Market Information and Food Insecurity Response Analysis (MIFIRA)

Introduction

Food aid is no longer the only, or even the dominant, response to widespread food insecurity. Donors, governments, NGOs and recipient communities exhibit rapidly growing interest in and facility with cash-based alternatives, both in the form of direct cash and voucher distribution to food insecure persons, and in the form of local or regional purchase of food. But humanitarian assistance and development communities lack a systematic, field-tested framework for choosing among food- and/or cash-based responses to food insecurity. The Market Information and Food Insecurity Response Analysis (MIFIRA) framework was developed at the request of, and in collaboration with, a major international NGO (CARE) to provide a logically sequenced set of questions and corresponding analytical tools to help operational agencies anticipate the likely impact of alternative (food- and/or cash-based) responses and thereby identify the response that best fits a given food insecurity context.

MIFIRA Course Materials

MIFIRA Applications, Research Findings and Articles

Sample MIFIRA Household and Trader Surveys

MIFIRA Team Members

Price Analysis Tools and Guidance from the LRP Learning Alliance

Collaborators and Sponsors

• CARE: http://www.care.org/
• Catholic Relief Services: http://www.crs.org/
• International Livestock Research Institute: http://www.ilri.org/
• Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (ReSAKSS): http://www.resakss.org/
• USAID Assets and Market Access Collaborative Research Support Program (AMA CRSP): http://www.basis.wisc.edu/ama_crsp/index.html
• USAID Food for Peace: http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/humanitarian_assistance/ffp/