---
title: "The Consolidated Approach for Reporting Indicators of Food Security (CARI)"
slug: "the-consolidated-approach-for-reporting-indicators-of-food-security-cari"
updated: 2026-04-30T08:53:47Z
published: 2026-04-30T08:53:47Z
canonical: "vamresources.manuals.wfp.org/the-consolidated-approach-for-reporting-indicators-of-food-security-cari"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://vamresources.manuals.wfp.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# The Consolidated Approach for Reporting Indicators of Food Security (CARI)

CARI is a harmonized WFP methodology used to analyze and classify households using individual level food security indicators into different levels of food security groupings - food secure, moderately food secure, marginally food insecure and severely food insecure.

It can also be used to carry out vulnerability profiling of households to identify targeting criteria for programming. The indicators include the Food Consumption Score, the reduced Coping Strategy Index, the Livelihood Coping Strategies Index and the Food Expenditure Share, all measured at the household level.

The new edition of the CARI guidance (2021) comes with a revised methodology that aims to overcome theoretical and operational challenges identified during the past nine years of implementation. The new CARI methodology:

- Introduces the reduced Coping Strategies Index (rCSI) in the CARI classification under the CARI Current Status domain
- Recommends the use of the Economic Capacity to meet Essential Needs (ECMEN) indicator - whenever available - instead of the Food Expenditure Share (FES) under the CARI Coping Capacity domain
- Provides a methodology for the classification of food security at the area level and introduces a standard mapping to report on CARI findings.

**The indicators you need**

Under the CARI approach, each surveyed household is classified into one of four food security categories. This classification is based on households’ ‘Current Status’ of food security and their ‘Coping Capacity’ which are determined through a set of food security indicators listed below under each of the possible combination scenarios:

**Scenario A – ECMEN is available**

- Food Consumption Score (FCS)
- reduced Coping Strategies Index (rCSI)
- Economic Capacity to Meet Essential Needs (ECMEN)
- Livelihood Coping Strategies – Food Security (LCS-FS)

**Scenario B – ECMEN is not available**

- Food Consumption Score (FCS)
- reduced Coping Strategies Index (rCSI)
- Food Expenditure Share (FES)
- Livelihood Coping Strategies – Food Security (LCS-FS)

**Available Resources**

Please find below some resources to help you calculate, and analyze CARI:

**Technical Guidance Note**

Read the [detailed guidance document](https://docs.wfp.org/api/documents/WFP-0000134704/download/) for accurate selection of indicators and analysis steps for CARI.

**Scripts and Sample Data**

Calculation scripts are available in the following formats:

- [CARI-ECMEN SPSS](https://github.com/WFP-VAM/RAMResourcesScripts/blob/main/Indicators/Consolidated-Approach-to-Reporting-Indicators-of-Food-Security/CARI-ECMEN.sps)
- [CARI-ECMEN Stata](https://github.com/WFP-VAM/RAMResourcesScripts/blob/main/Indicators/Consolidated-Approach-to-Reporting-Indicators-of-Food-Security/CARI-ECMEN.do)
- [CARI-FES SPSS](https://github.com/WFP-VAM/RAMResourcesScripts/blob/main/Indicators/Consolidated-Approach-to-Reporting-Indicators-of-Food-Security/CARI-FES.sps)
- [CARI-FES Stata](https://github.com/WFP-VAM/RAMResourcesScripts/blob/main/Indicators/Consolidated-Approach-to-Reporting-Indicators-of-Food-Security/CARI-FES.do)

**Training Presentation**

A training presentation on FCS for use by VAM staff is available in the following languages:

- [English](https://docs.wfp.org/api/documents/WFP-0000152062/download/)
- [Arabic](https://docs.wfp.org/api/documents/WFP-0000161178/download/)

For more information, please contact the Assessments and Targeting Unit in HQ VAM at [global.assessmentandtargeting@wfp.org](mailto:global.assessmentandtargeting@wfp.org).