Household Hunger Scale

FANTA-2, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Tufts University, developed the Household Hunger Scale (HHS), a field-practical method and simple tool to measure household food deprivation and compare data across cultures. The HHS can help improve geographic targeting of food insecurity interventions and monitoring and evaluation of food security policies and programs. The HHS is an indicator for both the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Food for Peace program and Feed the Future initiative.

Food security includes three fundamental elements: adequate food availability, adequate access to food, and appropriate food utilization/consumption. In 2007, FANTA-2, FAO, and Tufts conducted a study to evaluate the internal, external, and cross-cultural validity of the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS), a measurement scale used to assess the access component of household food insecurity in resource-poor areas. Data were collected in Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, West Bank/Gaza Strip, and Zimbabwe. The results showed that a reduced scale composed of just three items and three frequency categories for each item met the criteria for validity and may also have validity in broader geographic areas. Potential users should note that this reduced scale does not provide a measure of the access component of food insecurity, but does provide a measure of household hunger. 

This work was funded by USAID’s Office of Health, Infectious Diseases, and Nutrition in the Bureau for Global Health. Financial support from the European Commission (EC) through the EC-FAO program on linking information and decision making to improve food security (foodsec.org) and Tufts University is gratefully acknowledged.

Validation of a Measure of Household Hunger for Cross-Cultural Use (2010) This technical report outlines the study of validity of the HFIAS, the study results, and background information on the HHS.
Download the validation report [1.6 mb]

Technical Note No. 12: Introducing a Simple Measure of Household Hunger for Cross-Cultural Use (2011) This technical note introduces the HHS and provides summary information.
Download the technical note [533 kb]

Household Hunger Scale: Indicator Definition and Measurement Guide (2011) This guide is targeted specifically to HHS users and potential users. The document provides operational guidance for collection and tabulation of the HHS.
Download the guide [738 kb]