Food Security, background document
Workshop on the Impacts of Poverty Maps:
Past Experiences and New Applications, Brussels Workshop, May 21st, 2003
| Application | Impacts | How the impacts can be enhanced |
| IFPRI recently used Malawi’s poverty map to evaluate the efficiency of poverty targeting in the “Food for Assets and Development” (FFASD) program and the “Social Action Fund’s” (MASAF) public works program. | The poverty map provided high-resolution poverty data to validate Malawi’s FFASD and MASAD public works programs have been targeting poor areas.The FFASD aims to increase food security through the development and rehabilitation of facilities in food insecure areas, mainly through rural road-building and afforestation programs. MASAD was designed to create employment and improve infrastructure access to the most disadvantaged and has, since its launch in 1996, built 2000 classrooms, developed 2000 boreholes, and various health, postal, and market facilities. | Widespread distribution of Malawi’s “Atlas of Social Statistics” is
raising awareness on the existence and usefulness of poverty maps. Seasonal and temporal environmental data are needed to complement or be integrated in poverty maps. Accounting for temporal changes is vital (e.g., crop failures due to flood, drought, infestation, urban/rural population changes, etc.). |
| WFP in Cambodia has used commune level poverty maps since 1995 to help identify the most food-insecure communes, especially for the “food for work ” programs. | Poverty maps were used in allocating $50 million in WFP food aid (2001-03). | Updating and validating poverty maps is vital to ensure accuracy and credibility of results. In Cambodia they have often been cross-checked with local and qualitative knowledge. WFP’s institutional collaboration with the Ministry of Planning helped overcome problems with data access: e.g., access to the entire 1998 census was granted. |
| A case study is being conducted to analyse poverty and food insecurity in Bangladesh. | Poverty maps will improve targeting of Bangladesh’s agricultural research and development programs and in turn improve food security. | Further research is needed to map and analyze the spatial relationships between productivity, resource endowment, socio economic, and other factors. |
| A Mexican study will develop new methodologies to characterize the spatial and temporal variation of food security and poverty in Mexico using state level maps. | This work will help set priorities and improve assessment of Mexico’s food aid and human welfare interventions. | Additional comparative and sophisticated spatial analyses are needed to further evaluate food security and poverty variation. |