Reduced Coping Strategies Index (rCSI)

The Reduced Coping Strategies Index (rCSI) is a food-based coping indicator that measures how households manage food shortages or anticipate a lack of food. It captures the frequency and severity of short-term behavioural strategies adopted over the previous seven days when households face food insecurity.

The rCSI is based on five standard coping strategies and provides insights into household food access and short-term resilience. It complements broader indicators such as the Livelihood Coping Strategies – Essential Needs (LCS-EN), which measures coping behaviours linked to meeting all essential needs over a 30-day period.

While primarily used for food security analysis, the rCSI also provides important protection insights—as households may resort to coping strategies such as reducing meal frequency or prioritising adults over children in food consumption.

For detailed technical guidance, data collection tools, and scripts to calculate rCSI, please refer to the WFP VAM Resource Centre rCSI page, which provides:

• Questionnaire modules (Word format)
• XLS forms designed in WFP Survey Designer for ODK conversion
• Training presentations (English, French, Arabic)
• Calculation scripts (SPSS, STATA, R) and sample data
• Data Quality Guidance and contextual resources