Classification and regression trees: an introduction

Household food security (HFS) represents the guiding principle underlying many rural development projects. It plays an important role in the targeting of projects, the selection of appropriate interventions, and the monitoring and evaluation of projects. HFS is a multifaceted concept that does not necessarily lend itself to measurement by single, discrete indicators. Further, such indicators should reflect the behavior and livelihood conditions of target populations—those that are most often, and more severely, affected by acute food insecurity (Borton and Shoham 1991). These include the rural poor, women-headed households, asset-poor pastoralists, the landless, recently resettled households, and households constrained by a high dependency ratio.