Background paper for the Expert Consultation on Resilience Measurement for Food Security.

Abstract

Given the relatively recent emergence of the concept of resilience within the wider development community there is an understandable scarcity of robust verifiable evidence of impact among programmes seeking to build resilience.. A major milestone in achieving resilience at a significant scale will be the ability to measure resilience outcomes at the household community and national levels. Empirical evidence is needed that illustrates what factors consistently contribute to resilience to what types of shocks and in what contexts. While various models for measuring resilience are currently under development few have been field-tested and adopted as “standard.” This is partly due to the fact that resilience is inherently difficult to measure. Nonetheless such information is critical for assessing the relative potential of different approaches to building resilience in the face of recurring shocks. To move forward with a common understanding by practitioners and stakeholders on resilience measurement an Expert Consultation supported by FAO and WFP is being held in Rome February 19-21 2013 in order to discuss the latest work that has been carried out in measuring resilience. This background paper summarizes the different approaches to measuring resilience that are currently on-going in order for practitioners donors and other stakeholders to arrive at a common understanding of the key measurement issues and best approaches for going forward.