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Agriculture and Food Systems
Food Security Assessments
Household and county food security analysis linking production, markets, nutrition and drought early warning to decisions on response and investment.
- Sector
- Agriculture and Food Systems
- Typical timeline
- 6 to 10 weeks
- Delivery
- Onsite or virtual
- Deliverables
- 6
The problem
The National Drought Management Authority Act, 2016 gives the Authority statutory responsibility for drought early warning and for facilitating national and county contingency plans. Its July 2026 bulletin kept most arid and semi-arid counties in the Normal phase but placed Isiolo in Alert, flagged early deterioration in Turkana, Garissa, Baringo and West Pokot, and described acute malnutrition as a critical concern. Early warning shows where conditions are changing; it does not, on its own, tell a county which households to reach or what to fund.
The Agricultural Policy, 2021 calls for an integrated food and nutrition security information system, and the Agricultural Sector Transformation and Growth Strategy makes household food resilience one of its three anchors. Counties, humanitarian agencies and partners need assessments that connect production, market access, income and nutrition at household level, and that hold up when budgets are contested. County drought contingency plans, which the Authority helps counties prepare, are only as good as the household evidence behind them.
Policy anchors
- National Drought Management Authority Act, 2016
- Agricultural Policy, 2021
- Agricultural Sector Transformation and Growth Strategy 2019-2029
How we work
Framing and secondary analysis
We review drought bulletins, county data and prior assessments to define the question, the geography and the population groups at risk.
Household survey
We design and run a representative household survey covering food consumption, dietary diversity, coping strategies, income sources and crop and livestock assets.
Markets and production
We analyse prices, market access and seasonal production to explain why food access is changing, not only that it is.
County synthesis
We combine household, market and early warning evidence into a county picture by livelihood zone and ward.
Response and early action
We set out targeted responses and early-action triggers that counties and partners can build into contingency plans and budgets.
- Inception report and sampling design
- Household survey tools and cleaned dataset
- Market and production analysis
- County food security assessment by livelihood zone
- Response options and early-action triggers
- Briefing for county leadership and partners
County governments, humanitarian and development agencies, and national bodies that plan food security, nutrition and drought response.
Questions clients ask
Does this duplicate the National Drought Management Authority's work?
No. The Authority's bulletins track drought conditions and phases across counties; our assessments go to household level to explain who is affected, why and which response fits. The two are designed to be used together.
Can assessments be repeated to track change?
Yes. We design tools and samples so that later rounds are comparable, and we can train county staff to run them.