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Food Consumption Score (FCS) : Indicator Phrasing

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57 views2 pages

Food Consumption Score (FCS) : Indicator Phrasing

Uploaded by

M&E Officer PVDP DKH
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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FOOD CONSUMPTION SCORE (FCS)

Impact indicator, Outcome indicator, Cluster indicator, ECHO indicator, DEVCO indicator

Indicator Phrasing
English: % of the target population with acceptable Food Consumption Score (FCS)

French: % de la population cible ayant un Score de Consommation Alimentaire acceptable (SCA)

Portuguese: % da população-alvo com uma Classificação De Consumo de Alimentos (CCA) aceitável

Czech: % cílové populace s přijatelným Food Consumption Score (FCS)

What is its purpose?


The Food Consumption Score (FCS) is a more complex indicator of a household's food security status,
as it considers not only dietary diversity and food frequency but also the relative nutritional importance
of different food groups (on the other hand, its use of relatively long, 7 days recall period, might make
the data less precise).

How to Collect and Analyse the Required Data


Determine the indicator's value by using the following methodology:

1) Conduct individual interviews with a representative sample of the target household representatives
assessing how many days in the past 7 days the household has eaten any of the 16 pre-defined
types of food by asking: "I would like to ask you about all the different foods that your household
members have eaten in the last 7 days. During this period, how many days in the past 7 days has your
household eaten ..." [name gradually all the 16 types of foods listed in WFP's FCS guidelines - access
below].

2) Sum up all the consumption frequencies of foods belonging to the same food groups (there is a
total of 9 groups, as listed in WFP's FCS guidelines). Recode the frequency value of each food group
above 7 as 7 (e.g. if the summed up frequency value is 10, recode it as 7).

3) To create new weighted food group scores, multiply the value obtained for each food group by its
"importance weight" specified in WFP's FCS guidelines.

4) By summing the weighed food group scores you calculate the Food Consumption Score (FCS).
5) According to the FCS's value, indicate the percentage of households with “poor” FCS (0-21 scores),
“borderline” FCS (21,5 - 35 scores) and “acceptable” FCS (35,5 scores and above). However, these
thresholds are not valid in all contexts - you might need to modify them based on the dietary
patterns of the target population – read carefully WFP’s Guidance Sheet provided below and consult the
Food Security Cluster in your country of operation.

6) Calculate the percentage of households with “acceptable” FCS by dividing the number of
households with FCS higher or equal to 35.5 scores by the total number of surveyed households and
multiplying the result by 100.

Disaggregate by
Disaggregate the data by wealth and other relevant criteria.

Important Comments
1) FCS is one of ECHO's Key Outcome Indicators (KOI). According to ECHO’s guidance (see below),
FCS's target value should "be greater than 80%, but may be context specific.”

2) FCS is a good indicator of a household's food security; however, it does not help with
understanding the quality of diets consumed by a specific group of household members, such as
children 6-59 months of age.

3) FCS is prone to seasonal variations. Do your best to collect baseline and endline data at the
same time of a year; otherwise it is very likely that they'll not be comparable (i.e. providing largely
useless data).

4) Make sure you do not collect data during fasting periods, such as pre-Easter time or Ramadan.

Access Additional Guidance


- WFP (2008) Food Consumption Analysis

- ECHO (2016) List of Key Outcome Indicators (KOI)

- ECHO (2016) List of Key Outcome Indicators (KOI) - French version

This guidance was prepared by People in Need © | Downloaded from www.indikit.net

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