seasonality_the missing piece of the undernutrition puzzle

8/13/2019 Seasonality_The Missing Piece of the Undernutrition Puzzle

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SEASONALITYThe missing piece of the undernutrition puzzle?

December 2013

Action Against Hunger www.actionagainsthunger.org.uk

Action Against Hunger | ACF International is an international humanitarian organisation committed to ending child hunger. Recognised

as a leader i the ght agaist malutritio, ACF works to save the lives of malourished childre while providig commuities withsustaiable access to safe water ad log-term solutios to huger. With 30 ears of expertise i emergec situatios of coict, aturaldisaster ad chroic food isecurit, ACF rus life-savig programmes i some 40 coutries beettig earl 5 millio people each ear.

KEY MESSAGESnSeasoalit is itegral to livelihoods for the

majorit of the world’s poor. Repeated exposure to

seasoal stress ma lead to use of erosive copig

mechaisms which i tur udermies households’

abilit to cope i the log term.

nTo couter the adverse effects of seasoalit,

a seasoal perspective must be built ito atioal

govermets’ povert reductio ad resiliece

buildig strategies. At miimum, govermets

eed to scale up seasoal social protectio ad

pre-positio health ad utritio stocks i risk proe

areas well before the oset of the lea seaso.

nA exible log-term perspective is eeded;attempts to use short-term humaitaria fudig

aloe to address seasoalit are futile. Fiacig

mechaisms must facilitate the itegratio of

humaitaria respose ito developmet fuds,

ad must be exible eough to allow practitioers

to adapt their activities to suit a evolvig cotext,

with rapidl chagig eeds.

High levels of undernutrition persist in many

parts of the world; the UN projected a severe

acute malnutrition (SAM) caseload of 1.02 million

children under 5 in the Sahel region for 2013.1

These unacceptable rates demonstrate that current

strategies to address undernutrition are insufcient.

Change in the way business is done is needed.

Action Against Hunger| ACF International (ACF)

believes that by incorporating a seasonal perspective

to all aspects of our work — from tools used for

programme design to choice of indicator monitored

in surveillance systems — combined with national

governments’ commitment to implement policieswhich counter the adverse effects of seasonality —

this change will happen. Governments have a real

opportunity to reduce the number of people affected

by seasonal undernutrition, addressing immediate

needs and simultaneously building resilience to

recurring crises. Strong analysis of the seasonal

variation in the underlying causes of undernutrition

is pivotal to this approach.


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2 SEASONALITY: The missig piece of the uderutritio puzzle?

1 OCHA, 2013 2 Devereux, S., Sabates-Wheeler, R., Loghurst, R., 2012 3 Chambers, R. et al 1976; Loghurst, R. 1978

INTRODUCTIONThis paper origiates i the eed to put seasoalit

rml back o the ageda. Evidece suggests that for

millios of poor households aroud the world, there

is a particular time of ear whe ‘ormal’ copig

strategies are stretched ad the risk of uderutritio

elevated: the lea seaso. The problem is that for

ma poor households repeated exposure to these

seasoal stresses leads to the use of erosive copig

mechaisms which i tur udermies households’

abilit to cope i the log-term. Ideed, as witessed

i the Hor of Africa i 2011 — where over 12 millio

people were affected — ad a ear later i the Sahel— where over 18 millio people were affected — the

cumulative effect of repeated seasoal shortfalls is

devastatig. This is ot acceptable ad is avoidable.

This paper demostrates the importace of brigig

seasoal thikig back ito the various curret

huger ad utritio debates i order to improve the

effectiveess ad impact of global efforts to tackle

undernutrition. The current interest surrounding the

broader resiliece ageda ad the drive for earl

warig to be traslated ito earl actio idicates

gatherig mometum withi the iteratioal

commuit; for ACF this is a opportuit for

seasoalit to be brought back to the fore.

There are two parts of this paper. The rst sectio

provides the cotext: seasoalit is deed ad liks

with uderutritio are examied. This sectio also

examies wh aalsis of seasoalit is so importat

for stakeholders cocered with buildig resiliece to

recurrig crises. The, a clear set of recommedatios

which together make up a seasoal approach to

addressig uderutritio from both programme ad

polic perspectives, is outlied.

SEASONALITY DEFINEDSeasoalit refers to a regular patter or variatio

that is correlated with the seasos. Adverse seasoalit

describes the potetiall damagig cosequeces

for huma wellbeig of seasoal uctuatios i the

weather ad the full rage of its associated impacts

o lives ad livelihoods.2 Seasoalit has bee

ackowledged b rural developmet experts sice

the seveties ad b commuities for ceturies.3 As

Robert Chambers oted back the, ad agai more


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SEASONALITY: The missig piece of the uderutritio puzzle? 3

4 Chambers, R., 2009 5 Ibid 6 ACF 2010 7 Hauestei Swa, S., Vaitla, B., Devereux, S., 2008

8 Sabates-Wheeler, R., ad Devereux, S., 2012

recetl: “As a dimension of poverty, seasonality is

as glaringly obvious as it is still grossly neglected.” 4

Seasoalit is predictable ad regular i its occurrece

but its precise timig, severit ad impacts var from

ear to ear. Ma studies have bee doe, all of

which poit to the itegrated ature of seasoalit

ad povert, recogisig that the egative effects

of seasoalit are felt disproportioatel b poor

people.5 That said, povert is ot the ol determiig

factor; where ou live — the livelihood zoe — also

determies the extet to which a household is affectedb seasoalit. For example, a poor household livig i a

pastoral zoe of Ethiopia will be affected i a differet

wa to a poor household i a agro-pastoral area.

It is well kow that climate-related hazards are

expected to magif seasoal stresses o livelihoods,

food, utritio ad water securit.6 Icreased water

stress ad heighteed disease prevalece due to

climate chage have a direct effect o household food

securit ad utritioal status. Also, climate chage

has a direct impact o the multiple uderlig causes

of uderutritio (food securit, health, care practices

ad water ad saitatio). It puts icreasig pressure

o households’ asset base with upredictable harvests

leadig to variable food prices which i tur ma lead

to loger huger gaps. Seasoalit maifests itself i

multiple dimesios of livelihoods — food availabilit,

health, prices, emplomet, access to services — so

accurate diagosis ad respose is a challegig task.

The was i which seasoalit iterplas with the

uderlig causes of uderutritio are complex, butwith the right tools, the ca be aalsed to eable

more efciet ad effective policies ad programmes.

ACF has developed a multi-sectoral seasoal caledar

tool, which edeavours to do just that; further

explaatio is provided i Box 1, page 5.

Seasoalit is itegral to livelihoods for the majorit

of the world’s poor; their lives ad livelihood optios

revolve aroud the seasos. The adopt differet

strategies throughout the ear to provide food ad

ear icome for their families. ACF’s 2008 publicatio,

'Seasos of Huger' sets out a itervetio framework

for fightig seasoal huger which addresses the

immediate eeds of families while also buildig their

log-term resiliece at the programme level. The

framework icludes itervetios for the emergec

phase through recover to developmet. Emergec

assistace targets those sufferig from seasoal huger

ad i eed of immediate help. Social protectio

itervetios aim to prevet households fallig

ito huger b limitig asset depletio through a

combiatio of cash trasfers, seasoal emplomet,price cotrol ad other policies. Agricultural livelihoods

iitiatives focus o improvig productivit through

better access to ke iputs ad work towards a time

whereb rural households have high eough icomes

so the do ot eed to access social protectio

safet ets.7 Water, saitatio ad hgiee (WASH)

itervetios focussig o safe water suppl,

improved saitatio ad hgiee promotio seekig

to reduce risks of ifectios, a immediate cause of

uderutritio, should also be added to the framework.

Traditioal rural risk aalsis ad respose are desiged

to deal with upredictable shocks ad model seasoalit

as a climate triggered shock. Seasoalit is i fact

a predictable stress requirig loger term tailored

itervetios implemeted i parallel with those that

are more short term. Perhaps oe of the reasos this

has happeed is because traditioal developmet

approaches combie elemets of Disaster Risk Reductio

(DRR) ad social protectio, but fail to recogise that

the impact of seasoalit is mediated b sstems ofaccess ad distributio, which makes seasoalit a

political ot just a techical issue. Risk maagemet

ad social protectio programmes ma partiall smooth

icome ad cosumptio over the ear ad go some

wa towards eablig households to cope with livig

i highl seasoal eviromets. However, it is the

iteractio of cclical stresses with chroic deprivatio,

limited opportuities ad weak fall back optios that

leave poor people uable to live ‘a-seasoal’ lives.8


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4 SEASOnALITy: The missig piece of the uderutritio puzzle?

9 See UnICEF 1990 10 Vaitla, B. et al 2009 11 Save the Childre has developed a seasoal perspective i its Cost of Diet Tool.

SEASONALITY AND UNDERLYINGCAUSES OF UNDERNUTRITIONAll of the uderlig causes of uderutritio

(iadequate care practices, poor public health ad

food isecurit) are subject to seasoal variatio.9

Care practices chage as work requiremets chage,

which ma be directl related to the agricultural ccle

but also to off-farm icome earig opportuities. It

is ot uusual for wome to leave their ifats with

relatives while the are at work; this ca mea that

breastfeedig stops earl or that weaig foods whichma ot be age appropriate are itroduced earlier tha

recommeded. Seasoal variatios i temperature ad

raifall ca sigicatl impact public health risks

ad disease icidece. For example, the icidece

of disease ofte peaks durig the rai seaso. At

this time, households’ access to good qualit water

ca become difcult as ca access to health cetres

i the evet of disease outbreak. I terms of food

securit, availabilit of food decreases prior to harvest

periods for agricultural producers ad prior to rais

for pastoralists. At the same time, food prices rise

due to limited availabilit further impedig access for

the majorit of households reliat o the market to

cover at least some of their food eeds. This period

is commol kow as the ‘lea’ seaso, or huger

period, whe ma households are teeterig o the

edge of food isecurit, ad usuall coicides with

the rai seaso, whe disease strikes hardest. The

ed result is seasoal peaks i acute malutritio, as

show i Figure 1, below.

For poor households, opportuities to geerate food

ad icome var throughout the ear. Havig a detailed

uderstadig of the diverse livelihood activities ad

copig strategies which people emplo at differettimes throughout the ear is critical.11 It is also

imperative to aalse seasoal risks related to water,

disease ad saitar eviromet. B uderstadig

households’ seasoal variatios i livelihood optios,

ad the seasoal variatios i the other uderlig

causes of uderutritio such as iadequate saitatio

or poor health, we are more likel to come up with

appropriate policies ad itervetios which are directl

relevat ad specic to people’s eeds. We kow that

poor households rel heavil o the market to cover

their food eeds icreasigl after harvests have ru

out. But affordabilit of food is ot solel determied b

food prices; it is also related to icome ad purchasig

power which ca chage dramaticall betwee seasos.

HUNGER PERIOD

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0 S A M a

n d M a l a r i a C a s e s ( %

o f y e a r ' s t o t a l )

180

160

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

R a i n f a l l ( m m )

Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) Malaria Rainfall

HARVEST

FIGURE 1: SEASONALITY IN UNDERNUTRITION, MALARIA AND RAINFALL IN NIGER, 2007 10


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12 Berto, H., Hilto, J. ad Talor, A., 2009 13 Devereux, S., Sabates-Wheeler, R., Loghurst, R., (eds.) 2012

Idetifig periods of low or high purchasig power is

importat to determie whe household vulerabilit

is greatest.12 Levels of social capital are also critical

for poor households; the abilit to draw o commuit

etworks i times of stress is ke.

Uderstadig gaps i food affordabilit as well as

prevailig public health risks, ad how the chage

across the ear, will help idetif periods whe

households are particularl vulerable ad whe

utritio outcomes are most affected. A sstematicapproach is required to measure ad uderstad these

factors throughout the ear. More evidece is eeded

o the effect of seasoalit o utritio outcomes.

We kow that uderlig causes of uderutritio

are seasoall variable, but stakeholders do ot

have sufciet evidece across differet cotexts —

drought, ood etc.— o exactl how that variabilit

relates to utritio outcomes. Thikig ‘seasoall’ i

the plaig process will help to accelerate progress

towards reducig seasoal peaks i uderutritio.

Detailed seasoal aalsis of the uderlig causes

of uderutritio will eable atioal govermets,

doors ad other stakeholders to better uderstad

the seasoal ature of uderutritio ad implemet

appropriate policies ad practices to build commuities’

resiliece to utritio crises. natioal govermets

are ot i a positio to implemet ear roud social

protectio activities, or is it desirable for them to do

so. Govermets ma lack the scal, admiistrative

ad/or ifrastructural capacit to ace ad deliver

effective social protectio ear roud. Seasoal social

protectio is the ext best optio, it is a startig

poit. B adoptig a seasoal perspective, doors

will be able to support govermets to aticipate

seasoal uctuatios i uderutritio ad implemet

itervetios accordigl.

At the programme level, seasoal aalsis will

eable nGOs to idetif which tpes of programmes

should be implemeted at differet times of ear.

Labour itesive activities, for example, should be

implemeted whe participats do ot have competig

labour demads which might prevet them from

participatig (such as durig the platig or harvestig

periods). This was foud to be a importat lesso for

the Ethiopia Productive Safet net Programme (PSnP).

Here, the huger seaso peaks durig pre-harvest

moths whe demad for labour o the farm is highest.

Deliverig social protectio through public works at

this time of ear is problematic because farmers have

to choose betwee workig o their ow farms ad

participatig i public works programmes.13 Seasonal

BOX 1: ACF’S MULTI SECTORAL SEASONAL CALENDAR TOOL

ACF uses the seasoal caledar tool to coduct rapid multi-sectoral aalses i order to better uderstad

utritio isecurit ad the uctuatios (i particular, the peaks) of severe acute malutritio i a give areaof operatio. B usig the caledar, ACF will develop its seasoal thikig for strategic programmig. Users

will gai a seasoal perspective o all factors cotributig to the risk of uderutritio. The tool allows users

to build a clearer picture of the mai characteristics of each seaso: the seasoal variatio of uderutritio;

idetied risks — climate-related ad other (e.g. malaria); caretaker ad livelihood activities; staple food

price uctuatios access to water etc. The caledar will also idetif cultural evets which ma icrease

household level cash eeds. The tool has bee rolled out across the ACF etwork ad feedback is good: it is

eas to use at both commuit ad macro level, eablig comprehesive iformatio collectio i a short time.

Furthermore, it is eas to triagulate through iformatio collectio at differet levels from the commuit

to the atioal level. Applicatio of the tool facilitate coordiatio betwee sectors (health, WASH, FSL) ad

it is essetial for plaig seasoall sesitive itervetios, eablig stakeholders to idetif the times of

ear i which particular risks are heighteed ad so pla accordigl.


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emplomet programmes ad other social protectio

itervetios such as cash trasfers, warrantage and

destockig/restockig activities should be implemeted

at the appropriate time to esure that households do

ot have to emplo erosive copig mechaisms (such

as reducig food itake or sellig assets) which ma

compromise their capacit to cope with the ext crisis

i order to meet their immediate food eeds.

Careful seasoal aalsis will also determie which

idicators should be moitored throughout the ear.

It is ot eough simpl to moitor staple food prices

i the market; the impact of food price icreases

differs depedig o icome group ad o proportio

of household icome spet o food.14 For example,

the effect of a food price icrease o a household

that speds 10% of its icome o food is far less severe

BOX 2: COMMUNITY SURVEILLANCE IN GUATEMALA

ACF Guatemala has bee implemetig a itegrated programme combiig cash-for-work (CFW) programmes

with utritioal surveillace at the commuit level sice 2010. The CFW elemet of the programme ivolved

ideticatio, cleaig ad disifectio of cotamiated wells as well as restoratio of emergec health

ifrastructure. Therefore, as well as stregtheig essetial ifrastructure, the CFW programmes have

icreased cash availabilit at the household level ad helped vulerable households through seasoal lea

periods. Also setiel surveillace sites have bee set up i various locatios ad commuit represetatives

ad govermet persoel have bee traied. This has led to icreased accoutabilit of govermet workers.

A coheret sstem is ow i place i which commuit represetatives gather relevat idicators (utritio

admissio rates, prices, ad climate related data) at regular itervals. The idicators collected are cotext

specic ad are selected b the commuities themselves based o local people’s extesive kowledge of

their ow commuities. Furthermore, thresholds for itervetio are also decided upo b commuities.

Iformatio ows from commuit to muicipal, regioal ad atioal levels. Traied committees at regioal

ad atioal levels are the tasked with devisig a actio pla i the evet of warig sigs such as uusuall

high prices or predictio of poor rais.

14 ACF 2013b


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tha its effect o a poor household spedig 50%

or more of its icome o food.15 Food securit of

the rural poor is determied less b households ow

levels of food stock but istead b their success i

securig casual wages.16 Seasonal labour migration

to a urba area is oe icreasigl commo strateg

to maximise earig potetial. It is commo for male

household members to migrate for several moths

of the ear i search of casual labour. Also iformal

off-farm emplomet ad pett trade opportuities

(ot coected to agriculture) ow have icreasig

sigicace for ma households. Ma households ed

up with patters of icome geeratio which are quite

distict from the local agricultural caledar, so it isimportat to also look beod agriculture ad aalse

seasoal chages i other livelihood activities such as

off-farm icome geeratig opportuities.

Without cash, households are less likel to be able to

overcome the adverse cosequeces of seasoalit,

so ghtig seasoal icome uctuatio is critical. Oe

wa of doig this is to promote off-seaso strategies

to boost household food ad icome geeratio durig

periods of scarcit. ACF has set up health gardes i

which wome grow vegetables i Burkia Faso, niger

ad Mauritaia. Whilst the primar aim of these health

gardes is to boost dietar diversit (particularl of

childre uder 5), i the best case, participats are

also able to generate some additional income in the

off-seaso. Other examples of off-seaso activities

implemeted b ACF i West Africa iclude irrigated

agricultural productio i river areas, ood recessio

agriculture ad livestock destockig ad restockig

programmes.

Well-fuctioig markets ca also reduce the effects

of seasoalit b facilitatig iter-area trade.

not ol that, govermets ca stabilise markets

couter seasoall to esure that price uctuatiosare miimised. Despite the fact that govermet

itervetio i markets is o loger i favour, there

is reewed iterest i reivigoratig grai reserves

both as a humaitaria itervetio ad as a meas to

stabilise prices. I West Africa, ECOWAS has developed

a proposal for the establishmet of a Regioal Food

Securit Reserve i order to have a third lie of defece

i the evet of a food crisis to complemet the local

ad atioal food securit stocks which ma also be

deploed or bolstered as appropriate.18 It is importat

that both the madate ad volume of these reserves

15 Dorward, A. 2011 16 Berto, H., Hilto, J. ad Talor, A 200917 ACF respose to Sahel Crisis II 2012: From Emergec to Recover Phase. DFID fudig proposal 18 ECOWAS 2012

BOX 3: WARRANTAGE IN NIGER

ACF FSL programmes i niger provide a good example of programmes which couter the egative effects

of seasoal chages i food availabilit ad food price uctuatios. ACF has developed ad icorporated a

warratage sstem (also kow as grai bakig) i FSL programmes sice 2006. Warratage buffers small

farmers agaist the effects of market price uctuatios. Warratage aims to couter the vicious ccle where

farmers are obliged to sell their crops at harvest time, at low prices, i order to purchase additioal food

ad other essetials or to pa back loas take durig the lea seaso. Farmers do ot have to sell at low

prices, followig harvests, ad durig lea seasos. Rather, farmers receive credit through micro ace

istitutios (MFI), usig part of their harvest as collateral. Usig the harvest as a guaratee, small farmers

ca access credit which the ca the ivest i other activities, while their harvest is stored util pricesrise. Also, targeted cash trasfers prior to, ad durig harvest time, esure ver poor households are able

to cover their basic ad urget eeds, thus protectig their harvests, ad avoidig havig to sell at low

rates.17 Furthermore, stregtheed liks withi the commuit has led to stroger bargaiig power amogst

commuities ad busiesses, allowig them to egotiate agriculture iputs at lower prices i preparatio of

the ext rai seaso ad future harvests. Specic cash trasfer activities protect harvests, ad esure the

securit of harvests, thereb icreasig producers’ prots.


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19 ACF 2013b

are adequatel set up accordig to the goals. For the

time beig, either the volumes or the madate are

proportioed to cotrol market volatilit; their mai

purpose is to mitigate impact over short time periods.19

Surveillace sstems eed to uderstad ad better

capture icomes of poorest households, particularl

changes in local casual labour and migration rates.

Iformatio eeds to help polic makers idetif

whe households are becomig more vulerable

so itervetios ca be implemeted i order to

prevet the situatio deterioratig further. Choosig

appropriate idicators relatig to food prices,

productio ad chages i livelihood activities as well

as public health risks is crucial, especiall as the ca

be misiterpreted. For example usig severe acute

malutritio (SAM) admissio rates i isolatio is ot

ideal, admissios ofte peak after mass screeigs

which has little to do with seasoalit. Furthermore

if uderourished childre are detected, it is usuall

too late for nGOs to itervee ad prevet a crisis

developig. Whe a more effective moitorig ad

surveillace sstem exists, a better assessmet of the

real impact of seasoalit o poor households ca bemade ad itervetios targeted accordigl.

If stakeholders embrace a seasoal perspective, if the

thik seasoall, ad desig programmes accordigl,

the risk of seasoal periods of scarcit (whe public

health risks are high) trasformig ito crises should

be reduced. Effective public health ad food securit

moitorig ad surveillace sstems which moitor

appropriate idicators are crucial for galvaisig actio

whe tippig poits are reached.

BOX 4: SEASONAL CASH FOR WORK

ACF’s itegrated WASH ad FSL programme for

cholera prevetio i Guinea-Conakry provides

a good example of seasoal thikig. I 2010,

ACF implemeted a Cash-for-Work programme i

Coakr i order to stregthe WASH ifrastructure

i areas at risk of cholera. Focus was put o

saitatio ad solid waste collectio. Activities

were orgaised i two to three moth ccles,

ad were timed to coicide with periods of

greatest risk.


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20 Baile, R. 2013 21 ACF 2013. Deitio based o DFID 2011b.

Lessos leared from the Hor of Africa i 2011

demostrate that eve though good surveillace

sstems were i place, the respose was isufciet

ad came too late. Earl warig did ot traslate

ito earl actio. This was partl due to the choice

of idicators icluded i the surveillace sstem, butwas also related to the awed decisio makig process

oce doors had received the warigs. Famie earl

warig sstems have a good track record of predictig

food crises but a poor track record of triggerig earl

actio. Log lead times provide the opportuit

for decisive earl actio but also the opportuit

for iactio. For doors ad atioal govermets

dela is ofte a politicall ratioal strateg. natioal

govermet ma suppress earl warigs if it has the

potetial to challege their record o huger reductio

or for domestic political reasos.20 I additio, actig

o the basis of risk of a crisis ufoldig rather tha

certait ca be politicall difcult. ACF believes

that b icorporatig a strog seasoal aalsis ito

the earl warig framework, there will be a greater

chace of earl warig traslatig ito earl actio.

SEASONALITY AND RESILIENCEFor ACF, resiliece is “the abilit of coutries,

commuities ad households to maage chage, b

maitaiig or trasformig livig stadards i the

face of shocks or stresses... without compromisig

their log-term prospects.”21 A importat additioal

compoet of this deitio is the abilit to maage

chage i the face of such a shock without havig to

compromise digit or health. Evidece shows that

poor households i the Sahel ad the Hor of Africa

face recurret stresses o a seasoal basis — food

BOX 5: ACF LISTENING POST, BURKINA FASO

I Burkia Faso, followig the implemetatio of a surveillace sstem, ACF realised that acute malutritio

peaks twice durig the ear: i December-Jauar ad the i Ma-Jue, as show i the graph below.

ACF ow implemets utritioal seasoal safet ets (distributio of eriched our) for childre betwee 6

ad 24 moths durig the hugr seaso betwee March ad Jul i order to guaratee a rich ad balaced

diet at a time whe accessig food is difcult. To complemet this, CFW or CFT is implemeted either before

platig, to support the growig seaso, or after the harvest to icrease food availabilit.

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E s t i m a t e d p r e v a l e n c e o f a c u t e m a l n u t r i t i o n ( % )

J a n - F e b 1 1

M a r - A p r 1 1

M a y 1 1

J u n e 1 1

J u l y 1 1

A u g 1 1

S e p - O c t 1 1

N o v 1 1

D e c 1 1

J a n - F e b 1 2

M a r - A p r 1 2

M a y 1 2

J u n e 1 2

J u l y 1 2

A u g 1 2

S e p - O c t 1 2

Listening Post 3 Moy. mobile sur pér. (TAPOA)


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22 ACF 2011 23 See ACF 2013a 24 Cabot-Veto, C. 2013

shortages occur at the same time each ear, ad

limited access to safe water ad icreased health risks

occur withi the same moths of the ear, ear after

ear. It follows the that ghtig the adverse effects

of seasoalit is oe of the cetral compoets of

resiliece buildig. I order to do this, stakeholdersmust have a detailed uderstadig of seasoalit ad

its implicatios for utritio. This must be accompaied

b implemetatio of appropriate policies to mitigate

the adverse effects of seasoalit o poor households.

Ol the will real progress i buildig resiliece i

the log-term be possible.

Over the last ear or so, the resiliece ageda has

gaied mometum, with doors such as DFID, the

EU ad USAID settig up ew iitiatives.23 National

govermets are also puttig more emphasis o the

eed to build resiliece i order to prevet future

crises. Doors ad govermets are icreasigl

recogisig that earl humaitaria respose is far

more cost effective tha late respose. I fact, a recet

stud foud that ecoomic cocers over false earl

respose are uwarrated. Evidece from case studiesi Kea, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Bagladesh ad niger

foud that the costs of respodig earl — eve if crises

do ot actuall materialise — are cosistetl lower

tha the costs of late respose.24 There is no doubt

the, that takig a proactive approach — takig earl

actio — makes acial sese: it is betwee four ad

seve times less expesive to sped moe before

situatios reach crisis poit, rather tha o reactive

humaitaria operatios. Irrespective of this, recurrig

crisis are tpicall perceived as “humaitaria” issues

i eed of a immediate, short-term respose whe

BOX 6: GIS IN THE SAHEL

The Sahel demostrates the importace of havig a coheret

surveillace sstem i place. A sigicat proportio of the

populatio i the regio are pastoralists, reliat o extesive

livestock productio sstems. Their livelihoods are based o

iter-seasoal movemets closel liked to the availabilit of two

atural resources: water ad pasture. The regio is characterised

b low populatio desit ad pastoralists ofte move vast

distaces i search of pasture. These factors combied with high

raifall variabilit, mea that covetioal moitorig sstemsare redudat. Therefore sice 2009, ACF, i partership with the

atioal food crisis sstems i Mali ad niger, has developed tools

based o GIS. The tools moitor both surface water ad biomass,

thereb eablig ACF to assess pastoral populatio vulerabilit

at a regioal scale ad make a importat cotributio to earl

warig i the regio.

Pastoral movemets ad areas of cocetrated grazig ma

var depedig o resources available. However, the “usual”

movemets of pastoralists ca be determied ad compared to

their actual movemets each ear. Added to the iformatio o

surface water ad biomass, this traslates ito a vulerabilit

model which is curretl uder developmet. It will eable ACF

to uderstad the possible adaptive strategies of breeders ad aticipate potetial future crisis spots thereb

supportig vulerabilit aalses ad optimisig geographical targetig i the regio.22


11/16


there is little evidece to support this. I fact, the

opposite is true. The costatl chagig situatio

requires that practitioers must have the exibilit

to implemet overlappig humaitaria respose or

rehabilitatio programmes or loger term resiliece

buildig activities at the same time, if the eed arises.

The are curretl uable to do so due to the rigid

fudig mechaisms i place.

ACF welcomes the curret high level political

commitmet to resiliece buildig, particularl

give that doors, govermets ad nGOs alike

have traditioall placed too little focus o buildig

resiliece withi commuities before crises occur,choosig istead to focus o tacklig huger ad

disease durig or after the crisis. It is ow essetial

that the existig rhetoric becomes realit.

CONCLUSIONSACF recogises that both the Sahel ad the Hor of

Africa regios experiece a seasoal huger gap which

is uderpied b acute structural vulerabilit. ACF

is callig for a iovative approach — a seasoal

sstem — which eables govermets to sstematicall

tackle seasoal peaks of utritio vulerabilit

through social protectio programmes such as

seasoal emplomet ad cash trasfer schemes ad

implemet humaitaria respose whe ‘ormal’

seasoal peaks i uderutritio reach crisis poit.

Structural vulerabilit must be tackled from the root

ad requires log-term commitmet from govermet

ad doors alike.

The persistet ad recurret food ad utritio

isecurit situatio i the Sahel ad the Hor of

Africa questios the effectiveess of strategies ad

resposes implemeted to date. The limited abilit of

populatios to respod to recurrig crises has become

a hallmark of both these regios, where householdsare o loger capable of rebuildig their livelihoods

followig frequet crises, ofte oe after aother,

ad cumulativel impactig egativel o their copig

mechaisms. Chages i approach are clearl eeded.

B thikig seasoall, ad plaig accordigl,

ad b combiig humaitaria ad developmet

efforts, govermets, nGOs ad doors ca put i place

predictable itervetios to stregthe the resiliece

of populatios i order to prevet the seasoal peaks i

uderutritio reachig critical levels. If stakeholders


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12 SEASONALITY: The missig piece of the uderutritio puzzle?

are serious about reducig the umber of people

affected uderutritio, if the reall wat to improve

ad save lives, to trasform rhetoric ito realit, a

seasoal approach is imperative.

RECOMMENDATIONSNATIONAL GOVERNMENT should:

• Build a seasonal perspective into poverty

reduction strategies and resilience building

programmes; programmes must be tailored to

the local seasonal context. A cotext specicaalsis of vulerabilit, its multiple dimesios

ad its seasoalit is crucial. Itervetios must

be sequeced accordigl. Itervetios which

address immediate eeds should be ru i parallel

with loger term programmes aimig to build

commuities’ resiliece to recurrig crisis.

NATIONAL GOVERNMENT and AGENCIES should:

• Pre-position resources in risk prone areas.

Health and nutrition resources must be in

place well before the oset of the lea seaso i

order to reduce the risk of households reachig

crisis poit.

• Scale up seasonal social protection programmes.

Interventions such as Cash for Work, warrantage,

destocking /restocking and health gardens should

be promoted. Cash trasfers must be idex liked

i order to reduce the risk of household purchasig

power becomig debilitated b uctuatig market

prices at a time whe cash resources are limited.

Microcredit ad icetivised commuit based

child growth promotio activities should also be

promoted.

• Ensure timing of interventions is linked toseasonal demands on households. Labour

itesive activities, for example, should be

implemeted whe participats do ot have

competig demads o their labour which meas

the will ot be able to participate.

• Support income diversification for poor

households, including support to rural–urban

linkages. Off-farm icome earig work is oe

of the best buffers agaist seasoal stress.

Govermets eed to ivest i traiig schemes

to build peoples’ skill sets which will, i tur,

boost their icome geeratig potetial, thereb

building resilience to recurring crises.


13/16


• Ensure that appropriate indicators are

developed to enable seasonal analysis to

inform existing early warning systems.

I particular, market price idicators must

be able to detect seasoal household level

fluctuatios i purchasig power. Doors,

atioal govermets ad regioal bodies

must esure that earl warig is traslated

ito earl actio.

• Conduct further research into the effect of

seasonality on nutrition outcomes across

different contexts.

DONORS should:

• Recognise that a exible long-term perspective

is needed; attempts to use short-term

humaitaria fudig aloe to address seasoalit

are futile. Fiacig mechaisms must facilitate

the itegratio of humaitaria respose ito

developmet fuds, ad must be exible eough to

allow practitioers to adapt their activities to suit

a evolvig cotext, with rapidl chagig eeds.

• Be prepared to act on the basis of risk.

Evidece based decisio makig must be

grouded i soud cotextual aalsis i

support of approaches that accout fordifferet tpes of risk.

• Ensure that early warning is translated into

early action. Earl warig sstems must trigger

earl actio prior to levels of uderutritio

reachig their peak. This will happe if the

sstem icorporates seasoal aalsis of utritio

indicators.


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BIBLIOGRAPHYACF 2010 ‘Climate change, humanitarian crises and

undernutrition’ Paris: ACF International

ACF 2011 ‘Pastoral Surveillance System to support

resilience to climate change in the Sahel region’

Paris: ACF International

ACF 2012 ‘Ehacig climate resiliece ad food

ad utritio securit: ACF approach to climate

chage, huger ad uderutritio i at risk

commuities’ Paris: ACF Iteratioal

ACF 2013a ‘Enhancing Resilience to Shocks andStresses’ Paris: ACF International

ACF 2013b ‘History Repeating Itself? Global food

price volatility and the impacts on malnutrition’

London: Action Against Hunger UK

Bailey, R. 2013 Managing Famine Risk Linking

early warning to early action’ A Chatham

House Report. Available olie from: www.

chathamhouse.org/earlwarigs

Berton, H, Hilton, J. and Taylor, A., 2009.

Food Affordability: Dealing with Seasonal

Variation of Purchasing Power Seasoalit

Revisited iteratioal coferece UK,

Future Agricultures Cosortium: Istitute of

Developmet Studies, 8–10 Jul, 2009.

Boudreau T., and Lawrence, M, 2012 Re-tooling

for seasonality: seasonally driven disaster risk

assessment in Ethiopia i Devereux et al 2012

Seasoalit, Rural Livelihoods ad Developmet

Earthscan: London

Cabot–Venton, C. 2013 The Economics of Early

Response and Resilience: Evidence from Kenya,Ethiopia, Mozambique, Niger and Bangladesh.

Presetatio give at Christia Aid 10 Jul 2013

Chambers, R, Longhurst, R. and Pacey, A., 1981

(eds.) Seasonal dimensions to rural poverty

Francis Pinter Press: London

Chambers, R., 2009 Seasonal poverty: Integrated,

overlooked and therefore opportunity

Seasoalit Revisited coferece UK,

Future Agricultures Cosortium: Istitute of

Developmet Studies, 8–10 Jul, 2009. Brighto:

Save the Childre UK

Conroy, K., and Vignon, C., 2012 How planning for

seasonality can reduce extreme poverty: lessons

from the Chars Livelihood Programme (2004 –

2010), Bagladesh i Devereux, S., et al 2012

Seasoalit, Rural Livelihoods ad Developmet

Earthscan: London

Devereux, S., Sabates- Wheeler, R., Longhurst, R.,

(eds.) 2012 Seasonality Rural Livelihoods and

Development. Earthscan: London

DFID, 2011a ‘Saving lives, preventing suffering

and building resilience: UK GovernmentHumanitarian Policy.’ Lodo: Departmet for

Iteratioal Developmet

DFID, 2011b ‘Defning Disaster Resilience: A DFID

Approach Paper.’ Lodo: Departmet for

Iteratioal Developmet

Dorward A. 2011 Getting real about food prices

Developmet Polic Review 29 (6) pp.647-664

Dorward A., 2013. Agricultural labour productivit,

food prices ad sustaiable developmet impacts

and indicators. Food Policy

ECHO Action Plan for resilience in crisis prone

countries DRAFT 2013-2020 ECHO: Brussels

ECOWAS, 2012 Regional Food Security Reserve,

ECOWAS Proposal. Available olie from http://

www.iter-reseaux.org/IMG/pdf/Faisabilite_

Reserve_Regioale_En.pdf (Accessed 31.07.13)

Frankenberger T., et al 2012 Enhancing resilience

to food security amid protracted crisis TANGO

Freeland, N., 2009 Seasonality and social

protection: A bridge too far? Seasoalit

Revisited iteratioal coferece UK,Future Agricultures Cosortium: Istitute of

Developmet Studies, 8–10 Jul, 2009. Brighto:

Save the Childre UK

Hauenstein-Swan, S., Vaitla, B., and Devereux,

S. 2008 Seasons of Hunger: Fighting cycles of

quiet starvation amongst the worlds’ rural poor.

London: Pluto Press

Jennings, S., and Magrath, J., 2009, What

happened to the seasons? Seasoalit Revisited

iteratioal coferece UK, Future Agricultures

Cosortium: Istitute of Developmet Studies,


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8–10 Jul, 2009. Brighto: Save the Childre UK

OCHA, 2013 Sahel Regional Strategy 2013, United

natios. Available olie: https://docs.uocha.

org/sites/dms/CAP/2013_Sahel_Regioal_

Strateg.pdf (Accessed 31.07.13)

Sabates–Wheeler, R., and Devereux, S., 2012

From seasonal lives towards a-seasonal living:

Building seasonality into risk management

response i Devereux et al. (eds.) 2012,

pp278-295 Seasonality, Rural Livelihoods and

Development Earthscan: LondonSampson, K., 2010. Food Reserves i Practice.

I: Istitute for Agriculture ad Trade Polic

(IATP), 2012. Grain Reserves and the Food Price

Crisis. Selected Writings from 2008-2012.

Mieapolis: IATP

Save the Children 2007 The minimum cost of a

healthy diet. Lodo: Save the Childre UK

UNICEF 1990 Strategy for Improved Nutrition of

Children and Women in Developing Countries,

Polic Review paper E/ICEF/1990/1.6, UnICEF,

new york

USAID 2012 Building Resilience to Recurrent Crisis

USAID Polic ad Program Guidace

Vaitla, B., Devereux, S and Hauenstein Swan, S,2009 ‘Seasonal Hunger: A neglected problem with

proven solutions’ PLoS Med. 2009 Ju 30; 6 (6)

Written by Morwea Sulliva, ACF-UK

All Photographs © Samuel Hauestei Swa ACF-UK

Design Amada Grapes

FURTHER READINGACF Iteratioal aalsed the impact of rural-urba likages o household food

securit ad child utritio i Guiea, Zimbabwe, ad Guatemala. We foud that

rural-urba likages ofte follow strogl seasoal patters; opportuities adcostraits of rural ad urba households var over the course of the ear. Desigig

with seasoalit i mid ca amplif the impact of developmet itervetios.

This paper sets out lessos leared from the emergec ad recover phases of

ACF Iteratioal’s FSL respose to the West Africa Sahel Food Crisis i 2012.

Itervetios that couter seasoalit are highlighted as good practice.


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seasonality_the missing piece of the undernutrition puzzle

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