Summary of Preliminary Results of SEFSec 2013-2014
More than one fourth of households are food insecure in Palestine
|
The annual Socio-Economic and Food Security (SEFSec) survey has been conducted annually since 2009 as a collaborative effort between the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics — PCBS and the Food Security Sector – FSS, co-led by FAO and WFP in close collaboration with UNRWA. Under the leadership of the FSS, a review of the SEFSec methodology has been carried out with the ultimate objective of improving the way the survey captures the various dimensions of food insecurity in Palestine (poverty, food consumption and resilience). The following are the main findings and trends based on this new methodology during the years 2013 and 2014. |
• In 2014 food insecurity in Palestine is still very high, with more than one fourth of the population — 27 percent or 1.6 million people — being either severely or moderately food insecure (around 13 percent in each category) according to the annual socio-economic food security (SEFSec) survey. In 2014 Gaza and West Bank experienced food insecurity levels of 47 and 16 per cent, respectively.
• In the West Bank, general food insecurity levels are higher among refugees than among non-refugees (22 and 14 per cent respectively in 2014). Food security status for both refugee and non-refugees households has improved, for refugees around 2 percentage points, while non-refugees report a more significant improvement of around 8 percentage points.
• In Gaza, where refugees report lower food insecurity rates than non-refugees, incidence of food insecurity increases among both refugee and non-refugee households (about 1 and 3 percentage points respectively). This reflects a generalized food access decline in Gaza as a result of labour entitlement failure (+11 percentage points in the unemployment rate over one year) and a sharp increase in food price levels (+12 percent between May and August 2014).
• The percentage of food insecure households in refugee camps in 2014 is 46 and 29 percent respectively in Gaza and in West Bank. Food insecure households increased in West Bank (3 percentage points change) while in Gaza they have slightly reduced (by 3 percentage points).
• The negative impact on food access of the events affecting Gaza is particularly severe on urban households: the incidence of food insecurity increased by 3 percentage points between 2013 and 2014. In the West Bank urban households' incidence of food security improved by about 7 percentage points.
• Rural households, although still facing a high incidence of food insecurity (overall around 21 percent), improved significantly between 2013 and 2014, especially in Gaza. This could be explained by the capacity of agricultural households to compensate for the reduction in labour opportunities (labour entitlement) and the reduced availability of food due to the closure of tunnels (trade entitlement) with direct production of foodstuffs (production entitlement) that can be either directly consumed or sold to take advantage of higher food prices.
• In Palestine, around one fourth of male-headed households are food insecure as compared to around one third of female-headed households. In Gaza both female and male-headed households are almost evenly split between food secure and insecure. In the West Bank only 15 percent of male-headed households are food insecure as compared to 25 percent of female-headed households.
|
Why a new food insecurity measurement methodology Globally there have been significant advances in measurement and proxy estimates of food security measurements since the original SEFSec analysis was conceived in 2007. Additionally there have been changes to Palestinian consumption patterns and socio-economic conditions. Therefore the old methodology was considered not capable of capturing the dynamic complexity of the food security situation in Palestine. The socio-economic crisis, deriving from almost 70 years of turmoil, conflict and the occupation regime, required a more comprehensive analysis of the drivers of food insecurity in an attempt to provide a more accurate profile of the population. Taken together, these changes and considerations prompted a review of the SEFSec methodology. The new methodology was adopted for the first time for the 2014 survey (and retrospectively applied to the 2013 survey) that this statement refers to. As a result in the methodology change, the food security figures published until the SEFSec Report 2012 and in the June 2014 High Level Statement, which are based on the old methodology, are not comparable with the ones reported in this statement. Needless to say, cross-country comparisons can only be made between countries adopting the same methodology. The SEFSec Report 2013-2014, expected to be released in Q1-2016, will provide more detailed analyses of the SEFSec 2013 and 2014 survey data as well as a full account of the methodology adopted therein, explaining why and how the SEFSec methodology has changed. |
Download Document Files:
Document Type: Report, Summary, Survey
Document Sources: Food Security Sector, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), World Food Programme (WFP)
Subject: Agriculture, Food, Gaza Strip, Poverty
Publication Date: 08/12/2015