There are a number of humanitarian standards, which are widely recognised as underpinning the actions of humanitarian actors. The Sphere handbook and the Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability (CHS) are key standards, which reflect on indicators, key actions, and organisational responsibilities and can assist humanitarian actors to identify needs and the best possible response: 

• CHS: This standard sets out nine commitments that organizations and individuals involved in humanitarian response implement to improve the quality and effectiveness of the assistance they provide. It outlines the policies, processes, procedures, and practices that an organization needs in order to deliver quality assistance, while at the same time being accountable to communities and people affected by crisis. See more on CHS here and in the diagram.
  
• Sphere Standards: The Sphere standards are a set of principles and minimum humanitarian standards in four technical areas of humanitarian response (Water supply, sanitation, and hygiene promotion (WASH) Food security and nutrition, Shelter and settlement) and have become a primary reference tool for national and international NGOs, volunteers, UN agencies, governments, donors, the private sector, and many others. Sphere’s flagship publication is the Sphere handbook.

There are many more initiatives, some focussed on particular sectors, which can assist humanitarian actors to improve their responses. The recognition that affected people do not live their lives in sectors, led to the creation of the Humanitarian Standards Partnership (HSP) (see Sphere’s video on the HSP). The HSP aims to improve the quality and accountability of humanitarian action across all sectors and a harmonised approach. 

The HSP is currently comprised of nine standards initiatives, which – apart from Sphere – include minimum standards for: Child Protection, Education, Humanitarian Inclusion for Older People and People with Disabilities, Camp Management, Livestock Emergencies, Market Analysis and Economic Recovery and Crop-related Livelihoods in Emergencies. They can all be accessed here (online versions are here).

For food security actors, the following technical standards are especially relevant: 

• Sphere Minimum Standards for Food Security and Nutrition: The Sphere handbook provides technical guidance on programme design, especially for the design of food assistance and livelihood package. For example, the need for FSC actors to harmonise and align their approach to the SPHERE standard of a daily 2100 kCal per person requirement with 17 percent of energy from fat and 10-12 percent from protein and the minimum requirements for 19 micro-nutrients. The dietary diversity score is measured through indicators such as the Food Consumption Score and the Household Dietary Diversity Score (see more on indicators in annex II, chapter 6, and the FSC Indicator Handbook. See also 5.6.1 on harmonising food assistance).
• The Livestock Emergency Guidelines and Standards (LEGS): The LEGS handbook provides a set of international guidelines and standards for designing, implementing, and evaluating livestock interventions to help people affected by humanitarian crises. LEGS are based on three livelihoods objectives: to provide rapid assistance, to protect livestock assets, and to rebuild the livestock assets of crisis-affected communities.
  LEGSsupport the saving of both lives and livelihoods through two key strategies:
  • It helps identify the most appropriate livestock interventions during emergencies according to local contexts. 
  • It provides Standards, Key actions, and Guidance notes for these interventions based on good practice.
• The Minimum Economic Recovery Standards (MERS): MERS are the internationally recognized standards for building economic resilience in fragile settings and represent an industry consensus on economic recovery for the humanitarian and development sector. The MERS provide key actions, key indicators, and guidance notes and are also valid for programmes where economic or livelihood outcomes are not the primary focus, including food security and nutrition. The MERS handbook provides examples of good and bad programming, demonstrating to decision makers which approaches, and interventions are considered best practice— enabling them to avoid mistakes from past responses.  
• SEADS Standards: The Standards for Supporting Crop-related Livelihoods in Emergencies (see SEADS handbook) enable those responding to humanitarian crises to design, implement, and evaluate responses that maintain and strengthen the livelihoods of farming communities, support preparedness and post-emergency recovery, and increase their resiliency. 
• Standards on Fish and Aquaculture: These have been developed following the LEGSstandards and are not a Sphere companion. These standards can be used by any professional food security expert, but it is important to liaise with the national/local Ministry of fisheries and/or other fish expert for their professional expertise:  
  • Fisheries and aquaculture emergency response guidance (FAERG), which includes minimum standards, indicators, and guiding notes.
  • Guidelines for the fisheries and aquaculture sector on damage and needs assessments in emergencies, which focuses on needs assessments.

A complementary tool has been developed: Fisheries Emergency Rapid Assessment Tool (FERAT).

For technical standards related to food security assessments, refer to 6.4.