Comprehensive food security and vulnerability analysis in iraq
United Nations World Food Programme
Compte d'auteur
Poverty and hunger are among the most threatening socioeconomic epidemics attacking different sectors of the population. Among adults, they cause an inability to perform jobs and activities efficiently. The pain and suffering of children resulting from poverty and hunger are also significant, particularly when these lead to conditions such as stunting and wasting. Millions of people across the globe live in squalid conditions of poverty, hunger and disease. This pandemic poverty represents the world’s most pernicious and deadly scourge. Accordingly, it is appropriate to put “eradication of poverty and hunger” at the top of the Millennium Development Goals which were adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2000. To investigate and understand the causes of poverty and hunger and establish means to achieving progress on poverty eradication requires an extensive and accurate database of different socioeconomic indicators.
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary / 1
Scope and methods / 1
Who are the food insecure? / 1
How many are they? / 2
Where do they live? / 2
What are the underlying causes of food insecurity? / 2
What are the interventions recommended? / 3
Introduction / 4
General information on Iraq / 4
General information on food security in Iraq / 4
Part I – Study objectives and methodology / 5
Cfsva objectives / 5
Definition, terminology and concepts / 6
Sources of data / 7
Secondary data review / 7
Primary data collection / 7
Limitations of the Study / 10
Part ii – food security and vulnerability analysis / 11
Political, economical, institutional environment / 11
Political context / 11
Economic characteristics / 12
Public Distribution System (PDS) / 12
Aggregate availability and markets / 15
Asset endowments / 23
Natural Capital / 23
Human capital / 26
Physical and financial capital / 32
Livelihood strategies of households / 40
Main activities and income sources / 40
Agricultural production at household level / 43
Household expenditures / 44
Current household food security status / 45
Food consumption patterns / 45
Food consumption Classification / 46
Coping strategy index / 50
Underlying causes of food insecurity / 53
Household food security profiling / 54
District profiling / 62
Food utilization and nutritional status / 64
Health, Hygiene and care practices / 64
Children’s nutritional status / 65
Conclusions and recommendations / 73
Annexes / 77
Annex 1. Sampling / 77
Annex 2. Questionnaire / 79
Annex 3. Governorate profile / 90
List of Tables
Table 1. Number of sampled households and clusters per governorate / 9
Table 2. Wheat production (metric tonne) in the c/s governorates from 2002 to 2007 / 17
Table 3. Iraq cropping calendar / 24
Table 4. Livestock ownership by governorate and urban/rural / 25
Table 5. Orphan percentage per governorate / 27
Table 6. Movement of idps / 28
Table 7. Educational level of household members > 10 years of age / 30
Table 8. Dropout rate and working status of children under 15 years old / 31
Table 9. Percentage of household reported average daily hours of power cuts / 32
Table 10. Other source of power and lighting in the house during electricity cuts / 33
Table 11. Type of accommodation and availability of drinking water / 34
Table 12. Main source of the household drinking water / 35
Table 13. Percentage of households has access to non productive assets / 36
Table 14. Percentage of households has access to productive/non productive assets / 37
Table 15. Livelihood activities by governorate / 40
Table 16. Crops produced by season / 44
Table 17. Food groups and their corresponding weight / 45
Table 18. Food consumption score cut-off for best match of proportion of food insecure
Households / 47
Table 19. Correlation between food consumption score and other key indicators / 49
Table 20. Percentage of food insecure households and estimated population / 54
Table 21. Food consumption group by wealth index quintile / 58
Table 22. District profiling / 62
Table 23. Caring practices indicators from unicef/goi mics3 / 64
Table 24. Percentage households reporting chronic diseases by governorate / 65
Table 25. Studies on nutrition in Iraq conducted between 1991 and 2006 / 66
Table 26. Nutritional status of children under 5 years / 67
Table 27. Prevalence of underweight, wasting and stunting by sex / 67
Table 28. Nutritional status (as prevalence of malnutrition) by governorate / 70
List of charts
Chart 1. WFP/VAM food and nutrition security framework / 7
Chart 2. Percentage of households not receiving pds commodities from June to October, 2007 / 13
Chart 3. Percentage of households receiving late pds commodities from June to October, 2007 / 14
Chart 4. Percentage of household expressing opinion about PDS quality / 14
Chart 5. Percentage households prefer receiving financial support instead of the PDS commodities / 15
Chart 6. Past and current grain production in Iraq / 18
Chart 7. Wheat flour market prices from Jan, 2006 to Jun, 2008 / 19
Chart 8. Rice market prices from Jan, 2006 to Jun, 2008 / 19
Chart 9. Vegetable oil market prices from Jan, 2006 to Jun, 2008 / 20
Chart 10. Pulses market prices from Jan, 2006 to Jun, 2008 / 20
Chart 11. Comparison between 1st half of 2008 market prices and previous years / 21
Chart 12. Consumer price index from 1989 to 2008 / 21
Chart 13. Food stuffs consumer price index compared to the general consumer price index
From January, 2007 to June, 2008 / 22
Chart 14. Age pyramid / 26
Chart 15. Percentage of household changed their place of residence / 28
Chart 16. Reasons for displacements / 29
Chart 17. Working status of children under 15 years old / 31
Chart 18. Test results of iodised salt used for cooking meals consumed by the household / 36
Chart 19. Percentage of households in each wealth quintile owning various assets / 38
Chart 20. Wealth index quintiles by governorate / 39
Chart 21. Wealth index quintiles by urban and rural / 39
Chart 22. % households facing food problems in the past 30 days / 40
Chart 23. Household income and sources by Governrate / 41
Chart 24. Household income and sources by wealth quintiles / 41
Chart 25. Household income by gender / 42
Chart 26. Income quintiles by governorate / 42
Chart 27. Percentage households having farm plot per governorate / 43
Chart 28. Food expenditure quintile by governorate / 44
Chart 29. Food consumption pattern and mean number of times food item consumed per governorate / 46
Chart 30. Food items contribution to the food consumption scores / 46
Chart 31. Food consumption groups / 48
Chart 32. Percentage of poor and borderline food consumption groups per governorate / 48
Chart 33. Food consumption score by wealth quintiles / 49
Chart 34. Wealth index scores by food consumption group / 49
Chart 35. Percentage of households experiencing food shortage per governorate / 51
Chart 36. Coping strategy index / 51
Chart 37. Percentage of households experiencing food shortage per wealth quintile / 52
Chart 38. Coping strategy index per wealth quintile / 52
Chart 39. Sources of food in the pds basket / 53
Chart 40. Sources of all food / 54
Chart 41. Development of economic indicators in Iraq from 2000 to 2007 / 55
Chart 42. Development of economic indicators in iraq from 2000 to 2007 / 55
Chart 43. Differences between IDPS and non-IDPS using some key indicators / 56
Chart 44. Percentage of IDP households not receiving PDS commodities from June to October, 2007 / 57
Chart 45. Wealth quintiles and food security status / 57
Chart 46. Income quintiles and food security status / 58
Chart 47. Expenditure quintiles and food security status / 59
Chart 48. Education level of household head and food security status / 59
Chart 49. Employment and food security status / 60
Chart 50. Livelihood activities and food security status / 60
Chart 51. Sex of household head and food security status / 61
Chart 52. Prevalence of underweight, wasting and stunting by sex / 68
Chart 53. Prevalence of underweight, wasting and stunting by urban/rural / 68
Chart 54. Prevalence of wasting, stunting, and underweight by age group and
Urban/rural breakdown / 69
Chart 55. Nutritional status (as prevalence of malnutrition) by governorate / 71
Chart 56. Underweight compared to wealth quintiles / 72
List of maps
Map 1. Poor wealth index by district / 38
Map 2. Geographic distribution of percentage household with poor and borderline food Consumption / 50
Map 3. Geographic distribution of food insecurity and vulnerability in Iraq / 63
FOREWORD
Poverty and hunger are among the most threatening socioeconomic epidemics attacking different sectors of the population. Among adults, they cause an inability to perform jobs and activities efficiently. The pain and suffering of children resulting from poverty and hunger are also significant, particularly when these lead to conditions such as stunting and wasting. Millions of people across the globe live in squalid conditions of poverty, hunger and disease. This pandemic poverty represents the world’s most pernicious and deadly scourge. Accordingly, it is appropriate to put “eradication of poverty and hunger” at the top of the Millennium Development Goals which were adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2000. To investigate and understand the causes of poverty and hunger and establish means to achieving progress on poverty eradication requires an extensive and accurate database of different socioeconomic indicators.
In recent times, and thanks to the joint efforts of COSIT in the Ministry of Planning and Development Cooperation (MoPDC), Sulaymani Statistics Directorate, the Ministry of Health’s Nutrition Research Institute (NRI) and the World Food Programme, a baseline study was carried out evaluating the household food security in Iraq. This was done in the latter part of 2003 and the results were published in 2004. A follow-up survey was conducted two years later and published in May 2006. This latest third survey, conducted in November-December 2007, builds upon previous collaboration, and, for the first time, includes all 18 governorates of Iraq.
The humanitarian situation inside Iraq has changed since the previous survey was conducted in mid-2005. Sectarian violence, sparked by the bombing of the Al-Askari shrine in February 2006 has led to large-scale displacement of people both inside and outside Iraq. From Feb 2006 – March 2008, an estimated 1.5 million people have become displaced inside Iraq. The impact of this large-scale movement on the food security of both the displaced population and the population at large needs examining. This study hopes to do just that, and focuses on answering the following key questions:
- Who are the food insecure?
- Why are they food insecure?
- How many are food insecure?
- Where do the food insecure live?
- How can we alleviate their suffering from poverty and hunger?
By attempting to answer these questions, it is our hope that planners and decision makers will make use of the findings of this survey for planning and policy development, ensuring that plans and decisions are linked to real needs where suitable and objective remedies can be met. This report includes the analysis of a large number of poverty and food security indicators in Iraq followed by a comprehensive annex of indicators at the district level within each governorate. We are obliged to appreciate the distinguished efforts of the working team in COSIT, KRSO, NRI and WFP and the supporting technical teams from UNICEF, FAO and WHO.
Acknowledgements
This study was made possible by the partnership between WFP, the Central Organization for Statistics & Information Technology (COSIT), the Kurdistan Region Statistics Office (KRSO), and the Nutrition Research Institute (NRI) and the support and assistance of UNICEF, FAO and WHO under the umbrella of the Ministry of Planning and Development Cooperation/Central Government and the Ministry of Planning/Kurdistan Region. This report is part of the Ministry of Planning and Development Cooperation and Kurdistan Region Statistics Office’s official and national series of statistics.
COSIT’s team was headed by Dr. Mehdi Al-Alak, and Ms. Thanaa Salman, Manager of Human Development Statistics/Head of Food Security Unit. KRSO’s team was headed by Dr. Jamal Ameen. NRI team was headed by Dr. Alaa Shalan and Dr. Raghdaa Dhyaa.
WFP wishes to express its sincere gratitude and thanks to all of the numerous staff and individuals who contributed to this comprehensive survey. Dr. Al-Alak, Dr. Ameen, and their staff at KRSO and COSIT have made an invaluable contribution in terms of survey design and skilfully managed the household survey component. Special thanks to Ms. Thanaa Salman, Manager of Human Development Statistics and the head of the new food security unit in COSIT, for her valuable contribution in all various stages of the study. Sincere gratitude to Mr. Mahmood Othman, Head of Statistic Office in the Governorate of Sulaymani, and his staff for their valuable contribution through all stages of the survey specially during the field work.
The COSIT and KRSO field staff took on the huge responsibility of data collection in a professional and committed manner in a very difficult environment. The nutrition data could not have been collected without the medical expertise and the data collection skills of the NRI team.
WFP wishes also to express sincere appreciation for the financial support provided by the United Nations Development Group Iraq Trust Fund (UNDG-ITF) for this study.
COSIT, KRSO, NRI and WFP also wish to acknowledge the assistance and valuable contribution of staff from UNICEF, WHO, FAO, UNDP and World Bank, who all provided constructive comments at various stages of the study.
Last but not least, we wish to thank the people of Iraq for their responsiveness and kind cooperation. The extremely high response rate on a long and taxing questionnaire is testimony to the interest the people had in telling the real story about their current situation and in contributing to building a better future. It is our hope that these indicators will inspire donors and planners to meet the expectations of the Iraqi people.
This CFSVA report was prepared by (in alphabetical order) Hazem Almahdy, Kathryn Ogden and Cinzia Papavero. Osama Mohamed prepared most of the maps in the report. Useful comments and suggestions were made by colleagues in WFP OMC and WFP Headquarters. Special thanks to Robin Lodge and Caroline Legros for editing the report.
Dr. Mehdi Al-Alak
Chairman Central Organization for
Statistics & Information
Technology (COSIT)
Dr. Jamal Ameen
Chairman
Kurdistan Region
Statistics Office (KRSO)
Stefano Porretti
WFP Representative and
Country Director
United Nations World Food
Programme, Iraq Office
INTRODUCTION
General information on Iraq
Iraq covers a geographic area of 435,052 km. It is bordered by Turkey in the north; Iran in the east; Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia in the west; and Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and the Gulf in the south. Iraq is comprised of four major physiographic regions: mountain (21% of total), alluvial plain (30%), desert plateau (39%) and the upper plains/foot-hills (10%). Climatic variation ranges from cool to cold winters, and hot to extremely hot, dry summers.Regional differences are such that Baghdad is fairly dry; the South is very humid; the North is cool all year round, with very cold winters. Of the total land area of Iraq, only 25% is arable. The rainfall pattern is one of great irregularity and ranges from under 100mm to about 1,000mm/year. The main administrative structure of Iraq country is 18 governorates and each is divided into districts (Qadha) and sub districts (Nahiya).
The population of Iraq is estimated to be 29.6 million [July 2007]. The average population density is estimated at 61/km2, ranging from 9/km2 in Anbar governorate in the western desert to more than 1,490/km2 in Baghdad governorate. While average population growth before the sanctions was estimated at 3.6 percent, this rate has been greatly reduced by emigration, severe economic hardship and lower fertility rate, reaching a low of 2.76 percent in 2003.1
General information on food security in Iraq
The after-effects of war and a general economic slowdown, further exacerbated by 12 years of economic sanctions, have adversely affected Iraq’s food security. The prevailing climate of insecurity and political uncertainty further complicates the situation. As a result, large parts of the population continue to depend on the monthly food ration provided under the Public Distribution System (PDS) which was introduced by the Government of Iraq in 1991 and managed by the Ministry of Trade. The PDS is designed to provide all Iraqis with a monthly food and non-food rations at a heavily subsidized price.
In 2003, the first Food Security Baseline Survey sponsored by WFP and undertaken by the Ministry of Planning and Development Cooperation’s Central Organization for Statistics and Information Technology (COSIT) and the Ministry of Health’s Nutrition Research Institute (NRI) revealed very high levels of poverty and malnutrition (arising from decades of conflict, loss of heads of household members, disruption of economic activities, unemployment, illiteracy and insecurity), and identified areas where the population was most vulnerable.
This baseline analysis report (published 2004) concluded that 11 percent of the population in Iraq, or roughly 2.6 million people, were found to be extremely poor and vulnerable to food insecurity. If the PDS were discontinued, an additional 3.6 million people would have also face a high probability of becoming food insecure. Food insecurity was largely attributable to the insufficiency of the PDS to provide adequate food for Iraq’s poorest households, those who lack sufficient income to supplement their food supplies. Low purchasing power was associated with high rates of unemployment, particularly in rural areas. Female-headed households seemed most likely to be vulnerable to poverty, according to the 2003 survey. Acute malnutrition (wasting) for children under five was 4.4 percent, underweight 11.5 percent and chronic malnutrition or stunting was 27.6 percent. In addition the baseline results showed that, despite the PDS, there was a prevalence of extreme poverty, particularly among women and children in rural areas. Furthermore, it found that despite the availability of food on the market, the poorest people faced problems in buying it. Chronic poverty, a lack of job opportunities and inadequate purchasing power all contributed to Iraq’s overall food insecurity.
In 2006, COSIT, under the Ministry of Planning, Sulaymani Statistics Directorate of the Kurdistan Region and the Nutrition Research Institute (NRI), under the Ministry of Health, ...
1 FAO/WFP Crop, Food Supply And Nutrition Assessment Mission To Iraq, 23 September 2003
United nations world food programme
Comprehensive food security and vulnerability analysis in iraq
Compte d'auteur
Compte d'auteur
Comprehensive food security and vulnerability analysis in iraq
United nations world food programme
Central organization for statistics & information technology (cosit),
Ministry of planning and development cooperation, iraq
Kurdistan region statistics office (krso), iraq
Nutrition research institute, ministry of health, iraq
United nations world food programme
© United Nations World Food Programme 2008
