Average Family Size and WFP Emergency Operation in Kenya 2004-2006

Interesting question. I cannot comment on what WFP's policy position is on this but having been involved in a number of WFP evaluations I would say that it is usual for them to adopt a standard ration based on average household size - usually five. However, with the advent of community based targeted distribution where the community draws up the beneficiary list and and takes care of the distribution themselves, there is more provision for ration amounts per household being related to household size. The difficulty here is that the village relief committe criteria for adapting rations to household size is not always transparent enough and many households I have interviewed have complained of unfairness. Be good to hear what the WFP policy on this actually is and whether they can actually adhere to a policy or is practice more driven by pipeline flows and resources.