Humanitarian Academy

Food security

Food security and livelihoods: analysing, targeting and responding in emergencies

IPC, markets, food or cash, targeting and livelihoods: respond to hunger and protect households' future.

  • 4 days · 24 hours
  • 3 levels · 3 certificates
  • 3 scenarios
  • Verifiable certificate
Start the course
  • Free, unlimited access
  • 4 one-day modules
  • 3 scenarios and 12 quiz questions
  • 3 graded case studies and 3 exams
  • Certificate in your name, verifiable online

What you will learn

  • Explain food security, its four pillars and the IPC classification.
  • Assess household situations using standard indicators and choose the appropriate response modality.
  • Design, target, distribute and monitor a response, from emergency assistance to livelihoods recovery.

Course information

Level
Beginner → Intermediate → Advanced (one certificate per level)
Study time
24 hours over 4 days (lessons, case studies, exercises)
Format
Online, at your own pace, free and unlimited access
Assessment
Per level: graded case study + 20-question exam (30 to 40 min, pass marks 70%, 75% and 80%)
Credential
Named, numbered certificate of achievement, verifiable online (QR code)
Reference frameworks
Sphere Association · IPC Global Partnership · World Food Programme

A 3-level certification pathway

Progress from Beginner to Advanced. Each level ends with a graded case study and a timed exam, and leads to its own verifiable certificate.

Level 1Beginner

Exam: 20 questions · 30 min · 70% to pass

Beginner certificate

By the end of this level, you will be able to:
  • Explain the four pillars of food security.
  • Recognise household coping strategies.
  • Read the IPC phases.
  1. Day1Understanding and measuring food insecurityThe four pillars of food security · Livelihoods · Household indicators · The IPC, the common language of food crises Scenario: Monday market
  2. Graded case study : Assessment after the drought Agropastoral district, end of the dry season · 20 questions including a case study · 70% to pass
Level 2Intermediate

Exam: 20 questions · 30 min · 75% to pass

Intermediate certificate · Opens after the Beginner certificate

By the end of this level, you will be able to:
  • Choose a response modality based on market analysis.
  • Design fair targeting and a complaints mechanism.
  • Organise a distribution and post-distribution monitoring.
  1. Day2Choosing the response and targetingResponse modalities · Market analysis and choice of modality · Targeting · Protection, gender and accountability in the response Scenario: The disputed list
  2. Day3Distributing, monitoring and rebuilding livelihoodsOrganising a distribution · Post-distribution monitoring and outcomes · From relief to recovery · The Food Security cluster Scenario: Before the rains
  3. Graded case study : The distribution that goes wrong Distribution site, rural area · 20 questions including a case study · 75% to pass
Level 3Advanced

Exam: 20 questions · 40 min · 80% to pass

Advanced certificate · Opens after the Intermediate certificate

By the end of this level, you will be able to:
  • Analyse a complex food crisis and anticipate.
  • Link assistance, livelihoods and safety nets.
  • Coordinate and harmonise the response with the cluster.
  1. Day4Advanced module Advanced analysis, anticipatory action and large-scale responseFood crisis analysis · Anticipatory action · Large-scale response and national systems · Coordination, accountability and exit
  2. Graded case study : Anticipating the lean season Region in IPC Phase 3, projected Phase 4 · 20 questions including a case study · 80% to pass

Who is it for?

Food security and livelihoods project managers and officers, distribution and cash transfer teams, agronomists, analysts, Food Security cluster members.

The certificate

With at least 70% correct answers in the final assessment, you receive a certificate in your name, with a unique code that recruiters can verify on Humanitaires Jobs. A free Members area account is required.

Key concepts

The vocabulary you need to master for this course and the exam.

Food security
Access for all, at all times, to sufficient, safe and nutritious food.
Livelihoods
Capabilities, assets and activities that make a living possible.
FCS
Food Consumption Score over 7 days.
rCSI
Reduced Coping Strategies Index (food-related coping).
IPC
Five-phase classification of food security.
Cadre Harmonisé
Equivalent of the IPC in West Africa and the Sahel.
MEB
Minimum expenditure basket, the basis for transfer values.
PDM
Post-distribution monitoring.
Lean season
Period between the depletion of stocks and the next harvest.
Anticipatory action
Intervention triggered before the peak of a foreseeable crisis.

References and recommended reading

The official texts and sector reference works on which the course is based.

  1. Sphere Association (2018). The Sphere Handbook: minimum standards in food security and nutrition. spherestandards.org/fr/manuel-2018
  2. IPC Global Partnership (2021). IPC Technical Manual, Version 3.1. www.ipcinfo.org
  3. World Food Programme (2021). Consolidated Approach for Reporting Indicators of Food Security (CARI). www.wfp.org/publications/consolidated-approach-reporting-indicators-food-security-cari-guidelines
  4. WFP and FAO (2024). Global Food Security Cluster. fscluster.org
  5. LEGS Project (2023). Livestock Emergency Guidelines and Standards (LEGS). www.livestock-emergency.net