SECTION ONE

Changes in animals owned per household - Tropical Livestock Unit (TLU)

Definition/RATION/ALE – what does it measure? (max 2 lines)

Tropical Livestock Units are livestock numbers converted to a common unit. An increased number of animals per adult available to support the household, indicates improved food security and household resilience. Relative changes to the TLU provide a direct indicator of food security risk.

Methodology for collection – How to collect information for indicator (max 4 lines).

• • Develop the module to ask ownership of relevant livestock for the location.
• • Conduct individual interviews with a representative sample of the target group members to assess livestock ownership.
• • From the list of relevant livestock, ask the interviewee to provide the number of each livestock owned by the HH.
• • When possible, triangulate the number with direct observations.
• • When possible, compare against a baseline or ask respondents to provide previous levels of ownership to capture relative changes.

Methodology for analysis – How to analyse (Max 4 lines)
Visual demonstrations for thresholds
How to interpret: Urban v. rural, gender

• • Calculate the TLU by multiply the accepted metabolic conversion rates for each livestock unit (see guidance) by the number of livestock owned.
• • Be sure to contextualize outcomes for livelihood zones; i.e. The TLU is more important for pastoralist and agro-pastoralist livelihood groups.
• • TLU is best used when compared with groups - breakdown by wealth groups, food security status and gender to observe differences between groups.
• • The acceptable TLU value for an area various on livelihood zone and importance of livestock for accessing food and trade.

Notes on indicator –
What does the indicator not tell us.
How long is it reliable for?

• • The indicator does not break down the exact number or type of livestock owned, instead TLU attempts to create a common unit for comparability between groups.
• • TLU is reliable for 3-6 months depending on the context.
• • Ownership and access to livestock vary.

When to use it/when not to use it:

• • Recommended to increase monitoring HH access to livestock and livestock products.
• • Very useful for comparing differences between wealth groups and gender as a driver of food insecurity in a location.

Core: Y/N

No

IPC Categories:

Contributing Factor

M&E: IMPACT, OUTCOME, OUTPUT, PROCESS

Outcome

Recall?

Current Status

Link to guidance