MASP IV · Data Platform
East & Central Africa · 2026–2030
Solidaridad
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Food Security

Months of hunger, dietary diversity and household food availability.
Moderate evidence11 studies · updated Oct 2026

Food security improved little where it was measured rigorously: FOSEK saw no significant improvement and F4APK no difference from control farmers, while recent baselines show many households short of food for several months a year, and cash-crop expansion can crowd out food land.

Key evidence

  • FOSEK found food security did not improve significantly: only chronic food deficit (more than 4–5 months) decreased, and the food-poor-month peak grew in Kenya between 2014 and 2019. FOSEK · Endline · 2021
  • In F4APK, 35% of horticulture treatment farmers reported food shortages at baseline and 33% at endline, following similar trends to control groups. F4APK · Endline · 2020
  • CSV Maize reported food insufficiency falling from 19% (Year 1) to 15% (Year 2), with 92% of households having high dietary diversity. CSV Maize · Midline · 2024
  • Acting Now baselines: treatment households averaged 8.7 months of adequate food in Ethiopia (10% had enough all year) and 32% of treatment households in Kenya had enough food all year. AN · Baseline · 2025AN · Baseline · 2025
  • In Kalangala, oil palm growers have on average 0.8 acres left for food; food insecurity was 13.4% among growers and 23.4% among non-growers, while 60% of Mayuge households had a food shortage in the past 12 months. NOPP · Baseline
  • PACE found 93.8% of households with high dietary diversity but fewer than 54% consuming protein-rich foods. PACE · Midline
  • Only 17.8% of surveyed tea-farming households in Kenya and Uganda were food secure. RS! · Thematic study

In figures

Households with enough food all 12 months (Acting Now baselines)% of households
Ethiopia, project households
Ethiopia, project households
10 % of households
10
Ethiopia, comparison households
Ethiopia, comparison households
43 % of households
43
Kenya, project households
Kenya, project households
32 % of households
32
Kenya, comparison households
Kenya, comparison households
42 % of households
42

Months of adequate household food provisioning (MAHFP) measured at baseline, before the project started.

AN · Baseline · 2025AN · Baseline · 2025
Data table
Item% of households
Ethiopia, project households10
Ethiopia, comparison households43
Kenya, project households32
Kenya, comparison households42

Change over time

CSV Maize Kenya
  1. Baseline 2021Households reported about three months of inadequate food a year.
  2. Midline 2024Food insufficiency 15% (19% in Year 1); 92% high dietary diversity.
FOSEK Kenya and Ethiopia
  1. Midline 202014% (Kenya) and 13% (Ethiopia) named food crops as a major income source, up from under 1% at baseline.
  2. Endline 2021No significant improvement in food security; intercropping did not increase in Kenya and fell in Ethiopia.

What works

  • Diversifying into food crops and intercropping broadened income sources. FOSEK · Midline
  • Improved maize technologies (certified seed, crop rotation) went with lower food insufficiency in CSV Maize. CSV Maize · Midline · 2024

What holds results back

Recommendations for programming

Evidence gaps & caveats

  • Studies use different indicators (MAHFP, FIES, dietary diversity, self-reported worry), so results cannot be compared across projects.
  • No study measured nutrition outcomes such as anthropometrics.
  • Acting Now and NOPP endlines are still to come.

Why this evidence rating: Includes one controlled study and an endline with consistent findings, plus several baselines, but indicators differ across studies.

Source studies (11)