This paper describes the use of risk-mapping being developed by Save the Children Fund (UK) in collaboration with the FAO for the purposes of food aid allocation and targeting. The risk-mapping project was initiated because of the need for a method which incorporates a wider range of socio-economic information than is currently being used, and which is simple enough to be operationally useful over a wide geographic area. The paper asserts that the risk-mapping framework is able to bridge the gap between the informal, qualitative knowledge of the local informant and the statistical quantitative data of the household survey. SCF is currently carrying out fieldwork to see if it is possible to obtain semi-quantitative data from key informants and communities. A computer program has been developed which undertakes straightforward calculations on the data to arrive at the proportion of the population with a food deficit of a given size. The aim is to develop a user-friendly database in which relevant information, largely from key informants, is clearly organized and presented.
Publication year:
1993
Interest groups:
Of interest to those involved in policy and planning at regional and district level.
Publisher reference:
Save the Children