Integrated Phase Classification
IPC 2.0: A Common Starting Point for Decision Making
The use of the Integrated Phase Classification Version 2.0 (IPC 2.0) is a landmark in the fight against food insecurity. Widely accepted by the international community, IPC 2.0 describes the severity of food emergencies. Based on common standards and language, this five-phase scale is intended to help governments and other humanitarian actors quickly understand a crisis (or potential crisis) and take action.
Along with the scale, IPC 2.0 provides a framework for technical consensus, protocols for classification, tools for communication, and methods of quality assurance. In practice, analysts use various methods of data collection and analysis (e.g., food prices, seasonal calendars, rainfall, rapid food-security assessments, etc.), but with the IPC, they can describe their conclusions using the same, consistent language and standards. This harmonized approach is particularly useful in comparing situations across countries and regions, and over time.
Launched in September 2012, IPC 2.0 was devised by a global partnership of governmental and nongovernmental agencies. FEWS NET, a leading provider of early warning and analysis on acute food insecurity, actively contributed to the design and implementation of IPC 2.0. FEWS NET uses the IPC to describe the anticipated severity of acute food insecurity in its reports and mapping.
IPC Phases
The IPC allows analysts to classify households and areas according to a five-phase scale. The essence of each phase is captured in the phase descriptions, described in the table on the right. Classification is based on a convergence of available data and evidence, including indicators related to food consumption, livelihoods, malnutrition, and mortality. With this evidence, analysts use the IPC reference tables, which provide illustrative thresholds for each of the five phases, to classify the severity of the current or projected food security situation. Classifying Famine (IPC Phase 5), the fifth stage of food insecurity, is a technically rigorous process that requires meeting three specific criteria:
- At least one in five households faces an extreme lack of food
- More than 30 percent of children under 5 are suffering from acute malnutrition (wasting)
- At least two people out of every 10,000 are dying each day
IPC maps reflect the phase classification and the humanitarian assistance mapping protocol: if the phase classification would likely be worse without current or programmed humanitarian assistance, this is indicated in the mapping with an exclamation point.
For more information on the reference tables and the IPC phases, view the IPC 2.0 Manual.
IPC Acute Food Insecurity Phase Descriptions (Area)
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PHASE 1 |
More than four in five households (HHs) are able to meet essential food and nonfood needs without engaging in atypical, unsustainable strategies to access food and income. |
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PHASE 2 |
Even with any humanitarian assistance at least one in five HHs in the area have the following or worse: Minimally adequate food consumption but are unable to afford some essential non food expenditures without engaging in irreversible coping strategies. |
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PHASE 3 |
Even with any humanitarian assistance at least one in five HHs in the area have the following or worse: |
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PHASE 4 |
Even with any humanitarian assistance at least one in five HHs in the area have the following or worse: |
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PHASE 5 |
Even with any humanitarian assistance at least one in five HHs in the area have an extreme lack of food and other basic needs where starvation, death, and destitution are evident. Evidence for all three criteria (food consumption, acute malnutrition, and mortality) is required to classify Famine. |
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Phase classification would likely be worse without current or programmed humanitarian assistance. |
FEWS Net Maps
To visually illustrate food insecurity severity, FEWS NET produces three maps using the IPC 2.0 scale: a current status map and two projection maps covering the eight-month food security outlook period. Countries that FEWS NET monitors remotely are depicted with a colored border that corresponds to the IPC scale.
IPC Analysis and "IPC-Compatible" Analysis
IPC analysis is defined by five main features: 1) the analysis represents a working consensus of technicians representing key stakeholder agencies and relevant sectoral expertise; 2) the IPC reference tables, which specify phase name and description, priority response objectives, and key outcome indicators, are used to determine the phase classification; 3) the analysis adheres to key parameters of units of analysis and accounts for humanitarian assistance; 4) evidence used to support the classification is clearly documented and made available; and 5) the analysis is mapped using the IPC color scheme and phase names.
IPC-compatible analysis includes all of the above five features, except the first; it does not represent a working consensus of technicians from key stakeholder agencies. Due to factors such as the timing of analysis, urgency of the situation, or the need for independence, some organizations may elect to conduct food security situation analysis and classification that is not part of or in agreement with a working consensus of technicians representing key stakeholders. In such cases, as long as the other main criteria of IPC analysis listed above are followed, the analysis can be labelled “IPC-compatible.” FEWS NET analysis is IPC-compatible.
Learn more about the IPC at www.ipcinfo.org.
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About FEWS NET
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network is a leading provider of early warning and analysis on food insecurity. Created by USAID in 1985 to help decision-makers plan for humanitarian crises, FEWS NET provides evidence-based analysis on some 34 countries. Implementing team members include NASA, NOAA, USDA, and USGS, along with Chemonics International Inc. and Kimetrica. Read more about our work.
