A Cost of the Diet analysis in Taiz Governorate, Yemen Location: Taiz Highland labour and Agricultural livelihood Zone, Taiz Governorate Date collected: 9th – 12th February, 2014 HEA data: May 2013 Funded by: Acknowledgments The Cost of the Diet analysis was led by Assumpta Ndumi with support from the livelihoods and M&E teams in Taiz. The Cost of the Diet assessment team comprised the following people: Majid Abdullah Saeed, Akram Taha Abdurabo Aljahmee, Ahmed Abdualfatah Qasem Algonaid, Marwa Ahmed Ahmed Al-Ragehi, Hala Abdulwakeel Emad Mohammed, Amal Mohamed Abdulkarim and Ahmed Furas. The analysis and this report were written by Assumpta Ndumi with contributions from Amy Deptford and Nichola Connell. Thanks to due to Casey Harrity, Samuel Mamo, Clemensia Mwiti, Mona Saleh, Mohammed Muflehi, Abbas Hussien, Ahmed Furas and Baligh Abdulrahman for their warm welcome and for making the practical arrangements for the analysis to take place. This analysis would not have been possible without the willing help of the market traders and the women of Shara’ab Al Rona, Sama’a and Al Mawaset districts who participated in the interviews and focus group discussions. Their time, hospitality and insights are greatly appreciated. 2 Table of Contents Acknowledgments 2 Table of Contents 3 List of tables and figures 4 ACRONYMS 5 Executive Summary 6 1 Introduction 10 1.1 Taiz Governorate 10 1.2 Aim of the analysis 12 2 Overview of the Study Area 12 2.1 Introduction to the Taiz Highland labour and Agricultural Livelihood Zone 12 2.2 Household profiles and key economic characteristics 13 2.3 Food Sources 13 3 Methods 13 3.1 Location 13 3.2 Data collection and sources 14 3.2.1 Market survey to collect price data 14 3.2.2 Specification of a typical family 14 3.2.3 Requirements for energy and micronutrients 15 3.3 The Cost of the Diet software 15 3.3.1 Energy only diet 17 3.3.2 Creating the Nutritious (macro-and micronutrients) diet 17 3.3.3 Creating the Food habits nutritious diet 17 3.4 Estimating the affordability of diets 18 3.4.1 Estimating affordability according to annual income 18 3.4.2 Estimating affordability after meeting the livelihood protection threshold 19 4 Results 19 4.1 The cost of the diet 20 4.1.1 Energy only diet 20 4.1.2 Nutritious (Macro-and Micronutrients) diet) 24 4.1.3 Food habits nutritious diet 27 4.1.4 Seasonal fluctuations in the Food habits nutritious diet 31 4.1.5 Contribution of food groups to the cost of the Food habits nutritious diet 32 4.2 Affordability of the diets 33 4.3 Modelling interventions 35 4.3.1 Modelling the potential impact of the Cash For Work intervention on affordability 35 4.3.2 Modelling the potential impact of suboptimal infant feeding practices on the cost and quality of a food habits diet of a 12-23 month old child 36 4.4 The application of average prices of food groups 37 5 Discussion 40 6 Recommendations 42 3 List of tables and figures Figure 1: Map of Taiz Governorate.......................................................................................... 11 Figure 2: Taiz highland labour and agriculture livelihood zone ............................................... 14 Figure 3: The annual cost of an energy only diet based upon mean energy values for household of between 5 and 10 members and low, HEA and Cost of the Diet and high average energy requirements. ................................................................................................. 21 Figure 4: The percentage of energy and the recommended nutrient intakes for micronutrients met by an energy only diet for a 12-23 month old child .......................................................... 23 Figure 5: Percentage of energy and recommended nutrient intakes for micronutrient met for the rest of the family by an energy only diet. ........................................................................... 24 Figure 6: The percentage of energy and the recommended nutrient intakes for micronutrients met by a nutritious (macro-and micronutrients) diet for a 12-23 month old child. ................... 25 Figure 7: Percentage of energy and recommended nutrient intakes for micronutrient met for the rest of the family by a nutritious (macro-and micronutrients) diet. .................................... 25 Figure 8: Annual cost of a Food habits nutritious diet for the low, HEA/COD and high energy families ..................................................................................................................................... 27 Figure 9: The percentage of energy and the recommended nutrient intakes for micronutrients met by a Food habits nutritious diet for a 12-23 month old child. ............................................ 28 Figure 10: Percentage of energy and recommended nutrient intakes for micronutrient met for the rest of the family by a Food habits nutritious diet. ............................................................. 29 Figure 11: Seasonal calendar ................................................................................................. 31 Figure 12: Seasonal fluctuations in the food habits nutritious diet .......................................... 32 Figure 13: The weekly cost of foods each week selected by the Cost of the Diet software for the food habits nutritious diet which meets needs for energy and micronutrients in a culturally acceptable diet for a 12-23 month old child. ............................................................................ 32 Figure 14: The weekly cost of foods each week selected by the Cost of the Diet software for the food habits nutritious diet which meets needs for energy and micronutrients in a culturally acceptable diet for the rest of the family .................................................................................. 33 Figure 15: The affordability of an energy only and food habits nutritious diet based on the numbers presented in Table 12. .............................................................................................. 35 Figure 16: Modelling the effect of an additional $50 (YER 10,725) per month for 5 months on the Cost of the Diet for the very poor and poor households .................................................... 36 Figure 17: A bar chart showing the cost of a food habits nutritious diet for a 12-23 month old child with 100% of breast milk compared with two infant feeding models .............................. 37 Table 1: The characteristics of households in Taiz Highland labour and agriculture Livelihood Zone by wealth group .............................................................................................................. 13 Table 2: A summary of the diets analyzed using the Cost of the Diet software ...................... 17 Table 3: Total estimated income in YER of a typical household in four wealth groups rounded to the nearest thousand. .......................................................................................................... 19 Table 4: Total income and livelihood protection threshold by wealth group............................ 19 Table 5: The energy density and cost of the main staple foods eaten by people in Taiz highland labour and agriculture livelihood zone, ranked in terms of cost per 100 g from low to high .......................................................................................................................................... 20 Table 6: The lowest cost diet for the HEA/COD family in Taiz Highland labour and agriculture livelihood zone that meets only their energy requirements. The costs have computed in YER ................................................................................................................................................. 20 Table 7: The percentage of the average requirements for energy, protein and fat met each day by the energy only diet and the percentage of the recommended daily intake of vitamins and minerals provided by the diet for the HEA/CoD family. .................................................... 22 Table 8: The lowest cost diet for the HEA/CoD family in Taiz Highland labour and agriculture livelihood zone that meets needs for energy and micronutrients but does not take into account the typical diet. ......................................................................................................................... 24 Table 9: The percentage of the average requirements for energy, protein and fat met each day by the MNUT diet and the percentage of the recommended intake of vitamins and minerals provided by the diet for the HEA/CoD family. ........................................................... 26 Table 10: The lowest cost diet for the HEA/CoD family in Taiz highland labour and agriculture livelihood zone that meets needs for energy and micronutrients and is adjusted to account for usual dietary habits. ................................................................................................................. 27 4 Table 11: The percentage of the average requirements for energy, protein and fat met each day by the LACON or most nutritious diet and the percentage of the recommended daily intake of vitamins and minerals provided by the diet for the HEA/CoD family. ....................... 30 Table 12: The estimated incomes by wealth group, livelihood protection thresholds (LPT) and the costs of three diets estimated by the Cost of the Diet software for households in Taiz Highland labour and agriculture Livelihood Zone in February 2014........................................ 34 Table 13: The average cost of