Document Type : Research articles
Authors
- Mohammad Hassan Abolhassani 1
- Fariba Kolahdooz 2
- Reza Majdzadeh 3
- Mohammadreza Eshraghian 3
- Roksana Mirkazemi 4
- Abolghasem Djazayery 1
1 Department of Community Nutrition, School of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
2 Department of Medicine, Aboriginal and Global Health Research, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
3 Institute of Public Health Research, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
4 Occupational Health Research Center (OHRC), Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Background: Monitoring of food insecurity is a critical issue for planners and policymakers in the public and private sectors in developing countries. Due to the multifactorial and multidimensional nature of food security and a lack of clarity concerning the causes, specific signs, and consequences of food insecurity, developing a reliable food security index is the major challenge related to monitoring food security. Objectives: The objective of this study was to identify the most appropriate indicators of food security at the provincial level in Iran through the application of an integrated approach including Delphi (classic Delphi) and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) from March to September 2013.
Materials and Methods: The sample included 43 senior-level managers and experts at the national and provincial levels from dif- ferent fields of related sciences; they were selected purposively as Delphi and AHP panel members based on the experts’ opinions and snowballing. In the first round of Delphi, out of 103 identified indicators, 38 were selected by the experts; the indicators were ranked in the second round. In the AHP study, 25 experts assigned weights in a pairwise comparison of the 20 indicators that had the highest priority based on the Delphi results. Using AHP matrix calculations, this list of indicators was ranked based on priority. Results: Out of 38 indicators identified in Delphi, 8 were related to the availability dimension, 14 were related to the access dimen- sion, and 16 were related to the utilization dimension. Out of 20 indicators that were ranked in the AHP study, 6 indicators were related to availability, 7 were related to utilization, and 7 were related to access dimensions. However, the indicators related to avail- ability had an overall higher rank compared to indicators related to access or utilization. Conclusions: This study identified and ranked 20 indicators as the most appropriate indicators of food security measurements at the provisional level in Iran.
Keywords
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