An assessment of the potential for food assistance to improve household food security in crisis situations : evidence from Mozambique

Abstract

Chronic food and nutrition insecurity in Africa persists amid high rates of poverty and malnutrition. The cumulative effect of protracted conflicts, economic decline, extreme weather events and the erosion of livelihoods and family-based support systems results in disruptions in food systems. Such disruptions result in systemic problems, depriving individuals and households of essential nutrition. Overcoming these disruptions requires purchasing power on the part of consumers and operational markets for supplying commodities. Both are often lacking in the contexts in which humanitarian agencies operate. This study investigates the influence World Food Programme (WFP) cash and food transfers have on the diversity and quality of diets of recipient households in Mozambique, and discusses the implications of this for the design of systemic food assistance intentions. The food consumption patterns and precautionary behaviours of cash and food beneficiaries were compared with a counterfactual group of non-beneficiaries that were drawn from a national sample. Beneficiaries received either a cash transfer or a food basket of an equivalent local market value. Beneficiaries’ preferences regarding the transfer modality were also investigated. Understanding the context and severity of the food shortfall is crucial in designing the most suitable food security intervention to mitigate the negative precautionary strategies. Food transfers led to the adoption of fewer negative precautionary strategies than cash transfers. The frequency and sequencing of the adoption of precautionary strategies were found to be context specific. Food transfers improved dietary diversity, whereas cash transfers led to the inclusion of more nutrient-dense foods in the diet. Cash was preferred over food transfers. However, the study showed that providing adequate rations with a cash portion could improve both dietary diversity and quality. A combination of the two modalities could stimulate demand for nutritious foods by addressing both income (purchasing power) constraints and stimulating demand for these foods. This demand could have a pull factor in terms of local food systems, which stimulates demand not only for food, but also for upstream and downstream food system services if there is a functioning market. Such insight is essential to inform the design of crisis interventions. It also contributes more broadly to understanding the systemic food system influences that food assistance programmes can have in development contexts. This is important because the rapid evolvement of humanitarian interventions increasingly focuses on the need for rigorous data on the effectiveness and comparative performance of transfer modalities. Sound impact evaluations in emergencies are gradually being considered as an integral element of programmes. This thesis contributes to the generation of data for evidence-based interventions in emergencies. The study also contributes to reducing the wide gap between the conceptualisation of food security issues and the development of effective instruments to address these issues.