Guidelines in the Construction

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Guidelines in the Construction of Provincial Menus
4th Meeting of the TC on Poverty
Statistics August 11, 2004
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Outline of the Presentation

1. Background
2. Guidelines in the Construction of Provincial
   Menus
3. Sample Results
4. Possible Sources of Overestimation/Underestimation

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I. Background
NSCB Executive Board meeting held on June 5, 2002

• Presentation of the initial provincial poverty
  statistics using the initially approved
  methodology
• The NSCB Technical Staff to review methodology
  due to some findings

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I. Background
Findings based on the results of the initial
validation of provincial menus
1. Large variability of thresholds within
regions (Region 3) 2. Some of the provincial
thresholds are higher than NCR 3. Some of the
commodities identified in the provincial menu are
not low-cost but more of commonly-eaten 4.
Use of low-cost menu is possible without
sacrificing nutritional requirements
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I. Background
Improvement of the Provincial Poverty Estimation
Methodology (Area 2) WB ASEM Grant
Phase I

1. Study the validity of the proposed provincial
   menus
2. Recommendations made to improve the proposed
   provincial menus will be consulted with the
   Project Consultant to check the validity of the
   changes made/proposed by the Project Staff
3. Conduct of tests of revealed preferences using
   the revised provincial menus

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II. Guidelines in the Construction of Provincial
Menus
Main Objective
Come up with the least-cost possible and
nutritionally adequate menu comprised of low-cost
food items that are eaten and available in the
province
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II. Guidelines in the Construction of Provincial
Menus
General Guidelines

1. To address the issue of comparability across
   space, start with a nationally-representative
   reference menu that is simple, nutritious and
   potentially low-cost and one that reflects the
   meal pattern of a poor household
2. All menus should meet the nutritional
   requirements based on the approved methodology

Energy and protein 100 Other Vitamins and
minerals 80 (calcium, iron, vitamin A,
thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and vitamin C) .
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II. Guidelines in the Construction of Provincial
Menus
Reference Menu
lt
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II. Guidelines in the Construction of Provincial
Menus
Specific Guidelines

1. Determine alternative food items

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II. Guidelines in the Construction of Provincial
Menus
Specific Guidelines . . .
2) Standard measurements for selected food items
Food Item Standard Measurements
Rice Average Minimum Maximum 342 grams 320 grams 360 grams
Coffee, instant 1 gram
Coffee, roasted 7 grams
Milk, filled, instant 5 grams
Sugar, brown 10 grams
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II. Guidelines in the Construction of Provincial
Menus
Specific Guidelines . . .

• Weight of other food items
• - should be within the range of
  acceptable/reasonable weights
• - observe proper proportions (e.g. for sauteed
  mongo, ratio of malunggay/ampalaya leaves to
  mongo is at most 11)
• 4) Assumptions
• 4.1 Among the snack items, camote is the most
  nutritious, followed by cassava, then saba.
  Although cassava is not superior to saba in all
  nutrient types, cassava is richer in nutrients
  that are oftentimes difficult to satisfy, e.g.,
  energy, iron, niacin.

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II. Guidelines in the Construction of Provincial
Menus
Specific Guidelines . . .
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II. Guidelines in the Construction of Provincial
Menus
Specific Guidelines . . .
4) Assumptions (contd)
4.2 Seven (7) grams of roasted coffee is more
nutritious than one (1) gram of instant coffee
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II. Guidelines in the Construction of Provincial
Menus
Specific Guidelines . . .
4) Assumptions (contd)
4.3) The use of dried dilis usually results in a
cheaper overall menu cost since it is richer than
smoked fish in nutrients that are more often
difficult to satisfy (energy, iron, niacin)
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II. Guidelines in the Construction of Provincial
Menus
Specific Guidelines . . .
4) Assumptions (contd)
4.3) contd
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II. Guidelines in the Construction of Provincial
Menus
Specific Guidelines . . .
4) Assumptions (contd)
4.4) For equal weights of lakatan and latundan,
the latter is richer only in niacin but is
inferior/equal to lakatan in other nutrients.
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II. Guidelines in the Construction of Provincial
Menus
Specific Guidelines . . .
5) Step by step procedure
5.1) For every food item in the reference menu,
identify the cheapest variety/type in the
province. 5.2) Select the case that applies
depending on the price situation in the province.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
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II. Guidelines in the Construction of Provincial
Menus
Specific Guidelines . . .
5) Step by step procedure
5.3) Contd
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II. Guidelines in the Construction of Provincial
Menus
Specific Guidelines . . .
5) Step by step procedure
5.3) Contd
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II. Guidelines in the Construction of Provincial
Menus
Specific Guidelines . . .
5) Step by step procedure
5.3) Contd
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II. Guidelines in the Construction of Provincial
Menus
Specific Guidelines . . .
5) Step by step procedure
5.3) Contd
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II. Guidelines in the Construction of Provincial
Menus
Specific Guidelines . . .
5) Step by step procedure
5.3) Contd
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II. Guidelines in the Construction of Provincial
Menus
Specific Guidelines . . .
5) Step by step procedure
5.3) Contd
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II. Guidelines in the Construction of Provincial
Menus
Specific Guidelines . . .
5) Step by step procedure
5.3) Contd
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II. Guidelines in the Construction of Provincial
Menus
Specific Guidelines . . .
5) Step by step procedure (contd)
5.4) Using the cheapest menu arrived at in the
previous step, replace latundan with lakatan and
compute the resulting menu cost 5.5) If roasted
is the cheaper coffee, then the cheaper menu in
Step 5.4 is considered the final menu.
Otherwise, using the cheaper menu in Step 5.4,
replace instant coffee with roasted coffee and
compute the resulting menu cost. Whichever menu
is cheaper is considered the final menu.
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III. Sample Results
Cavite, proposed provincial menu
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III. Sample Results
Marinduque, proposed provincial menu
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III. Sample Results
Southern Leyte, proposed provincial menu
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IV. Possible Sources of Overestimation/
Underestimation

• Does not include cost of fuel (underestimation)
• Use of one-day menu to represent consumption for
  the whole year (underestimation)
• Does not consider the fact that the seven (7)
  grams of roasted coffee can be used many times
  (overestimation)
• Use of uniform standard conversion from
  farmgate/wholesale price to retail price and vice
  versa (under/overestimation)

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Thank You!