Developing an index for measuring household food accessibility in Sri Lanka

Targeting beneficiaries for support programs remains a significant challenge. This study develops a Food Accessibility Index to assess household food access and to support the identification of appropriate beneficiaries for poverty alleviation programs in Sri Lanka. Data were obtained from a household survey of 421 homegardens across the Hambantota, Jaffna, Matale, and Ratnapura districts. The index was constructed using household characteristics aligned with the FAO definition of the food accessibility component of food security, applying geometric aggregation. Theoretical potential values were used to derive the threshold for determining food accessibility status. Households were categorized as having either “adequate” or “inadequate” access to food, and these classifications were compared with beneficiary status under Samurdhi, the main poverty alleviation program operating during the survey period. The index ranged from 0 to 1, where 0 indicates the highest level of food accessibility, and 1 indicates the lowest. The mean index value was 0.43 ± 0.19 (range: 0.05–0.98). A threshold value of 0.59 was used to classify households, revealing that 20% had inadequate food access. Among these, 71% were not Samurdhi recipients. Meanwhile, 24% of households with adequate food access were receiving Samurdhi benefits, indicating a mismatch between government-identified “poor” households and those with actual food access deficits. These findings highlight the need for a more robust and objective targeting mechanism to improve the effectiveness of national-level poverty alleviation interventions.