Humanitarian Academy

Food security

Food security and livelihoods: analysing, targeting and responding in emergencies

IPC, markets, food or cash, targeting and livelihoods: respond to hunger and protect households' future.

  • 7 days · 42 hours
  • 3 levels · 3 certificates
  • 6 scenarios
  • Verifiable certificate
Start the course
  • Free, unlimited access
  • 7 one-day modules
  • 6 scenarios and 21 quiz questions
  • 3 graded case studies and 3 exams
  • Certificate in your name, verifiable online

What you will learn

  • Explain food security, its four pillars and the IPC classification.
  • Assess household situations using standard indicators and choose the appropriate response modality.
  • Design, target, distribute and monitor a response, from emergency assistance to livelihoods recovery.

Course information

Level
Beginner → Intermediate → Advanced (one certificate per level)
Study time
42 hours over 7 days (lessons, case studies, exercises)
Format
Online, at your own pace, free and unlimited access
Assessment
Per level: graded case study + 20-question exam (30 to 40 min, pass marks 70%, 75% and 80%)
Credential
Named, numbered certificate of achievement, verifiable online (QR code)
Reference frameworks
Sphere Association · IPC Global Partnership · World Food Programme

💼 Food security and livelihoods jobs

Put this course into practice: the latest jobs in this field.

See all 52 Food security and livelihoods jobs →

Prepare for the written test and interviewA model written test in this field, interview questions with sample answers and the STAR method.See the model test →

A 3-level certification pathway

Progress from Beginner to Advanced. Each level ends with a graded case study and a timed exam, and leads to its own verifiable certificate.

Level 1Beginner

Exam: 20 questions · 30 min · 70% to pass

Beginner certificate

By the end of this level, you will be able to:
  • Explain the four pillars of food security.
  • Recognise household coping strategies.
  • Read the IPC phases.
  1. Day1Understanding and measuring food insecurityThe four pillars of food security · Livelihoods · Household indicators · The IPC, the common language of food crises · Conducting a food security assessment: the complete method · Analytical frameworks: livelihoods, causes of malnutrition and seasonality · Worked example: the Haut-Kéla district assessment · Reusable tools: analysis matrix, review grid and checklist · Adapting the assessment to the context, common mistakes and donor expectations · Interview questions and key references Scenario: Monday market
  2. Day2Choosing the response and targetingResponse modalities · Market analysis and choice of modality · Targeting · Protection, gender and accountability in the response · Response analysis: a six-step method · Analysing markets for decision-making: tools and indicators · Targeting in practice: methods, calculating errors and verification · Worked example: choosing the modality and targeting in Haut-Kéla district · Protection, gender and accountability: building risks into the design · Variations by context, common mistakes and donor expectations · Interview questions and key references Scenario: The disputed list
  3. Graded case study : Assessment after the drought Agropastoral district, end of the dry season · 20 questions including a case study · 70% to pass
Level 2Intermediate

Exam: 20 questions · 30 min · 75% to pass

Intermediate certificate · Opens after the Beginner certificate

By the end of this level, you will be able to:
  • Choose a response modality based on market analysis.
  • Design fair targeting and a complaints mechanism.
  • Organise a distribution and post-distribution monitoring.
  1. Day3Distributing, monitoring and rebuilding livelihoodsOrganising a distribution · Post-distribution monitoring and outcomes · From relief to recovery · The Food Security cluster · Planning an in-kind distribution: calculations, site and team · Stock management and commodity traceability · Post-distribution monitoring and outcome monitoring: the method · Worked example: the July distribution in Sarakoro, from calculation to PDM · Programming livelihood recovery: technical parameters · The cluster in practice, variations by context and donor expectations · Interview questions and key references Scenario: Before the rains
  2. Day4Measuring accurately: indicators and surveysThe Food Consumption Score (FCS) · Coping strategies: rCSI and LCS · Diversity, hunger and expenditure · A reliable household survey and CARI · Worked example: from the sample to the CARI console · Tools: analysis plan, consistency checks and enumerator monitoring · Common mistakes and what analysts, evaluators and donors look for · Adapting surveys to the context · Interview questions and key references Scenario: The survey that does not add up
  3. Day5Markets, rations and transfer valuesMonitoring markets · Terms of trade · Designing a ration according to Sphere · The minimum expenditure basket and the transfer value · Worked example: from price monitoring to the transfer value in Doumbaré · Checking a ration and using calculation tools · Common mistakes, variations by context and donor expectations · Interview questions and key references Scenario: Setting the amount
  4. Graded case study : The distribution that goes wrong Distribution site, rural area · 20 questions including a case study · 75% to pass
Level 3Advanced

Exam: 20 questions · 40 min · 80% to pass

Advanced certificate · Opens after the Intermediate certificate

By the end of this level, you will be able to:
  • Analyse a complex food crisis and anticipate.
  • Link assistance, livelihoods and safety nets.
  • Coordinate and harmonise the response with the cluster.
  1. Day6HEA analysis and the IPC / Cadre Harmonisé protocolThe Household Economy Approach (HEA) · The two HEA thresholds · The IPC classification rules · The Cadre Harmonisé and NGO contributions · Worked example: an HEA outcome analysis for the Sarakoro zone · Worked example: the IPC classification of two analysis units · Tools, common mistakes and variations by context · Interview questions and key references Scenario: The classification workshop
  2. Day7Advanced module Advanced analysis, anticipatory action and large-scale responseFood crisis analysis · Anticipatory action · Large-scale response and national systems · Coordination, accountability and exit · Integrated crisis analysis and scenario development · Designing an anticipatory action system · Worked example: the anticipatory action plan for the northern pastoral zone · Large-scale response and shock-responsive social protection · Prioritising, coordinating and exiting: deciding when resources fall short · Variations by context, common mistakes and donor expectations · Interview questions and key references
  3. Graded case study : Anticipating the lean season Region in IPC Phase 3, projected Phase 4 · 20 questions including a case study · 80% to pass

Who is it for?

Food security and livelihoods project managers and officers, distribution and cash transfer teams, agronomists, analysts, Food Security cluster members.

The certificate

With at least 70% correct answers in the final assessment, you receive a certificate in your name, with a unique code that recruiters can verify on Humanitaires Jobs. A free Humanitarian Network account is required.

Key concepts

The vocabulary you need to master for this course and the exam.

Food security
Access for all, at all times, to sufficient, safe and nutritious food.
Livelihoods
Capabilities, assets and activities that make a living possible.
FCS
Food Consumption Score over 7 days.
rCSI
Reduced Coping Strategies Index (food-related coping).
IPC
Five-phase classification of food security.
Cadre Harmonisé
Equivalent of the IPC in West Africa and the Sahel.
MEB
Minimum expenditure basket, the basis for transfer values.
PDM
Post-distribution monitoring.
Lean season
Period between the depletion of stocks and the next harvest.
Anticipatory action
Intervention triggered before the peak of a foreseeable crisis.
LCS
Livelihood coping strategies: stress, crisis, emergency.
HDDS
Household Dietary Diversity Score, 12 groups, over 24 hours.
HHS
Household Hunger Scale, from 0 to 6, over 30 days.
CARI
WFP method combining consumption and coping capacity.
Terms of trade
Amount of food obtained by selling an animal or a day's work.
HEA
Household Economy Approach: survival and livelihoods protection thresholds.
Design effect
Sample size correction for cluster sampling.

References and recommended reading

The official texts and sector reference works on which the course is based.

  1. Sphere Association (2018). The Sphere Handbook: minimum standards in food security and nutrition. spherestandards.org/fr/manuel-2018
  2. IPC Global Partnership (2021). IPC Technical Manual, Version 3.1. www.ipcinfo.org
  3. World Food Programme (2021). Consolidated Approach for Reporting Indicators of Food Security (CARI). www.wfp.org/publications/consolidated-approach-reporting-indicators-food-security-cari-guidelines
  4. WFP and FAO (2024). Global Food Security Cluster. fscluster.org
  5. LEGS Project (2023). Livestock Emergency Guidelines and Standards (LEGS). www.livestock-emergency.net
  6. World Food Programme (2008). Food Consumption Score: guidance note (VAM). resources.vam.wfp.org
  7. FANTA / FHI 360 (2011). Household Hunger Scale (HHS) and Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS). www.fantaproject.org/monitoring-and-evaluation
  8. Food Economy Group, Save the Children (2008). The Practitioners' Guide to the Household Economy Approach. www.feg-consulting.com
  9. CILSS (2019). Cadre Harmonisé manual. www.cilss.int
  10. CaLP (2018). Minimum Standard for Market Analysis (MISMA). www.calpnetwork.org