文章基本信息

标题：CAN FAO's MEASURE OF CHRONIC UNDERNOURISHMENT BE STRENGTHENED?
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作者：Smith, Lisa C. ; Nai Ken, Logan
期刊名称：Journal of Food Distribution Research
印刷版ISSN：0047-245X
出版年度：1998
出版社：Food Distribution Research Society
摘要：In its Sixth World Food Survey released at the 1996 World Food Summit, the Foodand Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reported that 841 millionpeople in developing countries are chronically undernourished. This number and itscountry- and regional-level disaggregations have proved tremendously useful to countlessaid agencies and researchers. In the context of a recent wave of new nationally-representative household food consumption and expenditure data, this paper examines theestimation methodology underlying this food insecurity indicator, which relies on nationalaggregate measures of food availability and distribution. The paper finds that the measureis methodologically biased toward national food availability and does not fully account forthe effects of poverty—the most widespread cause of food insecurity in developingcountries. The implications of this bias for use of the indicator in cross-countrycomparisons of food insecurity and for tracking changes in it over time are drawn out. The paper concludes by arguing that the time has come to review the potential foremploying the new household survey data for strengthening the empirical foundations ofthe FAO's measure of chronic undernourishment.