Scoping of Health Impact Assessment for Assessing Food Security in Para Rubber Plot.

Abstract

     This study aimed to establish the content scope and indicators for health impact assessment for food security assessment in rubber co-cropping plots of selected model farmers from 4 provinces: Ranong, Chumphon, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Narathiwat. The research methodology consisted of 1) Expert scoping, in which the researcher and experts reviewed 49 related research documents, summarized and analyzed them into a draft of the content scope and indicators for assessment version 1 to be entered into the second step 2)Expert and community scoping. Data was collected from brainstorming through focus groups with 16 specifically selected informants. The tool was the focus group discussion. Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis.
     The results of the study 4 content scope and indicators for food security assessment in para rubber plot consisted of 4 dimensions: food availability, food access and food utilization and food stability with details of the indicators for each dimension as follows: 1) Food availability dimension, including land ownership, land use, having sufficient safe food production areas, having food production factors, having quality food to consume at every meal, and having enough food for all household members. 2) Food access dimension, including the ability to find food from natural sources near home, having sufficient income, having secondary occupations that generate sufficient income, the number of sources of safe food products, and the ability to access sources of products. 3) Food utilization dimension, including the variety of products obtained, consuming a variety of foods from all 5 food groups, consuming sufficient safe vegetables, and the ability to process products. 4) Food stability dimension, including having an agricultural production management planning system, an agricultural product planting calendar, and collecting plant and animal species for future propagation. The indicators were used to develop a tool to assess food security in para rubber plot.