It is known as “IBC”, which is an innovative, multilateral global initiative, and a global analytical framework used to classify the severity and severity of acute and chronic food insecurity and malnutrition in a systematic and unified manner in accordance with internationally recognized standards, described by the World Food Program as “Richter Again”.
The initiative aims to enhance food security analysis and nutrition to direct it towards accurate and effective decisions in food crises, and it depends on global organizations, international agencies, development and humanitarian bodies that jointly develop and implement this framework globally, regionally and locally.
Establishing and launching the index
The “Integrated Food Classification Framework for Food Security” was established in 2004 by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Food and Agriculture Organization Unit (FAO) in order to assess the food situation in Somalia at the time.
Malnutrition rates exceeded 30%, and deaths rise to more than two cases for every 10,000 people per day, which experts considered an urgent warning of a humanitarian catastrophe that requires an immediate and comprehensive response to save lives.
The foundation also came as a result of the urgent need for an emergency response to a unified framework for analyzing and classifying the severity of food insecurity, especially in the complex conditions resulting from conflicts and disasters in several countries around the world.
Classification Management
The classification is managed at the national level, through technical working groups that constitute the basis of the structure of the ranking for classification, and it is the one who undertakes the implementation of the work, but at the global level, it is managed by the Global Guidance Committee, which includes senior officials representing 19 partner organizations and international institution:
- Action Aganest Hengher.
- Care International.
- The permanent committee between governments to combat desertification in the coast.
- “The FAO Organization.
- Familiar early warning systems network.
- Global Food Security Bloc.
- Global Nutrition Bloc.
- The International Institute for Food Policy Research.
- The international government authority concerned with development known as Igad.
- The Joint Research Center, affiliated with the European Commission.
- Oxfam Relief Committee from starvation.
- Development community in South Africa.
- Save the children.
- The integration system in Central America.
- United Nations Development Program.
- The United Nations Children’s Organization (UNICEF).
- World Bank.
- World Food Program.
- Global Health Organization.
“IBC” measures
The “IBC” rating provides a unified scale for classifying the intensity, size of food insecurity and acute malnutrition, which contributes to enhancing accuracy, transparency, suitability, and comparison of food security and nutrition analyzes for decision makers.
There are major protocols on which the classification depends on collecting data and setting standards, which are the following three standards:
- The integrated phase classification of acute food insecurity.
- The integrated interim ranger classification of chronic food insecurity.
- The integrated interimially classification of acute malnutrition.
Familiarity “> Family indicators
The integrated phased dietary security classification in the targeted areas is divided into 5 degrees, namely:
- The first stage: food safe
At this stage, families are able to meet their basic food needs sufficiently without the need to use emergency adaptation methods, and there are no indicators that cause concern about nutrition or deaths, as the situation is food stable in terms of food, and does not need humanitarian intervention.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fe8hdb8r8LC
- The second stage: under pressure
In it, families are able to secure food, but they begin to face difficulties in meeting other basic needs such as education or health. Some families at this stage are forced to follow adaptive methods that affect their resources in the long run, which exposes them to a great danger if the conditions continue to deteriorate.
- The third stage: a crisis
Families begin to face clear gaps in food consumption, and may not get the minimum of their daily needs. Some are forced to make difficult decisions such as selling their property or significantly reduce the amount and quality of food. Indicators of malnutrition begin to rise, and human intervention becomes necessary to avoid more deterioration.
- Fourth stage: emergency
The situation becomes more dangerous, families suffer from a severe food shortage, and clear indicators appear to deteriorate the health condition such as high malnutrition and increase the number of deaths, and the usual means of acclimatization are ineffective, and the immediate immediate intervention is necessary to maintain people’s lives.
- Fifth stage: a disaster or famine
At this stage, societies reach a state of complete collapse and cannot get food, knowing that more than a fifth of the world’s population suffers from a severe food shortage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hh6qxh_l6e
Stations in food security classification
The Food and Nutrition Security Analysis Unit of the Food and Agriculture Organization, in cooperation with the early warning network, has announced famine in Somalia and parts of its south on July 20, 2011.
The affected areas included both areas of “Balad” and “Adalah” in the Central Shabili Governorate, the camp of the displaced in the “Afghawi” corridor and the camps for the displaced in the capital, Mogadishu.
About 490,000 people in the country were suffering from catastrophic levels of food insecurity, as a result of conflicts, drought and poor rain.
- South Sudan 2017
Famine was announced in parts of South Sudan on February 20, 2017, as it faced approximately 80,000 people of starvation (the fifth stage of the international classification) in parts of the state of unity located in the northern middle part of the country, with the classification of other million people in the state of emergency (the fourth stage of the international classification).
By that time, three years of civil war had destroyed livelihoods, along with the struggling economy and high food prices.
Also, the state of Al -Wahda, which is located on the border with Sudan, was the center of the violent battles, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbmkljysomi
- South Sudan 2020
In November 2020, the Committee for the Famine Review concluded that administrative units in the state of “Jonglei”, most notably “Pepor”, “Likwangoli” and “Vertith” were going through bad food conditions.
The Pepor region was greatly affected by the violence and floods that destroyed homes and infrastructure, narrowed livelihoods, caused widespread displacement and obstructed access to humanitarian services.
In July 2024, the review committee announced that the famine was prevalent in the Zamzam camp for the displaced, which is located south of the city of El Fasher in the state of North Darfur.
The committee also expressed its concern about the conditions of the displaced in other areas within the vicinity of Al -Fasher, and said that these areas are likely to suffer from the same circumstances.
The committee pointed out that the continuous escalation of violence in Sudan for more than 15 months has caused a significant disruption of humanitarian efforts, which led to the exacerbation of the situation and the increase in the exposure of these groups to famine.
