Minimum Standards1- Food Security and Nutrition
Priorities for populations should focus on ensuring an adequate supply of food and the maintenance
of adequate nutritional status. Undernutrition is a serious public health problem, and among the
lead causes of death. It is imperative to ensure that the population has the necessary access to
adequate nutrition, through physical, social and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious
food to meet their dietary requirements for an active and healthy life.
FSN standard 1: Food Security
All people have safe and equitable access to a sufficient quantity of food including local sources and
imported foods. The ability of local markets to supply food is a major determinant of availability.
The affected population requires the availability of food, the capacity to access this food, through
production, procurement availability of loans or gifts and the use of cash or vouchers to increase the
purchasing capacity of the population.
The successful utilisation of the food is also determined by methods of preparation, storage and
distribution of access within the household, as well as by the health of the individuals.
Key indicators
 Assessment of availability of food both under production and in local markets VAM, FEWS
Net. KI and FGD surveys etc.
 Economic and social ability of population to access food
 Nutritional status of population – to be determined by surveys
 Reduction in use of Coping Strategies by population
Other indicators
 Contextual information from primary & secondary sources; existing data, early warning
information, health centre reporting, community groups and government reporting.
 Nutrition Surveys, including trends
 Price surveys in markets including trends
 Overall Economic indicators and trends, including observation of population movements
 Monitoring of household coping strategies and take-up of such strategies in populations
 Anthropometric surveys and reporting of GAM and SAM
 Population data
 Surveys of micronutrition deficiency
Key actions
1. Act to ensure population has access to immediate adequate food needs.
2. Promote Food Security for longer term needs.
3. Ensure that interventions do not displace or unbalance the existing market, and monitor
effects of intervention upon existing social and economic situation.
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The proposed outline is inspired by the Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response (SPHERE)
http://www.sphereproject.org/
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4. Monitor access to adequate food of identified vulnerable or specific identified sections of
the population. Support the ability of the population to advocate for themselves, and to
participate where possible in the management of the strategy
5. Support appropriate coping strategies and seek to minimise or find alternatives to coping
strategies which will create risks or increase vulnerabilities of population.
6. Develop an exit strategy
FSN standard 2: Infant and Young Child Feeding
Optimal feeding practice maximises survival and reduces morbidity in children under 24 months of
age. Exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months, continued breastfeeding to at least 24 months and
introduction of adequate, safe and complementary foods at 6 months.
Support to reduce the risks of artificial feeding, enable appropriate feeding for vulnerable individuals
such as Low Birth Weight, those at risk of HIV & the Severely Malnourished.
Support to pregnant and lactating women and support to other caregivers such as grandparents,
single fathers, siblings etc.
Key indicators
 % of infants under 6 months being exclusively breastfed.

% of infants under 24 months still breastfed together with complementary feeding

% of infant morbidity / mortality due to diarrhoea and similar illnesses attributable to
contaminated foods
Other indicators
Key actions
1. Target mothers of all newborn babies with support for early initiation of exclusive
breastfeeding. Non breastfed infants should be provided with support.
Breastfeeding support should be intergrated within key services such as health.
2. Pregnant & breastfeeding women should receive micronutrient supplements, plus
iron and folic acid supplements, and vitamin A within six to eight weeks of delivery.
See international recommendations on dosages and timing.
3. Support exclusive breastfeeding for infants up to 6 months, and complementary
feeding with safe food preparation availability between 6 months and 24 months.
4. Identify and avoid use of formula BMS, bottles, teats and similar aids to artificial
feeding. If such articles are donated they should be placed under control of Unicef
as the designated organisation for control of all artificial substitutes.
FSN standard 3: Management of Acute Malnutrition
Acute malnutrition response should address the underlying causes of malnutrition. Supplementary
feeding should be based upon targeted or blanket approach. Choice should depend upon levels of
acute malnutrition and caseload. Where severe acute malnutrition is addressed through therapeutic
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care this should be community based where possible. Community mobilisation should be part of the
response (communication, identification of cases, referral, follow-up)
Key indicators
 Coverage of affected population by the programme. (how many receive treatment as
against how many need treatment)

Performance indicators – deaths, recovered, defaulted and non-recovered as a percentage
of admissions. Fewer than 10% deaths in population discharging from programme, and
fewer than 15% defaulted, with greater than 75% recovered.

More than 90% of target population able to access programme centres, and coverage of
greater than 70% in urban environment.
Key Actions
1. Establish a clear strategy for the assessment and response intervention.
2. Link the management of moderate acute malnutrition and severe acute malnutrition to the
existing health services where possible. Build programmes on existing health system where
possible.
3. Discharged individuals should be free from medical complications – linkage to existing health
programming is necessary to address this
4. Micronutrient deficiency should be addressed as well as acute malnutrition.
5. Underlying causes of malnutrition should be addressed.
FSN standard 4: Livelihoods
Livelihoods are the methods by which people acquire income and food. The resources available to
them including capital (savings or credit), physical (homes or items which can be sold or used to
manufacture income such as a mill or a shop), natural (land / water eg. crops or fish), human
(labour) social (community support or remittances from relatives) and political (representation or
influence). The loss of any of these forms of livelihood may reduce access to food. Livelihoods can
be separated into Primary Production, Income Generation and Access to Markets. The purpose of a
Livelihoods Intervention is to support populations who are unable to meet their basic needs without
extra inputs. The Livelihood interventions should always have an exit strategy in order to avoid
creating a situation of dependence.
Key indicators
 Households have access to the necessary inputs to protect and restart primary production
(note, in an urban environment this is less relevant since only small-scale production of food
is likely (fishing in rivers, keyhole gardens etc.)
 Households have access to sufficient purchasing power (by means of income, cash / voucher
distribution or credit to finance income generation activities) to provide for the basic needs
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
of both food and other essentials (if other essentials such as school are not met food may be
reduced to provide cash surplus for these costs)
All targeted populations have safe and full access to markets (including special vulnerable
groups eg. disabled, single women, by generating incomes through their activities and are
able to meet their basic needs.
Key actions
1. Market Study to assess actual costs of basic food needs and analysis of household
expenditure in target groups.
2. How did groups in population acquire food, and has this changed?
3. Identification of special groups and their requirements in order to access adequate food and
other essentials. Eg. some groups may not be able to participate in income-generating
activities and will need unconditional support as a safety net.
4. Survey of impact of interventions on existing markets and economies. Income generating
activities should be appropriate to the situation.
5. Responses providing employment are available to men and women, and do not negatively
impact on the local labour market or normal livelihood activities
6. Survey of fluctuations in existing markets
7. Survey of Coping Strategies and the consequences of these? (finance, health, environment,
dignity?)
8. How will intervention exit strategy be implemented?
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Appendix 1
Food Security and Nutrition Initial Needs Assessment Checklist
This list of questions is primarily for use to assess needs, identify resources and describe local
conditions. It does not include questions to determine external resources needed in addition to
those immediately and locally available.
1 General
_ How many people live in the location? Disaggregate the data as far as possible by sex, age,
disability etc. Map their houses/locations
_ What are the current or threatened food security situation? What are the extent and expected
evolution of problems?
_ Who are the key people to consult or contact?
_ Who are the vulnerable people in the population and why?
_ Is there equal access for all to existing facilities?
_ What special security risks exist for women and girls?
_ What food production and procurement process does the population currently employ?
_What are the coping strategies employed by the population?
2 Food supply
_ What are the current food supply routes, and how are they used by the population? Eg. Does
population grow own food, catch wild food, sell labour to purchase food etc?
_ How much food is available per person per day?
_What is the access to markets?
_What are the key constraints preventing people from accessing sufficient food supply?
_ Does the food supply available meet nutritional requirements?
3 Nutrition
_Suggest fill in by Nutrition programme specialist
_Is there a change in the nutritional status of the population?
_Are there disease outbreaks or other health related reasons for malnutrition?
_What is the measles vaccination coverage of the population? Is there a high prevelance of HIV or
TB?
_Is there a high incidence of malaria?
_Have people been exposed to harsh environment (eg in water or wet clothes) for long periods of
time?
_What formal sturctures such as Ministry of Health, community structures, religious institutions or
similar can be used to channel interventions?
_What methods are currently in use to identify nutritional status?
_What particular vulnerable groups need to be targeted by an intervention?
_Is food hygiene compromised as a result of the population’s situation?
4 Infant and Young Child Feeding
_Suggest fill in by Nutrition programme specialist
5 Livelihood Programming
_Identify the assets, social resources, activities and coping strategies
_Assess the existing capacity of markets and labour markets to anticipate whether intervention will
stress existing structures.
_Is food, vouchers or cash programming most appropriate?
_Is conditional or unconditional programming more appropriate?
_How can minority or vulnerable sectors of population be targeted?
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