IHSN International Household Survey Network Assessment of the Reliability and Relevance of the Food Data Collected in National Household Consumption and Expenditure Surveys Lisa C. Smith Olivier Dupriez Nathalie Troubat IHSN Working Paper No. 008 February 2014 www.ihsn.org Assessment of the Reliability and Relevance of the Food Data Collected in National Household Consumption and Expenditure Surveys Smith, Lisa C., Olivier Dupriez and Nathalie Troubat February 2014 IHSN Working Paper No. 008 i This report was written by: Lisa C. Smith TANGO, International International Household Survey Network (Consultant) Olivier Dupriez World Bank Nathalie Troubat Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations ii Table of contents Table of contents ............................................................................................................................. iii List of figures ................................................................................................................................... v List of tables ..................................................................................................................................... iii Acronyms ......................................................................................................................................... vi Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................... vii Executive summary ......................................................................................................................... viii 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 2. Uses and users of the food data collected in national HCES ................................ 2 2.1 Measuring poverty ................................................................................................................. 2 2.2 Measuring food security ........................................................................................................ 4 2.3 Compiling food balance sheets .............................................................................................. 5 2.4 Informing food-based nutrition interventions ..................................................................... 6 2.5 Calculating consumer price indices ...................................................................................... 7 2.6 Informing national accounts statistics .................................................................................. 8 2.7 Meeting private sector information needs ............................................................................ 9 2.8 Summary ............................................................................................................................... 9 3. Assessment of the reliability of the food data ..................................................... 10 3.1 Recall period for at-home food data collection ..................................................................... 11 3.2 Modes of acquisition for which at-home food data are collected ......................................... 13 3.3 Completeness of enumeration of foods acquired or consumed ........................................... 14 3.4 Comprehensiveness of the at-home food list ........................................................................ 16 3.5 Specificity of the at-home food list ........................................................................................ 19 3.6 Quality of data collected on food consumed away from home ............................................. 20 3.7 Accounting for seasonality of food consumption patterns ................................................... 24 3.8 Summary ............................................................................................................................... 25 4. Assessment of the relevance of the food data ..................................................... 26 4.1 Calculation of key indicators employed by multiple users ................................................... 26 4.1.1. Measuring quantities of foods consumed ...................................................................... 26 4.1.2 Calorie consumption ....................................................................................................... 29 4.1.3 Important measurement issues to keep in mind ........................................................... 31 4.2 Relevance of the food data for various uses .......................................................................... 33 4.2.1 Measuring poverty .......................................................................................................... 33 4.2.2 Measuring food security ................................................................................................. 34 4.2.3 Informing the compilation of food balance sheets ........................................................ 37 4.2.4 Informing food-based nutrition interventions .............................................................. 39 4.2.5 Calculating consumer price indices ............................................................................... 41 4.2.6 Informing national account statistics ............................................................................ 43 4.2.7 Meeting private sector information needs ..................................................................... 44 4.3 Summary ............................................................................................................................... 44 5. Conclusions and recommendations for improving reliability and relevance ...... 46 5.1 Recommendations for improving reliability ......................................................................... 46 iii 5.2 Recommendations for improving relevance ......................................................................... 46 5.3 General recommendations .................................................................................................... 47 5.4 Key outstanding research questions ..................................................................................... 48 5.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 48 Appendix 1. Methodology of the assessment .......................................................... 49 A1.1 Formulation of the assessment criteria ............................................................................... 49 A1.2 Assessment form development, external review and pre-testing ...................................... 49 A1.3 Surveys and documentation employed ............................................................................... 49 A1.4 Data analysis ........................................................................................................................ 50 Appendix 2. List of assessment surveys .................................................................. 51 Appendix 3. Basic Food Groups with list of some common food items ................... 54 Appendix 4. Classification of Individual Consumption according to Purpose (COICOP) - Extract ................................................................................................. 56 References ........................................................................................................................................ 63 iv IHSN Working Paper No. 008 February 2014 List of figures Figure 1: Regional and time distribution of the assessment surveys .......................................... 10 Figure 2: Recall period for at-home food data collection ............................................................ 12 Figure 3: Modes of acquisition for which food data are collected ............................................... 14 Figure 4: Comprehensiveness of the at-home food list: Food groups represented .................... 17 Figure 5: Percent of surveys meeting the food list comprehensiveness criteria ......................... 19 Figure 6: Percent of surveys meeting the food list specificity criteria ......................................... 20 Figure 7: Typology of food away from home ................................................................................ 22 Figure 8: Quality of food consumed away from home data collection ........................................ 24 Figure 9: Percent of assessment surveys taking seasonality into account .................................. 25 Figure 10: Percent of assessment surveys meeting minimum reliability criteria ....................... 25 Figure 11: Percent of surveys for which absolute poverty can be measured ............................... 34 Figure 12: Percent of surveys for which various food security indicators can be measured ...... 36 Figure 13: Percent of surveys for which indicators informing food balance sheets can be measured ....................................................................................................................................... 39 Figure 14: Percent of surveys for which indicators informing food-based nutritional interventions can be measured .................................................................................................... 40 List of tables Table 1: Completeness of enumeration of food acquisition and/or food consumption .............. 15 Table 2: Comprehensiveness and specificity of the at-home food list