Design and validation of a survey for the study of food and nutritional security to climate change vulnerability

Abstract

Human Security is a concept instituted by the United Nations and refers to the possibility that each person can satisfy basic needs of different kinds: Health, food, environment, education, economy, politics, institutional access, etc. Both WHO and FAO emphasize these concepts related to food and nutritional security (FNS), and relate it to the vulnerability derived from emergency and disaster situations. These are increasingly frequent and complex in a context of climate change, since they affect food systems, directly and indirectly impacting the pillars of FNS: availability, economic access, biological use and sustainability. In this context, the concepts of risk, hazards and vulnerability arise, the latter being determined by exposure, susceptibility and resilience. Managing the concept of vulnerability allows us to approach FNS as an essentially dynamic process. Thus, the objective of the work is to develop and validate an instrument for qualitative-quantitative estimation of the vulnerability of the FNS linked to the threats derived from climate changethrough its implementation in a pilot test. The variables under study are the FNS, the vulnerability of the FNS, associated with climatic events, and climate hazards. The study is observational, descriptive, and cross-sectional.The instrument was designed based on the Guide for Measuring Food Security prepared by the Red Cross; the WFP Manual for the Evaluation of Food Security in Emergencies and the USDA Food Security Measurement Instrument. The instrument was applied in Cruz del Eje City over 59 citizens and four validation test criteria implemented.