In the global food security community, there has been a need for common definitions and common scale for classifying various food insecurity situations in terms of severity and implications for action. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) is designed to fill this critical gap in food security analysis.

In particular, the IPC-Chronic in the Philippines began in October 2014 with the conduct of awareness raising session on the IPC Chronic Protocol and training on online information support system, data preparation, and IPC Chronic Phase Classification. The final step is the conduct of Chronic Food Insecurity Analysis. In 2015 to 2016, 33 provinces of Mindanao and Luzon were classified according to level of chronic food insecurity.

Chronic food insecurity persists over time mainly due to structural causes under non-exceptional circumstances. Further, the IPC-Chronic Classification considers both the quantity and quality of dietary intake and seasonal fluctuations among them. The duration of quantity and quality deficits in food intake within a year help to define the severity of chronic food insecurity. There are four levels of chronic food insecurity classification: minimal or no, mild, moderate and severe.

Two more rounds of IPC chronic analysis workshops have been planned this year to generate a Philippine map showing the severity of chronic food insecurity in all provinces. The third and fourth rounds of IPC chronic analysis workshop will be conducted on 21-24 March and 4-7 April 2017, respectively. Both rounds will be participated in by IPC analysts from:

   1. Department of Agriculture
   2. Department of Education
   3. Department of Interior and Local Government
   4. Department of Social Welfare and Development
   5. Department of Labor and Employment
   6. Department of Agrarian Reform
   7. Department of Science and Technology
       - Food and Nutrition Research Institute
       - Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration
   8. National Economic and Development Authority
   9. Philippine Statistics Authority
   10. University of the Philippines Los Baños
       - College of Agriculture
       - College of Economics and Management
       - College of Human Ecology
       - Institute of Human Nutrition and Food
       - Interdisciplinary Studies Center on Food and Nutrition Security
   11. Office of Civil Defense
   12. Action Against Hunger
   13. World Vision International
   14. United Nations World Food Programme
   15. National Nutrition Council of Department of Health
   16. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

The analysis workshops aim to classify the extent as well as to determine the contributing factors of chronic food insecurity in 37 provinces which are among the government's priority 1, 2 and 3 provinces under the Philippine Development Plan of 2011-2016. The workshop output is expected to provide insights to decision-makers and program managers on appropriate strategic directions and objectives in addressing food insecurity in the analyzed provinces.

By: Leah M. Felismino