It is possible to analyze food security at the global, continental, national, sub-national, village, household, or individual level.
In 1993, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) worked to develop, at national and sub-regional levels, an Aggregate Household Food Security Index, in line with FAO's increasing focus on food security at the household level versus overall food availability. Once fully developed, the Index will serve as a tool for monitoring food security trends worldwide. FAO's Food Security Assistance Scheme (FSAS) includes the use of national multidisciplinary teams of experts in programme planning and implementation, which contribute to accurate diagnosis of problems, realistic formulation of solutions, capacity building at the national level and anchoring of the programmes within the national institutional framework. The assessment of food insecurity in Tanzania was part of a project by FAO's FSAS to help member countries formulate comprehensive food security programmes.