Household Consumption and Expenditure Surveys (HCES)—a collective term for multi-purpose household surveys—are a valuable resource for understanding food consumption patterns and nutrient intakes and identifying communities where nutrition interventions are highly needed. The food and nutrition data they provide can be used to improve policies, programs, resource allocation, and ultimately, nutrition outcomes.
SPRING collaborates with USAID and partner organizations to repurpose HCES to make them more attuned to countries’ nutrition policy needs and strategies. Recently, our work in HCES has gained considerable momentum. On March 13th, SPRING will host an HCES symposium at USAID, highlighting their use as a practical tool for assessing and planning nutrition interventions. Representatives from the food and nutrition community, including FANTA, the World Bank and the US Department of State, will be in attendance. SPRING is also sponsoring a symposium on HCES at this year’s Micronutrient Forum Global Conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The conference is expected to draw hundreds of policymakers, program managers, and scientists from around the world.
The newly launched HCES webpage contains numerous resources, including presentations from past workshops and conferences and technical guidelines for assessing food security and measuring consumption using the surveys. As new activities develop, updated and added materials will be posted on the page.
SPRING also recently authored a piece featured on USAID's Impact blog: The Power of Household Consumption and Expenditure Surveys (HCES) to Inform Evidence-Based Nutrition Interventions and Policies