87. Percentage of essential need items available to beneficiaries in the targeted markets where WFP operates

87. Percentage of essential need items available to beneficiaries in the targeted markets where WFP operates

VERSION

V3.0 - 2026.03 — Existing

INDICATOR CODE

87

TECHNICAL OWNER

SCD-Delivery Assurance

INDICATOR TYPE

Country Level Outcome Indicator

INDICATOR CLASSIFICATION

Complementary

INDICATOR SCOPE

Programme specific

APPLICABILITY

The selection of this indicator is recommended against the following sub-activities in CSPs logframes that involve value voucher interventions under which WFP has contracted retailers. Selection of the below sub-activities will NOT trigger the mandatory selection of this indicator:

1. General Distribution (GD);

2. Prevention of acute malnutrition (PREV)

3. Management of moderate acute malnutrition/undernutrition (MAM)

4. Food assistance for assets (FFA);

5. Food assistance for training (FFT)

^*This indicator can be tracked under Nutrition-Sensitive activities therefore the Nutrition Sensitive Marker should be selected.

UNIT OF MEASUREMENT & ANALYSIS

Percentage - Market Level

DEFINITION

RATIONALE

The Retail engagement and Market Development frameworks require the use of indicators to measure the impact of interventions in market systems and supply chains. This framework emphasizes the importance of analyzing the underlying market systems, understanding the different actors and linkages involved, and measuring changes in market efficiency, competitiveness, resilience, inclusiveness, and sustainability.

Considering WFP's role in preparedness and response to shocks through market systems and local supply chain intelligence data, a vital aspect is measuring whether WFP beneficiaries can acquire all their essential needs items in targeted markets and via contracted retailers, as intended in the program's design.

By ensuring the availability of a wide range of essential items at WFP-contracted shops, we enable beneficiaries to access essential items at affordable prices, thereby improving their overall food security. This rationale supports the need for an indicator to measure the availability of essential items. Moreover, ensuring the availability of essential items in the markets where WFP operates serves not only WFP beneficiaries but also benefits the wider population served by these markets.

Similarly, whenever there is a nutrition programme, or a programme with a nutrition component, where retailers have been contracted to sell nutritious foods to beneficiaries, the indicator should determine the specific availability of nutritious foods in the contracted shops.

While collecting information on the availability of essential needs items helps assess beneficiaries’ overall food security, it is also important to specifically track the availability of nutritious foods, which represent a subset of these essential needs. Monitoring nutritious items provides additional insight into nutrition outcomes and access to healthy diets.

Important note: Although nutritious foods may be included within the list of essential needs in certain programmes, not all essential needs items are nutritious. Therefore, where relevant, distinguishing the availability specifically of nutritious food items through the nutritious sub-indicator, alongside the main essential needs items indicator, helps ensure a clearer understanding of both food security and nutrition dimensions.

DATA COLLECTION TOOL

The availability of essential need items (including nutrition items) at the shop will be monitored through the Retailer Performance Monitoring Evaluation (RPME) survey which Country Offices may adapt while retaining the mandatory questions. Note that the survey should also include the collection of nutritious items, collected through the same survey.

SAMPLING REQUIREMENTS

Only WFP contracted retailers should be surveyed. Each retailer branch should be surveyed quarterly, following RPME sampling guidelines (Retailer Performance Monitoring and Evaluation (RPME) E-Guide | Rise 360), and in alignment with the Minimum Monitoring Requirements (MMR).

INDICATOR CALCULATION FOR REPORTING

This indicator is calculated by using the following steps:

1. Calculate the availability essential needs items per shop.

   

   Where:

   -  Number of essential needs items available per shop ( n1+n2+nn ) refers to the intervention-specific essential needs basket items (including nutrition items), where n is calculated by observing the presence of 5 or more unique essential needs items in the shop (n can only be equal to 0 or 1)

   -  Total number of essential needs items is equivalent to the total number of items in the intervention-specific essential needs basket (including nutrition items)

   - Calculation for the availability of nutritious items should also be conducted using the same formula. When calculating the availability of nutritious food items, simply substitute the essential needs item with the relevant nutritious food item in the same calculation method described above (replace essential needs items with nutritious food items both in numerator and denominator).

2. Calculate the Average percentage of availability across all shops in an intervention area following the example (Market A):

Hence, the indicator, Percentage of essential needs items available to beneficiaries in Market A where WFP operates is equal to (100+70+80)/3 = 83%.

When calculating the availability of nutritious food items, simply substitute the essential needs item with the relevant nutritious food item in the same calculation method described above.

Detailed indicator calculation:

To determine the percentage of essential needs items (including nutrition items) available in the market, the calculation begins by assessing the availability at the shop level. This can be obtained by dividing the number of essential needs items (including nutrition items) available at a particular shop by the total number of essential needs items (including nutrition items) that make up the essential needs basket (including nutrition items) that is specific for the intervention and informs the beneficiary transfer value, and then multiplying the result by 100. To obtain the indicator, the percentage of essential needs items available, calculate the average across all the shops.

DATA ENTRY AND DISAGGREGATION IN CORPORATE SYSTEMS

Values are recorded in the logframe. Each value has a reporting combination which is created based on:

• Sub-activity

• Country

• Target group

Data should be disaggregated by:

• Essential needs

• Nutritious items

It is recommended that data can be further disaggregated by:

• Geographic area (cities and markets)

• Modality

BASELINE

Baselines are established only once for the entire CSP.

They remain fixed for the full CSP period unless otherwise specified.

The baseline will be based on the value calculated from the first RPME data collection at the onset of CBT and vouchers operations.

TARGET SETTING

Annual targets:

Annual targets should be set at 100% availability of essential needs items including nutritious food items (the latter only when there is a nutrition programme or a nutrition component e.g. fresh food voucher).

End of CSP target:

CSP targets are for WFP contracted shops to be able to provide beneficiaries with 100% of essential items and nutritious items (where applicable), and thus CSP targets must be set at 100%.

FREQUENCY OF DATA COLLECTION

The recommended frequency of shop data collection is at least quarterly, as this indicator is derived from data collected during the Retailer Performance Monitoring Evaluation (RPME). Analysis and data entry should be conducted twice a year.

INTERPRETATION

High percentage of availability of essential need items, indicates that beneficiaries have greater access to a broader variety of food and non-food items. This also demonstrates that the contracted shops and markets where WFP operates can effectively meet the demand of people in need.

High percentage of availability of nutritious food items, indicates that beneficiaries have greater access to diverse, safe and nutritious food items. This also demonstrates that the contracted shops and markets where WFP operates can effectively meet the demand for nutrition items of people in need.

REPORTING EXAMPLE(S)

For Afghanistan, in 2023, the average % of availability of essential need items is 98.5% across all the assessed contracted shops. The average % of availability in Ethiopia is 69% across 202 shops assessed due to less supply of certain vegetables and seasonality.

INDICATORS COLLECTED & ANALYSED AT THE SAME TIME

The following indicators may be reported along with this indicator:

• 88. Percentage increase in purchasing power of WFP voucher beneficiaries

COMPLEMENTARY QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

N/A

DECISIONS DATA CAN INFORM

This indicator can be used to make decisions on the type of response (regarding design and implementation) through the following areas:

1. Whether the CO needs to pay more attention to the selection of retailers.

2. Whether the CO should intervene with existing contracts.

3. Whether the CO should look for substitutes for the commodities in the essential need basket, and/or adding other types of nutritious food items in the basket to achieve intended nutrition outcomes.

4. Whether the CO should facilitate market development activities to address the availability issue and inform strategies to address access to healthy diets.

VISUALIZATION

This indicator can be visualized as a time series to track the % of availability of essential need, and nutritious food items, over time.

LIMITATIONS

It is important to consider that the percentage of availability of essential needs and nutritious items does not reflect the absolute gap between beneficiaries’ needs and contracted retailers’ supply capacity. Similarly, an aggregate indicator cannot be used to identify which specific commodities are in shortage, nor identify the causes for any shortages but provide an overall sense of satisfaction of beneficiary needs. In addition, seasonality of certain essential need and nutrition items can adversely impact COs results if they don’t account for it in the list of items at the time of monitoring shops. Monitoring of a shop is happening on a month (distribution cycle) and results of availability depends on the stocks available at the time of the visit.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Retailer Performance Monitoring & Evaluation Guidance