Who are the food insecure?
– Why are they food insecure? – How many are food insecure? – Where do the food insecure live? – How can food aid make a difference? Who are the food insecure? In general, the food insecure in Iraq can be found in those families with low incomes living in rural areas (69 percent of the food insecure in Iraq) who have poor or borderline dietary diversity. The heads of such food insecure households in Iraq are either unemployed (26 percent) or parttime workers engaged in agriculture either as marginal farmers (25 percent), non-skilled labourers (15 percent) or agricultural wage earners (5 percent). Women constitute a low percentage (14 percent) of those employed within the 16 to 60 years old age group. Children are also major victims of food insecurity. The chronic malnutrition rate of children in food insecure households was estimated as 33 percent. Chronic malnutrition affects the youngest children aged 12 months to 23 months most severely. Acute malnutrition in Iraq is also alarming w
