Estimated Mean per Capita Energy Requirements for Planning Emergency Food Aid Rations (1995)

◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

The second meeting of the CIN is scheduled to take place this October 6 and 7. The topic is “Mean Per Capita Daily Energy Requirement for Emergency Situations.” Accompanying this memorandum are background documents and information which are submitted to assist the Committee in addressing the proposed issue. Included are correspondence on the topic from WFP and CDC, excerpts from FAO and UNHCR emergency monographs, and a USAID draft copy of a reference guide on emergency rations.

Based on the scientific and technical knowledge of individual members and the background information, the Committee is requested to make recommendations as to:

• a mean per capita daily energy requirement for emergency situations (citing and defining the scientific and technical information which supports this mean value).

The U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) Bureau for Humanitarian Response (BHR) through its Office of Food for Peace (FFP) provides hundreds of millions of dollars annually in food aid commodities for use in targeted Title II feeding programs around the world. As an aid to co-sponsors of food aid programs using U.S. food aid commodities, the FFP Office published a Commodity Reference Guide in 1988. This guidebook provides information on food commodities and their use as rations for food aid recipients in programs such as school feeding, maternal and child feeding, and food for work programs.

In recent years, emergency feeding programs for refugees, displaced persons, and otherwise disaster affected persons are demanding large amounts of food resources in high profile situations. Consequently, over 2 years ago, BHR commissioned a chapter for emergency feeding programs to be added to the Commodity Reference Guide. The resulting draft guidelines (attached) have been widely reviewed, revised and approved by USAID technical persons, private voluntary organizations that sponsor Title II programs and external experts such as the Centers for Disease Control. However, questions remain on the appropriate energy level that should be advised.

We are fully aware that population daily energy requirements are known to vary by demographic structure, temperature, health/nutrition status, and activity level. However, BHR considers it unrealistic to expect food programmers to obtain accurate data and calculate the requirements based on all of these factors. Consequently, the draft guidelines have tried to develop simpler methods for determining needs for ration planning purposes.

However, the World Food Program—a significant user of USG Title II food resources, as well as food resources from other donors—has questioned the energy needs estimate used for ration planning.

The issue before us is that the draft guidelines propose the use of 2,200 kcal per person/day as the basis for planning rations, while WFP uses 1,900 kcal per

person/day as the basis for planning its rations. It is possible that 1,900 kcal may be inadequate to meet the needs of many populations, but on the other hand an increase to 2,200 kcals would demand that resources for emergencies either be substantially increased or persons reached by emergency feeding programs be drastically decreased.

In the view of the best scientific information available on daily food energy requirements, and in light of the practical limitations of food aid programs, what is the best average daily energy intake that should be used to plan food aid rations in emergency feeding programs?

Reviewers should bear in mind that any decision that is made will not only have implications for U.S. Government food aid programs, but will also influence the standards that are used by other bilateral donors, NGOs, and multilateral organizations, such as the World Food Program.