Category

Purpose

Degree of Need

Explanation

Emergency

Save lives

Critical

Emergency feeding involves providing a large group of people with almost complete daily rations. The size and mix of the ration will depend upon expected duration of the critical hunger period. Emergency program design should include the means for determining when the emergency is over.

Rehabilitation

Restore health

Critical

Rehabilitative feeding is directed to those who have suffered acute malnutrition to the point of severe bodily wasting. They require intensive feeding with special foods.

Maintenance

Maintain adequate nutrition, income transfer

Chronic

Maintenance feeding is directed towards a group of people who for some reason (age, sex, social class, lack of capital) consume less than an adequate diet for achieving and maintaining normal health. The gap may be constant throughout a period of time (e.g., weaning) or recurrent (e.g., agricultural workers during a slow season). This type of chronic hunger will recur with predictable effect on a certain group of people, and can move into an emergency or rehabilitative situation if it persists beyond individuals' ability to cope.

Developmental

Enhance human potential; address causes of hunger/ poverty

Mild

Developmental programs use food to achieve an objective not directly related to lessening immediate hunger. The objective may be to avoid future hunger by addressing its causes, or to address related but different problems, such as water, environment, population or capital formation. Food may be monetized and the proceeds from sale used for a wider range of development activities.