Assessment of the Reliability and Relevance of the Food Data Collected in National Household Consumption and Expenditure Surveys

Food consumption data are collected in most countries through a variety of household surveys. The primary objective of these surveys is usually to measure poverty, to derive consumption patterns needed for the calcu-lation of consumer price indices, or to provide input to the compilation of national accounts. Increasingly, these data are re-purposed and used to calculate food security indicators, to compile food balance sheets, to plan and monitor food-based nutrition interventions, to serve information needs of the private sector, and for other research work. This report is thus based on a desk review of survey questionnaires and methods, not on an assessment of the data themselves.