The Solomon Islands had the most critically insecure water conditions as of 2023, with a water security score of 23 points. This was followed by Eritrea and Sudan, with a respective water security level of 29 and 30 points. Altogether, 13 of the 23 countries with critically insecure water conditions were located in the Middle East and Africa. Most of the world's population lives under water-insecure conditions.

As of 2023, most of the world's population was living under water-insecure conditions. That year, a total of 5.6 billion people worldwide – or roughly 70 percent of the global population – lived in countries considered water insecure. Another 640 million people lived under critical water conditions, whereas only about one billion people lived in countries considered water secure. The Solomon Islands ranks as the most water-insecure country worldwide based on a water security score.

Sweden was the world's most water-secure country as of 2023, with a water security score of 90 points. This was followed by Austria, Denmark, and Luxembourg, all with a water security level of 85 points. On the other side of the spectrum, the Solomon Islands had the most critically insecure water conditions that year.

The number of deaths due to unsafe water sources has generally decreased over time. In low-income countries, unsafe water sources are the cause of 2.3 percent of deaths as of 2021. In Chad, seven percent of deaths are due to these unsafe water resources.

Abstract

WFP Mozambique is currently designing its Country Strategy Document (CSD) which outlines WFP’s contribution to the Government efforts to reduce hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition. This CFSVA report aims at providing more specific information on food security and vulnerability to facilitate the CSD preparation. The report builds on the Relatorio da Monitoria da Situacao de Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional em Mocambique (2009), and include specific data on: 1. The number of food insecure and vulnerable people in the country (how many are they?) 2. The geographical distribution of the food insecure and vulnerable people (where are they?) 3. The characteristics of the food insecure and vulnerable groups (who are they?) 4. Driving forces of food insecurity and vulnerability (why are they food insecure?) 5. Their capacity to absorb shocks (resiliency)

Geographic coverage

National coverage (execpt for the provincial capitals and all large towns).

Analysis unit

• Household

Universe

The survey covered all household heads and women (15-49 years of age) in each sampled household.

Household is defined as a "group of individuals sharing same budget for basic expenses, including food, housing, health and sanitation".

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The sampling was drawn to provide estimates on a set of food and nutritional security indicators at national, peri-urban/rural and provincial levels, with the exemption of the provincial capitals and all large towns which were excluded from the survey. The survey was based on a stratified and multi-stage sample. It was done in two stages: i) in each province (except in Nampula and Zambézia), 40 census enumeration areas were selected with probability proportional to population size (PPS). In Nampula and Zambézia, 60 census enumeration areas were selected, owing to the greater contribution of their populations to the country’s total; ii) subsequently a list of households (AFs) was made in each selected enumeration areas, and a systematic sampling of 12 AFs in peri-urban areas and of 9 AFs in rural areas was made. The list of the enumeration areas and of cartographic material was provided by the General Population and Habitation Census III (III RGPH).

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The household questionnaire was composed mainly of questions with response options provided by enumerators.The instrument focused on: (1) demographics; (2) housing and facilities; (3) agricultural production and management; (4) maize storage, (5) household market behaviours, (6) livelihood activities, (7) productive/non-productive assets; (8) expenditures; (9) food sources and consumption; and (10) shocks and coping strategies. The demographic section included an individual roster to better explore the food security and vulnerability of chronically ill individuals and orphans.

The Community questionnaire focused on population, natural disaster and land access, vulnerable groups/assistance, poverty and food insecurity, agriculture, market and prices, health and nutrition, infrastructures (water, electric network, etc.), education and priorities for the community.

Focus group discussions collected information on household perception on socio-economic change; availability and utilization of community funds; education; health; nutrition and access to improved water.

All the questionnaires were developed in Portuguese.

Response rate

91%

There were an estimated 35.2 deaths per 100,000 people due to unsafe water sources in India in 2021. The annual number of deaths due to unsafe water sources in India has fallen by more than 80 percent since 1990. Neverthless, the death rate from this health risk was still three times above the global average in 2021. Unsafe water sources are among the leading death risk factors in India.