Classification:

The classification of a country as low-income food-deficit (LIFDC) used for analytical purposes by FAO is traditionally determined by three criteria. First, a country should have a per capita income below the "historical" ceiling used by the World Bank to determine eligibility for IDA assistance and for 20-year IBRD terms, applied to countries included in World Bank categories I and II. The historical ceiling of per capita GNP for 2004,based on the World Bank Atlas method, is US$1 575. The second criterion is based on the net (i.e. gross imports less gross exports) food trade position of a country averaged over the preceding three years, i.e. from 2001 to 2003. Trade volumes for a broad basket of basic foodstuffs (cereals, roots and tubers, pulses, oilseeds and oils other than tree crop oils, meat and dairy products) are converted and aggregated by the calorie content of individual commodities. Thirdly the self-exclusion criterion is applied when countries that meet the above two criteria specifically request to be excluded from the LIFDC category. In order to avoid countries changing their LIFDC status too frequently - typically reflecting short-term, exogenous shocks - an additional factor is taken into consideration from this year. This consideration, called "persistence of position", would postpone the "exit" of a LIFDC from the list, despite the country not meeting the LIFDC income criterion or the food-deficit criterion, until the change in its status is verified for three consecutive years. In other words, a country is taken off the list in the fourth year, after confirming a sustained improvement in its position for three consecutive years. During these three years, the country in question would be considered to be in a "transitional" phase.