysis of food security. Systems used to collect data and their evolution over time are then explained, and the most commonly adopted indicators for monitoring food security are presented. Approaches to food security are then thoroughly reviewed decade by decade. Specific attention is paid to the food insecurity challenge in the new millennium, focusing particularly on recent food crises and institutional and policy-related consequences. Finally, the specific terminology of food aid and assistance is examined, with discussion of the instruments recently adopted in the food aid system. This book will be an informative and stimulating resource for both students and professionals. 

1 Food security basics.- 2 Conceptual frameworks for the analysis of food security.- 3 Food security information systems and sources of food security data.- 4 Indicators for monitoring food security.- 5 The history of food security: approaches and policies.- 6 Food aid and food assistance.

Maria Sassi holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics and is Associate Professor at the University of Pavia, where she teaches Food Economics and Agricultural Development. She is local director of the EMJ Master’s Degree in International Development Studies and NOHA director for the University of Pavia. Maria Sassi is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of International Humanitarian Action. She has taken part in various international research projects focusing on food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa.