Estimating trends in prevalence of undernourishment: advantages of using HCES over the FAO approach in a case study from Cameroon

Global and national food security policies require a good knowledge of trends in prevalence of undernourishment (PoU). Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals might be difficult to assess if trends in undernourishment are not correctly estimated. However, methods of estimating PoU are still subject to debate. FAO Food Balance Sheets are used to measure food availability and undernourishment at country level. The aim of this paper is to compare trends in PoU using the FAO approach to that using Household Consumption and Expenditure Surveys (HCES). We used FAO Food Balance Sheets and parameters, and two nationwide representative Cameroonian Household Surveys (ECAM), conducted by the National Institute of Statistics (INS) in 2001 and 2007. Our findings, based on ECAM, show that 38% and 24% of the population were undernourished in 2001 and 2007, respectively. FAO estimates were 29% in 2001 and 17% in 2007. Both approaches showed a downward trend in PoU, but ECAM results showed a greater decrease. Using ECAM enabled disaggregation of trends in PoU by area of residence and region. This, in turn, will enable better targeting of vulnerable areas and disadvantaged segments of the population. The North and Far-North regions of the country were facing major food insecurity problems at the time of the surveys.