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Biases in self-reported food insecurity measurements: A list experiment approach

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  • Tadesse, Getaw
  • Abate, Gashaw T.
  • Zewdie, Tadiwos
Abstract
Measuring the incidence and intensity of food insecurity has long been a challenge due to its conceptual and practical complexity. Several scholars have proposed objective and subjective measurements to monitor or evaluate food in(security) programs. While the objective measurements such as food caloric intake and food expenditure are data demanding and costly, the subjective measurements such as experience-based food insecurity scales that use direct responses to food shortage questions can be prone to biases and misreporting due to respondents’ unobservable economic and social desirability concerns. This paper reports the biases when food shortage is asked through direct questions and indirect interviews using a list experiment approach—an approach widely used to elicit the true responses of respondents for a sensitive question. The list experiment was conducted on four selected self-reported food insecurity survey questions which represent both the availability (incidence) and access (intensity) dimensions of food security. The sample households were drawn from two districts in Northern Ethiopia where households are chronically food insecure and several projects have been implemented. The results indicate the existence of significant bias in self-reported food insecurity responses when implemented through direct interviews. The results also show that the biases, particularly the ones related to incidence questions, have led to erroneous conclusion about the impact of a food security program—the Ethiopian Household Asset Building (HAB) program. Based on the findings, the paper highlights possible options and precautionary actions for measuring food insecurity using self-reported questions.
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Suggested Citation

  • Tadesse, Getaw & Abate, Gashaw T. & Zewdie, Tadiwos, 2019. "Biases in self-reported food insecurity measurements: A list experiment approach," 2019 Sixth International Conference, September 23-26, 2019, Abuja, Nigeria 295812, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
  • Handle: RePEc:ags:aaae19:295812
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.295812
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    2. Hörner, Denise & Wollni, Meike, 2021. "Integrated soil fertility management and household welfare in Ethiopia," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    3. Marine JOUVIN, 2021. "Addressing social desirability bias in child labor measurement : an application to cocoa farms in Côte d’Ivoire," Bordeaux Economics Working Papers 2021-08, Bordeaux School of Economics (BSE).
    4. Busisiwe Lujabe & Blanche Pretorius & Veonna Goliath & Wilbert Sibanda, 2022. "Exploring the Food (In)Security Status of Suburban Households and Its Determinants during COVID-19," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-18, March.
    5. Shoshanna Griver & Itay Fischhendler, 2021. "The Social Construction of Food Security: The Israeli Case," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(5), pages 1303-1321, October.

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    Keywords

    Food Security and Poverty;

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