FEWS NET Glossary
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Absolute cost advantage
At any given level of quantity produced, the incumbent firm has lower costs of production than the new firm. This cost difference is due to extra knowledge gained over time, endowment of natural rights, possession of patents, cost of capital to new firms, and many other factors.
Access
Access by households/individuals to adequate resources (entitlements) for acquiring appropriate foods for a nutritious diet.
Accessibility
One of the four pillars of food security and describes a household's ability to physically, economically, and socially obtain a necessary amount of food on a regular basis by purchasing, bartering, borrowing, or receiving food aid or gifts.
See Availability.
Acute food insecurity
Food insecurity at a specific moment in time, regardless of causes, context, or duration. Severity is defined by assessing the degree to which households can meet basic survival needs and maintain their normal livelihoods.
Agroclimatology
A field in the interdisciplinary science of agrometeorology, in which principles of climatology are applied to agricultural production systems. Its origins relate to climate’s foremost role in plant and animal production.
Agroecology
The study of agricultural ecosystems and their components as they function within themselves and in the context of the landscapes that contain them.
Analogue year
A year in history that shares key characteristics with the current year and can, therefore, help to support assumptions about how the current year may progress. In food security analysis, analysts commonly use analogue years in relation to climate and seasonal forecasts. Information about current atmospheric and oceanic conditions/patterns helps identify similar years that may suggest likely precipitation and temperature behavior. Analysts can also use analogue years to examine other issues, such as market behavior and food prices.
Anomaly
Something that deviates from what is standard, normal, or expected. There are different types of anomalies:
Difference from average: This is the actual observation minus the long-term average. Difference from the average is useful for quantifying deficits and surpluses in the same units as the original observation. 0 = no difference; positive means above average; negative means below average.
Percent of average: This is the actual observation divided by the long-term average and multiplied by 100 (to convert to percent). The percent of average is useful for relatively quantifying deficits and surpluses. 100 = same as average; >100 means above average, <100 means below average.
Standardized anomaly: This is the difference from the average divided by the standard deviation. Seasonal forecast maps may present the standardized anomaly. The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI, a commonly used drought measure) uses a standardized anomaly.
Arbitrage
Taking advantage of a price differential. The two most common types of arbitrage related to food security are spatial arbitrage (where commodities are moved from areas or markets with lower prices to areas or markets with higher prices, and the difference exceeds the transfer costs) and temporal arbitrage (where commodities are obtained, stored and sold at a point in the future when prices are expected to be higher and the difference exceeds the costs associated with the temporal transfer.
Assembly market
A market where smaller quantities of a commodity are accumulated or aggregated, usually from different farmers and small-scale traders. Assembly markets facilitate marketing and the movement of commodities as well as reduce the costs of marketing. They can also enable sellers of smaller surpluses from more remote locations to reach distant buyers.
Assumptions
For the purpose of scenario development, assumptions are judgments about the anticipated type, magnitude, and timing of future events or conditions. Assumptions are the product of an analysis of current conditions (e.g., rainfall pattern to date), past experiences (a reference period or how a similar series of events unfolded, such as a previous drought), official or unofficial estimates or projections, qualitative or quantitative data, and/or expert judgment. Assumptions can be made at any level of analysis (i.e., household, village, market, district, national, regional, or international). Assumptions form the basis of a scenario and support and reasonably limit its scope.
Atmospheric circulation
The flow, or movement, of a fluid (e.g., liquid or gas) in or through a given area or volume.
Availability
One of the four pillars of food security. The total amount of food present in a country or given area by means of domestic production, imports, food stocks, and food aid.
Availability of sufficient quantities of food of appropriate quality, supplied through domestic production or imports (including food aid).
Barriers to entry
The degree to which firms can influence market prices so that they earn large profits while restricting the potential entry of rival firms into the industry. The major categories of barriers to entry are absolute cost advantage and economies of scale.
Baseline
The quantified analysis of sources of food and income and expenditure for households in each wealth group over a defined reference period.
Baseline storage sheet
A spreadsheet that enables field teams to enter, check, and analyze individual interview data in the field and to analyze and summarize field data during the interim and final data analysis sessions.
Baseline year
See Reference year.
Border point
The exact place (often, but not always, a market location) within the Reporting Country where the trade flow is observed.
Budget share
The portion (percentage) of the household budget spent on a given good (maize), service or grouped goods and services (food). This is essentially the same thing as expenditure shares.
Capital constraints
The difficulty of obtaining capital to start a business.
Capital cost
Cost of purchasing or renting capital goods.
Chronic food insecurity
The persistent or seasonal inability to consume adequate diets for a healthy and active life, mainly due to structural causes. Chronic food insecurity occurs even in average, non-crisis years when shocks do not occur.
Climate
Average weather over a long period of time: the composite or generally prevailing weather conditions of a region, throughout the year, averaged over a series of years.
Climate mode
A description of one aspect of the way Earth’s climate behaves. Identifiable characteristics include variations in temperature, precipitation, and wind speed/direction. An example of a climate mode is the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO).
Climatology
The study of climate, scientifically defined as weather conditions averaged over a long period of time. However, when we say we expect climatology in terms of forecasts, these are not simply average conditions, but include the range of variability in rainfall quantity, spatial distribution, and temporal distribution that are historically possible for a region.
Coefficient of variation (CV)
The standard deviation divided by the mean. This measure puts the variability in a context of the average rainfall. Areas with large variability relative to the mean represent locations especially vulnerable to seasonal variation. Coefficient of variation is a useful statistic for comparing the degree of variation from one data series, or one location, to another, even if the means differ.
Collective action
The process of farmers jointly acting as a group in production, processing, or marketing activities.
Collusion
When rival companies and traders cooperate, overtly or covertly, for their mutual benefit.
The act in which traders jointly determine the prices at which they buy agricultural products from farmers.
Commission
A percentage of money that a trader or agent charges for conducting a transaction on behalf of a seller or buyer.
Commodity
Something tangible, that has value and can be exchanged. Commodities include food and cash crops, livestock, non‐food consumer items, and even labor.
Commodity availability
Monitors the availability of a product in a particular market to identify abundance, stability, or scarcity
Commodity balance
The balance of staple foods.
Commodity flow
The movement of commodities through space, generally from surplus to deficit areas.
Competition
A market structure in which there are many sellers of a product.
Complementary good
Also, Complement
A commodity which is consumed in combination with another commodity. When demand for one commodity rises, demand for the other will also rise.
Conduct
Also, Market conduct
The patterns of behavior that traders follow and strategies that they employ in adjusting to the markets in which they sell or buy.
Conglomerate conduct
The act of businesses merging together and doing businesses that may or may not be related.
Consumer basket
A typical household’s market (expenditure) basket of goods, services, fees, etc. It is used for tracking the prices of consumer goods and services and the overall cost of living. The basket may be comprised of the actual quantities of consumption goods or services acquired or used by households in some period. Sometimes, a consumer basket can also be made up from hypothetical quantities created.
Consumer price index (CPI)
An index of consumer prices which measures the change in prices associated with a typical market basket of goods and services over time. The CPI expresses current prices in terms of prices during the same period in a previous year (base or reference year), to show inflation or changes in purchasing power.
Consumption season
Also, Marketing season
The period of time during which agricultural output is sold, typically extending from one harvest period to the next.
Contract sale
A transaction that specifies a price of a commodity and the date of delivery at a future period of time.
Coping
Contending with difficulties and acting to overcome them. In food security, we typically speak of coping capacity and coping strategies. For the purpose of scenario development, we distinguish between coping strategies that, if successful, help to mitigate acute food and income deficits (e.g., the sale of assets) and coping strategies that indicate reduced dietary quantity or quality (e.g., skipping meals).
Coping capacity
The ability of households to diversify and expand access to various sources of food, income, and other basic needs, and thus to cope with a specific stress.
Coping strategies
Activities to which people resort in order to obtain food, income and/or services when their normal means of livelihood have been disrupted or other shocks/hazards decrease their access to basic needs.
Core CPI
A price index where certain items are excluded from the CPI basket on the basis that their prices are highly volatile, subject to temporary influences or are affected by government policies. The index is used to calculate “core inflation” and reflects the underlying inflationary pressures in the economy.
See Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Corn
Also, Maize
Maize is the plant, and corn is the kernel or grain, but corn can refer to kernels of different plants, not just maize. In some countries, including North America, maize and corn are used interchangeably, but this is not the case in most parts of the world. In general, we use maize when referring to the crop.
Cost insurance freight (CIF)
Pricing or valuation of a good, including all of the costs (known as transfer costs) of delivering a good to the point of consumption. It may be contrasted with the FOB (or free on board) where the transfer costs are excluded. Imports are often valued at CIF prices, and exports at FOB prices.
Cost of living index
An index that measures, between two periods, the change in the minimum expenditures that would be incurred by a consumer, in order to maintain a given level of standard of living or welfare, assuming that his/her preferences or tastes remain unchanged.
Crisis
IPC phase 3. Households either:
Have food consumption gaps that are reflected by high or above-usual acute malnutrition.
OR
Are marginally able to meet minimum food needs but only by depleting essential livelihood assets or through crisis-coping strategies.
See International Phase Classification (IPC).
Crop phrenology
Crop phenology is the study of periodic plant lifecycle events and how these are influenced by seasonal and interannual variations in climate, as well as habitat factors (such as elevation).
Crop tours
A tool used to assess conditions in designated areas to help gauge the impact on food security and strengthen FEWS NET assumptions about the upcoming seasons.
Cross border trade
The movement of commodities from one country to a neighboring country, and is usually measured in terms of magnitude (e.g., metric tons) and direction (from country A to country B).
Cross price elasticity of demand
The relationship between two commodities which can be substituted for one another (see also to elasticity of demand).
See Elasticity of Demand.
Data series
A collection of related data points from a single data source that are viewable as a single row within a table. They represent the change over time of a specific indicator.
Dataset
A collection of data series that relate to a particular subject within a domain
Deficit areas
Areas that either do not produce or produce an insufficient amount of a given commodity to meet local demand (derived or final demand).
Dekad
Ten-day period, usually referring to a period of rainfall, starting on the first day of the month. Every month is composed of exactly three dekads. The last dekad of the month comprises days 21 through the end of the month, and can contain 8 to 11 days.
Demand curve
The relationship between the price of a commodity and the quantity that buyers are willing or able to buy, with all other things being equal. For most commodities, there is an inverse relationship between price and quantity demanded: a rise in price is associated with a decline in quantity demanded.
Derived demand
Demand for a commodity to be used as an input to another productive activity (e.g., the demand for maize as feed for poultry production).
Destination
The country where goods were ultimately delivered.
Dipole
Two opposing patterns in space.
Domain
Also, Data domain
A logical grouping of data that contains a collection of data series.
Drought
A drought is a period of below-average precipitation in a given region, resulting in prolonged shortages in the water supply, whether atmospheric, surface water or ground water. This document, however, distinguishes between a single failed rainy season and consecutive failed rainy seasons; the latter is referred to as a drought.
Dynamic analysis of margins
Analysis of changes in marketing margins over time.
Dynamical forecasts
Dynamical models use laws of physics and observed conditions to estimate future conditions.
Economies of scale (EOS)
The reduction in costs of producing an extra unit of output. Usually related to the minimum efficient level of output at which a firm can produce efficiently relative to market size.
Effective demand
The desire to buy together with the ability pay for as good or service. Those who have a desire to buy but cannot pay the price or cost are said to have limited or no effective demand.
Effective exchange rate (EER)
The actual rate at which one unit of foreign currency is exchanged for local currency.
Elastic demand
A commodity for which the percentage changes in demand is proportionately greater than the percentage change in price. For example, a one percent change in the price of the good or service leads to a greater than one percent change in the quantity demanded.
Elastic supply
A commodity for which the percentage changes in supply is proportionately greater than the percentage change in price. For example, a one percent change in the price of the good or service leads to a greater than one percent change in the quantity supplied.
Elasticity
Measure of a percentage change of one thing relative to a percentage change in another. For example, the price elasticity of demand is the percentage change in quantity demanded relative to the percentage change in the price.
Elasticity of demand
The percentage change in quantity demanded relative to the percentage change in the price.
Own price elasticity: When the change in quantity demanded is related to the price of the commodity.
Cross price elasticity: When the change in quantity demanded is related to the price of another commodity.
Elasticity of supply
The percentage change in the quantity supplied relative to a percentage change in the price of a commodity.
Emergency
IPC phase 4. Households either:
Have large food consumption gaps which are reflected in very high acute malnutrition and excess mortality.
OR
Are able to mitigate large food consumption gaps but only by employing emergency livelihood strategies and asset liquidation.
See International Phase Classification (IPC).
Ensemble forecast
An ensemble forecast is either a collection of model runs (using the same model) started from slightly different initial conditions, or a collection of model runs using different models. This tests the strength of forecasts; if ensembles give similar results (a convergence of evidence), then we have confidence in the forecast.
Equity
A situation in which resources are relatively distributed to all members of society.
Exchange efficiency
A situation in which all benefits from trade have been exhausted and it is not possible to do further exchange without reducing the happiness of another agent.
Exchange rate
The rate at which one currency can be exchanged for another.
Exchange terms
The terms under which goods and services are exchanged in transaction.
Exclusionary pricing
Also, Predatory pricing
Occurs when one firm lowers and maintains its price below costs until other efficient firms exit the market. Predatory ricing eliminates competition (results into monopoly power).
Expectations
What a market actor believes will occur at some point in the future, and that time frame is usually defined. For example, the price a seller believes they will receive three months in the future.
Expenditure shares
The portion of a household’s expenditures allocated to a particular good, service or group of goods and services. This is essentially the same as budget shares.
Export parity price (XPP)
The monetary value of a product sold at a specific location in a foreign country, but valued from a specific location in the exporting country.
Famine
IPC phase 5. Households have an extreme lack of food and/or other basic needs even after full employment of coping strategies. Starvation, death, destitution, and extremely critical acute malnutrition levels are evident. For Famine Classification, an area needs to have extreme critical levels of acute malnutrition and mortality.
See International Phase Classification (IPC).
Farm gate
At or near the farm or location of production. Usually, but not always, the place where a commodity is first exchanged. Farmers can also bring their produce to assembly, wholesale and even retail markets.
Farm gate price
The price that the farmer or producer receives at the farm or location of production. It is the price of the product available at the farm, excluding any marketing costs or transport and delivery charges.
Food balance sheet (FBS)
Presents a comprehensive picture of the pattern of a country's food supply during a specified reference period. A food balance sheet shows the sources of supply and utilization for each food item.
Food item
Each primary commodity and a number of processed commodities potentially available for human consumption.
Food price index
A price index where only food items appearing in the consumer basket are included in the calculation of the index.
Food security (FS)
Food and nutrition security is achieved when adequate, safe, and nutritious food is available, accessible to, and well utilized by all individuals at all times to support a healthy and productive life.
Food security conditions
The context with regard to external circumstances and influences related to food security; includes the variables, causal factors, and drivers of food security. Food security conditions are different from food security outcomes. Outcomes refer to the final situation faced by households or areas once all conditions and responses have been analyzed. For example, food security conditions may describe seasonal progress, food prices, and labor demand, while food security outcomes describe whether households are able to access and utilize the food needed for a healthy life.
Food security outcomes
The net result of changes in household incomes and food access plus the effect of response by households, governments, or other actors in terms of food consumption, livelihoods maintenance, nutritional status, and mortality risk. Outcomes can be positive or negative. A description of food security outcomes should explain who is food insecure (e.g., what population or wealth group; the size of the food insecure population) and the expected duration and severity of food insecurity.
Forecast skill
Skill is measured by calculating the difference between a model forecast and observed conditions. An acceptable threshold of skill is chosen by a person responsible for running a model. The threshold for skill is subjective. Model runs exceeding the defined threshold of skill are considered to have skill and are, therefore, reliable for predicting the climate.
Foreign exchange premium (FXP)
The percentage that the Official Exchange Rate (OER) overvalues the local currency.
Formal trade
Typically large quantities transported by road, rail or ship which are inspected, taxed and reported in official statistics. Formal trade is typical legal trade.
Free on board (FOB)
The price of a commodity loaded on board a carrier at the port of exit.
Geographic unit
May be national or sub-national, and include several unit types such as Administrative Unit, Market, Border Point, Crop Production Reporting Unit, or Livelihood Zone.
Global Support Unit (GSU)
At the global level, the IPC is governed by the IPC Global Steering Committee and is composed of senior officers representing the 15 partner organizations. The Steering Committee is responsible for strategically guiding and positioning the IPC globally. The GSU is the operational arm of the IPC Global Steering Committee. Hosted at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, the IPC GSU promotes the IPC within global decision-making structures and develops and updates IPC protocols and technical guidance based on inputs from the Technical Advisory Group (TAG). It also provides capacity development, technical and communication support to countries, as well as quality assurance oversight, among other things.
See Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).
Groundnuts
A variety of legumes that produce seeds on the ground. Peanuts are a type of groundnut.
Hazard
A dangerous phenomenon, threat, human activity, or condition that can cause or precipitate disaster. Hazards pose a potential threat to life, health, property, or the environment and can be natural or induced by human processes. Most hazards are dormant, with only a potential risk of harm. Once a hazard becomes "active,” it is called a shock (or in some cases, a hazard event).
Hedgers
People who buy contracts to sell the stocks/commodities in the future at a price agreed upon today, thus protecting themselves from price fluctuations.
Household (HH)
A group of people, each with different abilities and needs, who live together most of the time and contribute to a common economy, and share the food and other income from this.
Household economy
The sum of ways in which a household acquires its income, its savings and asset holdings, and by which it meets its food and non-food needs.
Household Economy Analysis (HEA)
Analysis that defines a livelihood based on geography, systems of production, and wealth. It considers the interaction of all economic groups, specifically as to sources of food and cash, assets and opportunities, and options at times of crisis.
Humanitarian assistance
Assistance that is intended to save lives, protect livelihoods, alleviate suffering, and provide basic necessities. Humanitarian assistance is usually initiated in response to a shock, such as civil war or a natural disaster. This can also include threshold-based programs that are triggered by a shock even if they are within the context of an inter-annual program. Programs focusing on immediate livelihood strengthening and prevention of further loss are also considered humanitarian. This type of assistance is typically short-term (less than a year). However, some programs exceed the typical timeframe for humanitarian assistance (i.e., longer than a year), depending on the nature of the shock.
Imperfect substitute
Also, Imperfect commodity
A commodity that consumers choose to consume in place of another preferred commodity when the price of the preferred commodity rises. However, the imperfect substitute does not satisfy a need or want to the full extent of the preferred commodity, so there is a less than one for one substitution.
Import parity price
Also, IPP
The monetary value of a unit of product bought from a foreign country, valued at a geographic location of interest in the importing country.
Incentive
Something that incites an action or provides a motive such as potential profits.
Income elasticity of demand
The percentage change in the quantity of a good demanded given a one percent change in income.
Index reference period
The period for which the value of the index is set at 100. This is the same as the base year.
Indian Ocean Dipole
Also, IOD
An irregular oscillation of sea surface temperatures and related atmospheric circulation in the Indian Ocean.
Industrial organization
The field of economics that studies the behavior of firms, the structure of markets, their interactions and affect on the performance of markets.
Inelastic
A commodity for which the percentage change in quantity supplied (demanded) is less than the percentage change in price.
Inflation
An overall rise in the prices of good and services in an economy. There is an inverse relationship between the prices of goods and services and the value of money in an economy: other things being equal, as prices rise over time, a given amount of money will be able to purchase a fewer and fewer goods and services.
Informal market
Also, Informal trade
Small‐scale transactions of a few bags or less of a commodity, which are exchanged outside of official channels and are typically undocumented, unlicensed and unregistered. Informal cross border transactions are often carried across the border on bicycles or headloaded. While each transaction may be small, the total or aggregate volume and value of these transactions can be quite significant. This term is also often used to refer to illegal trade, although, these two types of trade are not necessarily equivalent. This has lead to some confusion in the literature. Therefore, it is important to define this term when it is used.
Innovation
Also, Progressiveness
The process of devising better ways of production, processing and marketing, usually through research and development that increases the value of goods and services and avoids wastage of productive resources.
Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC)
Also, IPC Scale
An approach to consolidate wide-ranging evidence to classify the severity and magnitude and to identify the key drivers of food insecurity and malnutrition. The IPC process builds evidence-based technical consensus among key stakeholders and uses a standardized five point scale to communicate the nature and severity of a crisis.
Inter-annual assistance
Assistance that has a relatively long timeframe (generally two to five years) and is provided to beneficiaries on a regular basis. Safety net programs are a common form of inter-annual assistance. These programs focus on aspects of chronic food insecurity, reliance, or poverty reduction and the development of livelihoods over a longer timeframe.
Inter-spatial transfer costs
The monetary payment made as a marketing cost to transport a product from one geographic area to another for sale.
Inter-temporal transfer costs
The total monetary payment made is paid as a marketing cost to store a product for sale at a later date.
Inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ)
The point at which air from both hemispheres comes together. When air comes together at the ITCZ, it is forced to rise, which results in clouds and precipitation. The ITCZ moves north and south with the seasons and is the primary cause of weather/climate and rainfall over the tropics.
Inter-tropical front (ITF)
The leading edge of the ITCZ. The rainfall associated with the ITCZ is always equator-ward of the ITF.
Internally displaced person (IDP)
A person or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border.
Joint profit maximization
A behavior in which traders decide to cooperate in order to charge higher prices so as to obtain more profits. Examples are cartels (e.g. OPEC) and price leadership‐usually the large producers.
Laspeyres price index
An index that measures the change in the value of the basket of goods and services actually purchased in the earlier of the two periods.
Law of one price (LOOP)
A situation where the unit price of a product is the same in all locations and time points, after adjusting for transfer costs.
Lean season
The time of year when a household’s access to food and/or cash income is typically most constrained. This usually occurs during the months between harvests when food is scarce because household stocks have been exhausted and the harvest has not yet begun. During this period, households tend to be at greater risk of food insecurity. Use lean season and not hunger season or other terms.
Livelihood baseline
The quantified analysis of household livelihood options including a detailed breakdown of sources of food, cash and expenditure patterns, and coping capacity for households in each wealth group over a defined reference period.
Livelihood profile
Reports that describe wealth groups and compare their various sources of food and income.
Livelihood protection threshold
Also, Livelihood protection needs
The total income required to sustain local livelihoods. This means total expenditure to:
Ensure basic survival (that is, all items covered in the survival threshold),
Maintain access to basic services such as health and education,
Sustain livelihoods in the medium to longer term, for example, purchasing of seeds or veterinary drugs, and
Achieve a minimum locally acceptable standard of living, for example, purchasing basic clothing or coffee/tea
See Survival threshold.
Livelihood strategies
The ways in which households utilize and combine their assets to obtain food, income and other goods and services.
Livelihood zone maps
Maps that illustrate the country by zone, showing areas where people generally have the same options for obtaining food and income and engaging in trade.
Livelihood zones (LZ or LHZ)
Geographical areas within which people share broadly the same patterns of access to food and income, and have the same access to markets.
Livelihoods
The means by which households obtain and maintain access to essential resources to ensure their immediate, medium-term, and long-term survival.
Livelihoods protection needs
Amount of food and cash income required to sustain local livelihoods. This means total expenditure to:
Ensure basic survival
Maintain access to basic services (health, education)
Sustain livelihoods in the medium to longer term, e.g. purchase of seeds or veterinary drugs
Achieve a minimum locally acceptable standard of living (e.g. purchase of basic clothing or coffee/tea)
Logistics
The management of the flow (distribution) of products, information, resources or people between the point of origin and the point of consumption with an aim to meet the requirements of consumers.
Long-cycle crops
Crops that mature in greater than 90 days, such as sorghum and corn.
Maize
Maize is the plant, and corn is the kernel or grain, but corn can refer to kernels of different plants, not just maize. In some countries, including North America, maize and corn are used interchangeably, but this is not the case in most parts of the world. In general, use maize when referring to the crop.
Market
Where buyers and sellers come together to trade. Markets can be viewed as social arrangements that allow buyers and sellers to discover information or carry out a voluntary exchange of goods or services. Markets are normally physical locations, but not always. Transactions can occur on the phone, over the internet, through intermediaries, etc. Commodities (e.g., crops and food), livestock and labor can be exchanged through markets.
Market actor
Someone who is active in the market such as traders, wholesalers, transporters, storeowners, consumers, etc. A market actor is equivalent to market participant.
Market calendar
Depicts the availability of a commodity or a group of commodities in the market over the calendar year.
Market catchments
The areas from which commodities or labor is sourced and brought into a particular market or the market system as a whole. These areas usually include key production zones that have significant marketable surpluses.
Market centers
Physical locations where buyers and sellers meet and exchange.
Market chain
A group of people or organizations that direct the flow of commodities from production to consumers. Market chains are usually vertical.
Market conduct
Refers to the patterns of behavior that traders and other market participants adopt to affect or adjust to the markets in which they sell or buy.
Market efficiency
A situation where price differences for a specific product that are compared in different places or points in time are equal to the transfer costs.
Market failure
Result when the price of a good or service does not reflect the true costs of producing and consuming the good or service. The existence of a market failure implies some inefficiency in the market. A market failure is not the same as a market shortfall.
Market integration
The ease at which prices are transmitted from one market to another and is usually measured by the degree of correlation between prices in different markets. Generally, a high correlation implies more integration. Integration implies a relationship, but not necessarily causality.
Market margin
The difference between the price paid by consumers and that obtained by producers. Margins can be calculated all along the market chain and each margin reflects the value added at that level of the market chain.
Market networks
Describes commodity flows and points of exchange from production to the final consumer. The emphasis of market networks is on spatial and exchange relationships.
Market performance
Refers to the extent to which markets result in outcomes that are deemed good or preferred by society. Market performance refers to how well the market fulfills certain social and private objectives.
Market shortfall
With respect to market availability: Refers to a food gap where requirements exceed supply.
With respect to a particular market: Where there is a scarcity of a commodity and demand exceeds supply.
Market structure
Consists of the relatively stable features of the market that influence the rivalry among the buyers and sellers operating in a market. May refer to the number and size distribution of buyers and sellers, the degree of product differentiation and the ease of entry of new firms into an industry.
Market system
Includes the whole commodity distribution system from production to consumption. A market system describes key linkages between the different stages in a commodity’s distribution such as producer‐wholesaler, wholesaler‐ food processor or storeowner‐consumer. It also describes the spatial and functional relationships between markets and market actors. A market system is spread over a geographic area, which can be small such as just a few villages that exchange among themselves, or very large and spread across a country, group of countries or over the entire world.
Marketable surplus
The excess product which is made available after meeting producer needs (seed, home consumption, animal feed, in kind labor payments and transfers). It is important to note that many producers sell product without fulfilling their complete food requirements: they rely on the sale of product for cash income and resort to the market to access a portion of their food requirements.
Marketing margin
The difference between the prices observed at different points in the supply chain when quantities are expressed in comparable its of a commodity.
Marketing margin share
The difference between two prices at different levels of the market, expressed as a ratio. For example, the difference between the retail price and producer price divided by the retail price. Therefore, marketing margin share can also be thought of as the marketing margin expressed as a ratio. Marketing margin shares can be calculated all along the market chain, and each margin reflects the proportion of the value added at that level of the market chain.
Marketing season
The period of time during which agricultural output is sold, typically extending from one harvest period to the next. It is the same as the consumption season.
Meridional
In meteorology, a flow, average, or functional variation taken in a direction that is parallel to a line of longitude, along a meridian, northerly or southerly.
Minimal
IPC phase 1. Households are able to meet essential food and non-food needs without engaging in atypical and unsustainable strategies to access food and income.
See International Phase Classification (IPC).
Minimum efficient firm size
The level of output which corresponds to the lowest cost of producing a product relative to the quantity demanded in the market.
Monopoly
A market with only one seller or controlled by one seller.
Monopsony
A market with only one buyer or controlled by one buyer.
Monsoon
A thermally driven wind arising from differential heating between a land mass and the adjacent ocean that reverses its direction seasonally.
Most likely (ML)
A near term projection for the next three months.
Most Likely 1 (ML1)
The first projection period (the first four months) within an eight-month scenario.
Most Likely 2 (ML2)
The second projection period (the second four months) within an eight-month scenario.
Net marketing margin
The price spread minus the costs associated with either moving a commodity from one location to another or storing the commodity over time. A measure used to assess the price arbitrage incentives.
Network development
A dedicated effort to strengthen cooperation and linkages among food security partners.
Niche market
A market associated with a special attribute of a product.
Nominal prices
Prices that have not been adjusted for inflation. The nominal price is equal to the money that is paid for a unit of a good or service in the market, at the shop, etc.
Normal conditions
The typical or average range of attributes, characteristics, or relationships (e.g., weather, market behavior, livelihoods, etc.). They provide a framework, baseline, or reference period that can be compared to current and/or projected conditions.
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)
A vegetation index commonly used as an indicator of drought. NDVI is a measure of vegetation greenness calculated by a normalized ratio between red and near infrared (NIR) radiation. Healthy, photosynthetic vegetation reflect NIR radiation and absorb red light in the visible spectrum.
Official trade
Trade that has been registered or accounted for. It is often measured as well.
Oligopoly
A market with only a few sellers or controlled by only a few sellers.
Oligopsony
A market with only a few buyers or controlled by only a few buyers.
Oscillation
In meteorology, oscillation is a shift in the position of high and low-pressure systems, usually in the same place. These are often described using an index (frequently a single number that represents the distribution of temperature and pressure over a wide area, usually over the oceans, such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, North Atlantic Oscillation, or Pacific Decadal Oscillation).
Outcome analysis
An analysis of how access to food and cash for each wealth group will be affected by a defined hazard, and of the extent to which other food or cash sources can be added or expanded, or non-essential expenditure reduced, to make up the initial shortages.
Own price elasticity
Percentage change in quantity demanded of a commodity related to the percentage change in the price of that commodity.
Parity
Also Parity pricing or Price parity
Making prices of a commodity in one location equivalent to the same commodity in another location, usually in a different country. It adjusts for marketing costs involved in transferring and transforming the product between two locations.
Perfect competition
A market situation in which it is assumed that there are many sellers and buyers and the market determines the price of food commodities. Both buyers and sellers become price takers and not price makers.
Performance
The extent to which markets or traders do things that society expects – do they operate efficiently, provide a reliable source of food, supply food at reasonable prices, etc.
Prediction
An act of foretelling based on observation, experience, or scientific reason.
Presence countries
Countries where locally-based analysts work fulltime from a national office.
Price
The cost or value of something expressed in monetary terms.
Price differential
A spatial or temporal difference in prices.
See Spatial arbitrage and Seasonal arbitrage.
Price discrimination
The act of charging consumers different prices for the same product.
Price elasticity
The percentage change in the quantity demanded (supplied) given a percentage change in the price of a commodity.
Price reference period
The period to which prices in other periods are compared. This is used when calculating the CPI.
Price relative
The ratio of the price of an individual product in one period to the price of that same product in the reference period.
Price spread
The difference between two prices.
Price transmission rate
The degree of ease with which price information is relayed and communicated among different markets and market participants over geographic space and time.
Pricing standard operating procedure
Determining price by agreed formula, standard mark‐up or manufacturer recommended store prices.
Probabilistic forecast
Identifying the likelihood of a specific event. Probabilistic forecasts capture the likelihood of rainfall being in a given tercile of the historical distribution. It allows the forecaster to identify shifts in the likelihood of events based on certain conditions.
Problem specification
The translation of a hazard such as drought into economic consequences at household level.
Processing conversion factor (PCF)
The ratio of the quantity of a processed product to the quantity of the unprocessed product.
Product differentiation
The act of slightly changing a product so that you can convince customers that the product is better and charge a higher price. (E.g. one kilogram of maize flour in a nice paper bag compared to one kilogram maize flour scoped from a sisal bag). The maize flour can be the same quality but one is sold for a higher price.
Production efficiency
The process of producing a commodity at the lowest average cost. There is no wasting of scarce resources that are used to produce the good. This would involve farmers adopting methods that maximizing output per unit on inputs used.
Profit margin
The difference between the cost and the selling price of a product or service.
Projected outcome
A quantified estimate of access to food and cash, taking into account the shock and household responses to it, in relation to a survival and livelihoods protection threshold.
Projection
An estimate of future possibilities based on a current trend.
Projection period
Months selected for scenario period (e.g., typically eight months for a FEWS NET Food Security Outlook scenario).
See Most Likely, Most Likely 1, and Most Likely 2.
Public relations
How firms and business organizations treat and interact with their customers.
Purchasing power
The value of money, as measured by the quantity and quality of products and services it can buy. The amount of goods or services that one unit of money can buy.
Rain
Also, Precipitation
Rain is water that falls in drops condensed from vapor in the atmosphere. Refer to this as precipitation, rather than rain.
Rainfall
The amount of precipitation, usually measured by depth in millimeters.
Rains
An area’s rainy season.
Real prices
Prices that have been adjusted for inflation. Real prices hold the value of currency constant, and allow you to compare the exchange value of a good or service in different time periods.
Reference market
A market that provides good information and orientation for food security analysis. Reference markets would include markets in areas characterized by food insecurity and vulnerability or key markets that influence the performance of other markets directly tied to food insecure and vulnerable populations.
Reference period
A defined period (typically 12 months) to which the baseline information refers, needed in order to analyze how changes in the future (in production, for example) can be defined in relation to the baseline. Typically chosen to reflect average or normal conditions.
See Reference year.
Reference year
Also, Baseline year
A defined recent consumption year to which the livelihood baseline information refers. A reference year is needed in order to analyze how changes in the future (in production, for example) can be defined in relation to the baseline. A reference year is usually a 12-month consumption year that begins with the start of the consumption year (i.e., start of main harvest in cropping areas and main rains in pastoral areas). Ideally, a reference year represents a "typical" year, neither especially bad nor especially good. There may be acute food insecurity in a typical year.
Relative prices
The exchange value of one good or service for another (i.e., the price of one good in terms of another). Usually measured in terms of the price ratio of the two goods.
Remote sensing
The collection of data on an object or area using sensors that can be handheld or mounted aboard drones, airplanes, or most commonly, satellite systems. Sensors on satellites orbit around Earth to observe climate, vegetation, and rainfall dynamics. Sensors detect and classify objects on land and oceans and in the atmosphere by receiving signals (for example, electromagnetic radiation reflected from Earth). Remotely sensed data are useful for assessing crop conditions and drought severity, among a range of other climatic and phenological factors.
Rents to arbitrage
The difference between the net marketing margin and the transfer costs accrued when transferring the product from one market to another or one point in time to another.
Reporting country
Where the trade flow was observed/enumerated, often at a specific Border Point.
Research & innovation
The process of coming up with new and efficient ways of utilizing scares resources to produce goods and services.
Resources utilization
Minimal degradation of resources (e.g. soil, forests, water a) in agricultural production and processing.
Response
Any action taken before, during, or after a potential change in food security to mitigate food insecurity or vulnerability to food insecurity and/or to avoid loss of life or livelihoods. A response can take the form of policies or programs (e.g., manipulation of strategic grain reserves to manage prices or supplies, food distribution).
Retail market
A market where commodities are largely sold to end users, especially consumers. Per transaction volumes tend to be smaller, for example, per kg or small bowl.
Retailers
Traders, merchants or storeowners who tend to sell to consumers and other end users. Retailers usually sell in smaller volumes than wholesalers; their average transaction size is smaller.
Risk
The combination of the probability of an event (hazard) and households’ vulnerability to the hazard along with their capacity to cope. Risk = f (hazard × vulnerability/coping).
Scenario
In the context of food security analysis, an informed “if/then” analysis that communicates shocks, their impacts on household food and income sources, response by both households and other actors, and the net food security outcomes for different households in specific geographic areas. Scenarios are rooted in a series of reasonable assumptions based on existing conditions, historical information, and expert judgment. Scenarios are used to project future food security outcomes and inform decision-making processes.
Scenario development
A methodology for forecasting future events. It relies on analysis of the current situation, the creation of informed assumptions about the future, a comparison of their possible effects, and the likely responses of various actors.
Scenario outcome
A quantified estimate of access to food and cash arising from an outcome analysis, taking into account the effects of the hazard and household responses to it, for each of the wealth groups.
Seasonal arbitrage
Also, Temporal Arbitrage
Taking advantage of the price differential over time, usually over the agricultural season. The differential must exceed all costs associated with handling and storing the commodity.
Seasonal calendar
A graphical presentation of the months in which food and cash crop production and key food and income acquisition strategies take place, also showing key seasonal periods such as the rains, periods of peak illness and the hunger season.
Shock
An atypical event or series of events (either rapid or slow-onset) that have a significant impact. Shocks can be positive (e.g. a significantly better-than-average harvest) or negative (e.g., a failed harvest or rising food prices). A shock differs from a hazard in that it is an event that has already occurred or is occurring, while a hazard indicates a potential threat.
Short-cycle crops
Crops that mature generally in 90 days or less, such as wheat, barley, and teff.
Slow onset emergency
An emergency that builds over time and thus provides some early indication of the emergency that could be mounting. Droughts and continuous economic decline are all slow onset emergencies.
Source
The country where goods originated.
Spatial arbitrage
Taking advantage of the price differential across locations or markets. The differential must exceed all costs in moving the commodity from one location or market to another. A simple measure of potential spatial arbitrage is the difference between the prices observed for the same product in two different locations.
Spatial variability
Changes in climate across a landscape.
Speculators
People who buy contracts to buy and/or sell commodities/stocks for profit without physically moving or storing the commodities/stocks.
Spot markets
Physical markets in which farmers and traders converge to buy and sell products at a given period of time.
Standard of living
A level of material comfort as measured by the goods, services, and luxuries available to an individual, group, or nation. The standard of living can also capture broader aspects of well‐being or the quality of life, such as health, education, etc.
Static analysis of margins
An analysis of the composition/structure of marketing margins at any one point in time.
Statistical forecast
Statistical forecasts use previously derived mathematical relationships between two or more variables to produce an estimate of one of those variables given knowledge of the other variables.
Stressed
IPC phase 2. Households have minimally adequate food consumption but are unable to afford some essential non-food expenditures without engaging in stress-coping strategies.
See International Phase Classification (IPC).
Structure
Refers to the number and size distribution of buyers and sellers, the degree of product differentiation and the ease of entry of new firms into an industry.
Structure‐Conduct‐Performance (SCP)
A framework or an approach to market analysis that is based on the premise that the structure of a market influences the conduct of its participants (buyers, sellers, and other participants), which, in turn, influences the performance of markets.
Substitute good
Also, Substitute commodity
A commodity that can replace another in consumption or production, such as millet for sorghum. When the price of one commodity rises, consumers will decrease their consumption of it and increase consumption of the substitute commodity. Wild and gathered products can be substitutes.
Supply chain
The series of production, transformation, and transfer activities/functions that start with raw material and natural resources and ultimately provide a product for sale to a consumer.
Supply chain level
A segment of the supply chain, comprising of a specific activity or a small set of specific activities (e.g. packaging and storage).
Supply curve
The relationship between the price of a commodity and the quantity that sellers are willing or able to sell, with all other things being equal. For most commodities, there is a direct relationship between price and quantity supplied: a rise in price is associated with a rise in quantity supplied.
Surplus areas
Areas that produce in excess of what is demanded locally and therefore can provision other areas.
Survival threshold
Also, Survival needs
The total food and cash income required to cover the food and non-food items necessary for survival in the short term. It includes:
100% of minimum food energy needs;
The costs associated with food preparation and consumption; and
Where applicable, the cost of water for human consumption.
Technological progress
A process of coming up with better technologies for producing goods and services. Refers to the extent to which farmers and other food system or sub‐sector participants adapt improved technical, management, and institutional innovations which enhance productivity and profitability. In the marketing channel, this could involve improvements in storage, packaging, and reduction in post‐harvest loses.
Teleconnections
The concept of interrelated climate conditions that cross long distances.
Temperature gradient
A temperature gradient (e.g., sea surface temperature) is a quantity that describes in which direction and at what rate the temperature changes the most rapidly around a particular location. The temperature gradient is expressed in units of degrees (on a particular temperature scale) per unit length.
Temporal arbitrage
See Seasonal Arbitrage.
Temporal variability
Changes in climate over time. Temporal variability indicates changes in values over time and can include changes in the mean (i.e., trend) or the range. Changes between years are referred to as inter-annual variability, and changes within a season are intra-annual variability.
Terms of trade (ToT)
The rate at which one good or service can be exchanged for another and is typically expressed as a ratio.
Transaction costs
The costs associated with conducting a transaction. This includes all time, effort, and cash expenses other than an item’s price, such as gathering information about the market and market opportunities, enforcing agreements, formal and informal commissions and fees, and physically moving the product from seller to buyer.
Unit elastic
A commodity for which the percentage change in the quantity supplied or demanded is equal to the percentage change in price.
Utilization
Physical utilization of food at the household level.
Biological utilization of food at the individual level.
Vulnerability
People are vulnerable to particular hazards if they are expected to be unable to cope with a defined hazard; for example, they are vulnerable to crop failure if such a hazard is likely to reduce their access to food or cash below a defined threshold.
Wealth breakdown
The process by which people within a livelihood zone are grouped together using local definitions of wealth and the quantification of their assets. The level of division depends on how the community view their society, and the purpose of the analysis.
Wealth group
A group of households within the same community who share similar capacities to exploit the different food and income options within a particular livelihood zone.