Food Security Survey
Food security is a central issue to which paramount importance is attached at all national and international levels, not only because obtaining food is the right of every human being and the essence of his/her survival, but also because efforts exerted to overcome the food problem in many countries have so far failed. It has thus become inevitable to pay increased attention to the daily challenges faced by millions of households all over the world as they try to overcome hunger and poverty.
The joint efforts of the Department of Statistics (DoS) and the World Food Program (WFP) have borne fruit in implementing this survey, which aimed at assessing the food situation in Jordan. This survey focuses on providing answers to the following key questions:
- Who are the food insecure people?
- Why have they become food insecure?
- How many Jordanians are food insecure?
- Where are the food insecure people concentrated, geographically?
- How can the suffering of the food insecure people be alleviated?
The objective of answering these questions is to provide data that will serve planners and decision-makers to develop policies that are well connected to reality, in order to secure the required objective solutions
This survey, conducted in conjunction with the Households Expenditures and Income Survey (HEIS), covers all the districts in the Kingdom’s 12 governorates. It is, thus, the first of its kind in the Middle East in terms of helping those in charge of preparing this report in linking food security indicators to household income and expenditure indicators, as well as the demographic and social characteristics of these households.
Objectives of the Survey
- To provide a detailed, objective assessment of the current state of food security and vulnerability to food insecurity in the Kingdom;
- To identify the geographical areas where food vulnerable households are concentrated and may need assistance in the future;
- To provide decision makers with the information they need in their bid to select the best possible ways for targeting needy groups, directing activities and identifying the best options for building a safety net for food security.
This survey was carried out as an accompanying survey to the Household Expenditure and Income Survey (HEIS). Its data were collected together with the food questionnaire of the Household Expenditure and Income Survey (HEIS):
The Food Security Questionnaire has included:
- The number of days of the household’s consumption of specific food groups and the means of obtaining these groups.
- The means of adaptation used by the household to confront non -availability of sufficient funds to cover any of the basic needs (food, medicine, fuel, education) and the frequency of recurrence.
- The assistance received by the household and its frequency.
- Relative Distribution of Households by Average Food Consumption Category
- The percentage of Food Insecure and Food Vulnerable Households, by Governorate
- Relative Distribution of Households, by Use of Coping Mechanisms
- The percentage of Households Using Food Coping Mechanisms, by Governorate
- The percentage of Households Receiving Assistance, by Type of Assistance Jordan
- The percentage of Households Receiving Food Assistance, by Governorate
The Food Security Survey report is published after completion of the field work for about eight months