Límites del enfoque de la economía de los hogaresuna experiencia práctica de la ayuda alimentaria en El Sahel

Abstract

Studies in the field of development, based on the concept of household, have tried to respond to one of the biggest problems in terms of basic needs of the people, the food security problems. From the 1990s, the analysis system based on the Household Economy Approach, commonly called `HEA´, has been experienced and implemented gradually in the countries of the Sahel, and is currently one of the most used system in the region for the early warning and prevention of food crises. It mainly consists on that households, depending on their geographical location, socio-economic class and resilience capacity, have greater or lesser risk of vulnerability to food insecurity. In this work, we reflect on the limitations of this system, mainly from a gender perspective, on the basis of the approach that as households have no possibilities and identical capacities in terms of access to food and resistance against risks, nor have members of a same household. Food insecurity is not gender neutral, i.e. does not affect in the same way to men and women since they do not have the same opportunities of access to and control of resources. Women are generally more vulnerable in emergency or crisis situations than men due to their lower economic and social status. Although they have to assume new roles and responsibilities to ensure the survival of their families in these situations, they are more difficult to access humanitarian aid than men, so that it is essential to develop proposals that would be efficient in the distribution of economic resources, especially if it's as basic situations for the life of the people.