About > IPC Overview
IPC OVERVIEW
About the IPC
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) is an innovative tool for improving food security analysis and decision-making.
It is a standardised scale that integrates food security, nutrition and livelihood information into a clear statement about the nature and severity of a crisis and implications for strategic response.
The IPC was originally developed for use in Somalia by FAO’s Food Security Analysis Unit (FSAU). Several national governments and international agencies are now working together to adapt it to other food security contexts, in the greater Horn of Africa region and beyond.
The IPC is ...
- A tool for classifying the severity of food security situations
- A « forum » for reaching technical consensus
- A framework for situation analysis - which can be adapted to different food security contexts
The IPC is not ...
- An independent, stand alone information system – but an ‘add-on’ to existing information systems
- A methodology – it builds on several methodologies and approaches
- A response protocol – it is primarily a tool for situational analysis, although it includes a strategic response framework
The IPC describes the main phases of food security situations according to:
(1) Generally Food Secure
(2) Generally Food Insecure
(3) Acute Food and Livelihood Crisis
(4) Humanitarian Emergency
(5) Famine/Humanitarian Catastrophe
- Analysis Templates - for documenting and evaluating evidence that supports the overall analysis.
- Cartographic Protocols - for effectively communicating analysis to decision makers
- Population Tables
The IPC aims at providing:
1. Technical Consensus and a Common Language for Classifying Food Security Situations
It allows different agencies and stakeholders to use a common set of definitions and standards (a ‘common currency’) for classifying the severity of diverse crisis scenarios and their impact on human lives and livelihoods. It thus makes it easier to identify priorities and facilitates the coordination of response efforts.
The IPC draws on a number of conceptual frameworks and approaches for food security analysis (including the four pillars of access, availability, utilization and stability) and livelihoods analysis (including livelihood assets and livelihood strategies).
2. Transparency through Evidence-Based Analysis
Using the analysis templates ensures that classifications are based on analysis that is transparent, rigorous, and, to the greatest extent possible, evidence based
3. Clearer Early Warning
By promoting timely, meaningful analysis, and communicating it in an easy to understand way, the IPC helps make sure that early warning information is communicated to decision makers and does not go unheeded.
Early warning levels are a predictive tool for communicating the risk of worsening of food security phases. Hazards and vulnerability are accounted for when classifying the three levels of risk i.e. alert, moderate and high.
4. Strategic Response
The IPC links information with a strategic response framework to support more appropriate response. The strategic response framework provides guidance for achieving three objectives (1) mitigate immediate negative outcomes; (2) support livelihoods; (3) address underlying/structural causes.
