Household food security measurement: a critical review from a gender perspective

Despite the growing international interest in addressing the relationship between gender inequalities and food insecurity - as well as the valuable feminist contributions of family studies - development and humanitarian actors still use gender-insensitive household food security measurements in developing countries. Such measurements rest on unrealistic assumptions about gender relations within the household; thus, their use in development projects risks masking gender disparities and rendering invisible serious intra-household food access inequalities. To demonstrate the problems resulting from these presumed gender-neutral measurements, this paper examines a set of metrics that influence food security policy and reveals gender biases in their methodological design and use. The paper concludes by offering simple methodological guidelines for mainstreaming gender analysis in household food security measurement processes and calls for a deeper analysis based on a feminist application of the capabilities approach.