Affordability Of Nutritious Diets In Rural India

Author : Raghunathan, Kalyani,Headey, Derek D.,Herforth, Anna
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Page : 54 pages
File Size : 40,7 Mb
Release : 2020-03-11
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 8210379456XXX

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Affordability of nutritious diets in rural India by Raghunathan, Kalyani,Headey, Derek D.,Herforth, Anna Pdf

Malnutrition is endemic in India. In 2015-16 some 38% of preschool children were stunted and 21% were wasted, while more than half of Indian mothers and children were anemic. There are many posited explanations for the high rates of malnutrition in India, but surprisingly few discuss the role of Indian diets, particularly the affordability of nutritious diets given low wages and the significant structural problems facing India’s agricultural sector. This study was undertaken to address knowledge gaps around the affordability of nutritious diets in rural India. To do so we used nationally representative rural price and wage data to estimate the least cost means of satisfying India-specific dietary recommendations, referred to as the Cost of a Recommended Diet (CoRD), and assess the affordability of this diet relative to male and female wages for unskilled laborers. Although we find that dietary costs increased substantially over 2001-2011 for both men and women, rural wage rates increased more rapidly, implying that nutritious diets became substantially more affordable over time. However, in absolute terms nutritious diets in 2011 were still expensive relative to unskilled wages, constituting approximately 50-60% of male and about 70-80% of female daily wages, and were often even higher relative to minimum wages earned from the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). Since many poor households have significant numbers of dependents and substantial non-food expenditure requirements, it follows that nutritious diets are often highly unaffordable for the rural poor; we estimate that 45-64% of the rural poor cannot afford a nutritious diet that meets India’s national food-based dietary guidelines. Our results point to the need to more closely monitor food prices through a nutritional lens, and to shift India’s existing food policies away from their heavy bias towards cereals. Achieving nutritional security in India requires a much more holistic focus on improving the affordability of the full range of nutritious food groups and ensuring that economic growth results in sustained income growth for the poor.

Author : Kalyani Raghunathan
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 54 pages
File Size : 48,8 Mb
Release : 2020
Category : Electronic
ISBN : OCLC:1300151049

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Affordability of Nutritious Diets in Rural India by Kalyani Raghunathan Pdf

Malnutrition is endemic in India. In 2015-16 some 38% of preschool children were stunted and 21% were wasted, while more than half of Indian mothers and children were anemic. There are many posited explanations for the high rates of malnutrition in India, but surprisingly few discuss the role of Indian diets, particularly the affordability of nutritious diets given low wages and the significant structural problems facing India's agricultural sector. This study was undertaken to address knowledge gaps around the affordability of nutritious diets in rural India. To do so we used nationally representative rural price and wage data to estimate the least cost means of satisfying India-specific dietary recommendations, referred to as the Cost of a Recommended Diet (CoRD), and assess the affordability of this diet relative to male and female wages for unskilled laborers. Although we find that dietary costs increased substantially over 2001-2011 for both men and women, rural wage rates increased more rapidly, implying that nutritious diets became substantially more affordable over time. However, in absolute terms nutritious diets in 2011 were still expensive relative to unskilled wages, constituting approximately 50-60% of male and about 70-80% of female daily wages, and were often even higher relative to minimum wages earned from the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). Since many poor households have significant numbers of dependents and substantial non-food expenditure requirements, it follows that nutritious diets are often highly unaffordable for the rural poor; we estimate that 45-64% of the rural poor cannot afford a nutritious diet that meets India's national food-based dietary guidelines. Our results point to the need to more closely monitor food prices through a nutritional lens, and to shift India's existing food policies away from their heavy bias towards cereals. Achieving nutritional security in India requires a much more holistic focus on improving the affordability of the full range of nutritious food groups and ensuring that economic growth results in sustained income growth for the poor.

Author : Avula, Rasmi, ed.
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Page : 13 pages
File Size : 54,5 Mb
Release : 2020-04-30
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 8210379456XXX

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POSHAN’s abstract digest on maternal and child nutrition research - Issue 33 by Avula, Rasmi, ed. Pdf

This issue of Abstract Digest comes to you at an unprecedented time of COVID-19 pandemic. We hope all of you are healthy and safe. In the current circumstances, Naja and Hamadeh present a framework for action at multiple levels to maintain optimal nutrition during COVID-19, at the individual, community, national and global levels. Along with it, this issue has a collection of articles on various outcomes, determinants and interventions related to maternal and child nutrition.

Author : Herforth, A., Bai, Y., Venkat, A., Mahrt, K., Ebel, A. & Masters, W.A.
Publisher : Food & Agriculture Org.
Page : 108 pages
File Size : 41,7 Mb
Release : 2020-12-12
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9789251337257

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Cost and affordability of healthy diets across and within countries by Herforth, A., Bai, Y., Venkat, A., Mahrt, K., Ebel, A. & Masters, W.A. Pdf

Price and affordability are key barriers to accessing sufficient, safe, nutritious food to meet dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. In this study, the least-cost items available in local markets are identified to estimate the cost of three diet types: energy sufficient, nutrient adequate, and healthy (meeting food-based dietary guidelines). For price and availability the World Bank’s International Comparison Program (ICP) dataset is used, which provides food prices in local currency units (LCU) for 680 foods and non-alcoholic beverages in 170 countries in 2017. In addition, country case studies are developed with national food price datasets in United Republic of Tanzania, Malawi, Ethiopia, Ghana and Myanmar. The findings reveal that healthy diets by any definition are far more expensive than the entire international poverty line of USD 1.90, let alone the upper bound portion of the poverty line that can credibly be reserved for food of USD 1.20. The cost of healthy diets exceeds food expenditures in most countries in the Global South. The findings suggest that nutrition education and behaviour change alone will not substantially improve dietary consumption where nutrient adequate and healthy diets, even in their cheapest form, are unaffordable for the majority of the poor. To make healthy diets cheaper, agricultural policies, research, and development need to shift toward a diversity of nutritious foods.

Author : Ali Mohammad
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 229 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 1978
Category : Agricultural productivity
ISBN : LCCN:78090834

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Situation of Agriculture, Food, and Nutrition in Rural India by Ali Mohammad Pdf

Author : Headey, Derek D.,Hirvonen, Kalle,Alderman, Harold
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Page : 56 pages
File Size : 50,8 Mb
Release : 2023-04-24
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 8210379456XXX

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Estimating the cost and affordability of healthy diets: How much do methods matter? by Headey, Derek D.,Hirvonen, Kalle,Alderman, Harold Pdf

Cost and affordability of healthy diet (CoAHD) metrics developed in a handful of academic studies have quickly become mainstream food security indicators among major development institutions. The World Bank and FAO now report CoAHD statistics in their widely used databanks, and the UN’s State of Food Insecurity and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) reports CoAHD metrics on an annual basis, with the headline conclusion being that over 3 billion people worldwide cannot afford a healthy diet. While quantifying affordability constraints is indeed a vital addition to the suite of global food security indicators, there is a dearth of scientific analysis on the accuracy and sensitivity of CoAHD methods. Published global CoAHD estimates rely on three implicit assumptions: that demographic differences across countries have little effect on average diet costs; that non-food expenditure requirements have little systematic variation across countries; and that international food price data is representative in a population sense and product coverage sense. Testing these assumptions on the cost of the EAT-Lancet reference diet, we find sizable sensitivity of baseline methods to adjusting diet affordability estimates for systematic cross-country differences in demographic profiles and non-food expenditure requirements, smaller effects of adjusting for inadequate food product coverage in international price data, and inconclusive evidence on issues of urban bias in price surveys. Our proposed methodological improvements significantly change country, regional and global estimates of healthy diet affordability, though not the headline conclusion that several billion people cannot afford a healthy diet. Even so, the accuracy, rigor, and reliability of CoAHD statistics warrant closer investigation given their widespread adoption and utilization.

Author : Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,International Fund for Agricultural Development,United Nations Children's Fund,World Food Programme,World Health Organization
Publisher : Food & Agriculture Org.
Page : 316 pages
File Size : 41,8 Mb
Release : 2023-07-12
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9789251372265

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The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2023 by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,International Fund for Agricultural Development,United Nations Children's Fund,World Food Programme,World Health Organization Pdf

This report provides an update on global progress towards the targets of ending hunger (SDG Target 2.1) and all forms of malnutrition (SDG Target 2.2) and estimates on the number of people who are unable to afford a healthy diet. Since its 2017 edition, this report has repeatedly highlighted that the intensification and interaction of conflict, climate extremes and economic slowdowns and downturns, combined with highly unaffordable nutritious foods and growing inequality, are pushing us off track to meet the SDG 2 targets. However, other important megatrends must also be factored into the analysis to fully understand the challenges and opportunities for meeting the SDG 2 targets. One such megatrend, and the focus of this year’s report, is urbanization. New evidence shows that food purchases in some countries are no longer high only among urban households but also among rural households. Consumption of highly processed foods is also increasing in peri-urban and rural areas of some countries. These changes are affecting people’s food security and nutrition in ways that differ depending on where they live across the rural–urban continuum. This timely and relevant theme is aligned with the United Nations General Assembly-endorsed New Urban Agenda, and the report provides recommendations on the policies, investments and actions needed to address the challenges of agrifood systems transformation under urbanization and to enable opportunities for ensuring access to affordable healthy diets for everyone.

Author : Mahrt, Kristi,Mather, David,Herforth, Anna,Headey, Derek D.
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Page : 65 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 2019-08-01
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 8210379456XXX

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Household dietary patterns and the cost of a nutritious diet in Myanmar by Mahrt, Kristi,Mather, David,Herforth, Anna,Headey, Derek D. Pdf

Despite significant poverty reduction over the past decade, undernutrition in Myanmar remains widespread. Food prices play an important role in influencing diets and nutrition outcomes, especially for poorer households. In this study, we use national household food expenditure data to assess dietary patterns and estimate regional costs of nutritious diets in Myanmar relative to a recommended diet derived from food-based dietary guidelines. We estimate these costs following the cost of a recommended diet method (CoRD), which is based on minimum food group prices. We also develop and demonstrate an extension of this method using food group prices that reflect typical food consumption preferences (CoRD-FP). We assess the affordability of the recommended diet by comparing observed household food expenditure to the CoRD and the CoRD-FP. In 2015, 52 percent of the Myanmar population lived in households with food expenditure below the CoRD-FP, compared to 70 percent in 2010. Even the CoRD, which measures the lowest possible cost of meeting the recommended diet, exceeded household food expenditure for 32 and 24 percent of the population in 2010 and 2015, respectively. Low affordability is driven by high costs of animal-source foods and vegetables, which account for half the CoRD-FP. A majority of households over-consume staples and under-consume micronutrient-dense food groups. This imbalance is driven in part by the high caloric price of nutrient-dense foods relative to rice. The inability of more than half of households in Myanmar to afford a recommended diet at existing food expenditure levels suggests the need for policies that reduce the prices of micronutrient-dense foods, ideally through pro-poor improvements in agricultural productivity and marketing.

Author : Samara Brock,Minna Kanerva,Chris Béné,Sophia Efstathiou,Michael Clark
Publisher : Frontiers Media SA
Page : 108 pages
File Size : 50,8 Mb
Release : 2024-04-19
Category : Science
ISBN : 9782832548264

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How to achieve a planetary health diet through system and paradigm change? by Samara Brock,Minna Kanerva,Chris Béné,Sophia Efstathiou,Michael Clark Pdf

Author : Sarita Srivastava
Publisher : Springer Nature
Page : 198 pages
File Size : 51,7 Mb
Release : 2022-06-21
Category : Technology & Engineering
ISBN : 9789811693069

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Small Millet Grains by Sarita Srivastava Pdf

This book discusses the various aspects of the health and nutritional benefits of the wonder grains, small millets. It introduces the readers to the historical use of small millet grains in the diet of humans. It further discusses the consumption and strategies to improve the global production of these nutrient-dense grains. The book outlines how the inclusion of small millet as a staple could prevent nutritional deficiency diseases, hidden hunger, and non-communicable diseases. Different chapters of the book provide information about the nutritional profile of popular small millet grains. It also includes information about the effects of processing on the dietary factors in the grains. It describes the traditional food products as well as unconventional products from small millet. It advises the readers on the best ways to consume this super-food. The book also highlights the role of small millet as a functional food. It highlights how this food can address the challenge of nutritional security.

Author : Joachim von Braun,Kaosar Afsana,Louise O. Fresco,Mohamed Hag Ali Hassan
Publisher : Springer Nature
Page : 931 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 2023-01-01
Category : Technology & Engineering
ISBN : 9783031157035

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Science and Innovations for Food Systems Transformation by Joachim von Braun,Kaosar Afsana,Louise O. Fresco,Mohamed Hag Ali Hassan Pdf

This Open Access book compiles the findings of the Scientific Group of the United Nations Food Systems Summit 2021 and its research partners. The Scientific Group was an independent group of 28 food systems scientists from all over the world with a mandate from the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations. The chapters provide science- and research-based, state-of-the-art, solution-oriented knowledge and evidence to inform the transformation of contemporary food systems in order to achieve more sustainable, equitable and resilient systems.

Author : Njuki, Jemimah,Eissler, Sarah,Malapit, Hazel J.,Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela,Bryan, Elizabeth,Quisumbing, Agnes R.
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Page : 55 pages
File Size : 45,7 Mb
Release : 2021-07-14
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 8210379456XXX

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A review of evidence on gender equality, women’s empowerment, and food systems by Njuki, Jemimah,Eissler, Sarah,Malapit, Hazel J.,Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela,Bryan, Elizabeth,Quisumbing, Agnes R. Pdf

Achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment in food systems can result in greater food security and better nutrition, and in more just, resilient, and sustainable food systems for all. This paper uses a scoping review to assess the current evidence on pathways between gender equality, women’s empowerment, and food systems. The paper uses an adaptation of the food systems framework to organize the evidence and identify where evidence is strong, and where gaps remain. Results show strong evidence on women’s differing access to resources, shaped and reinforced by contextual social gender norms, and on links between women’s empowerment and maternal education and important outcomes, such as nutrition and dietary diversity. However, evidence is limited on issues such as gender considerations in food systems for women in urban areas and in aquaculture value chains, best practices and effective pathways for engaging men in the process of women’s empowerment in food systems, and for addressing issues related to migration, crises, and indigenous food systems. And while there are gender informed evaluation studies that examine the effectiveness of gender- and nutrition- sensitive agricultural programs, evidence to indicate the long-term sustainability of such impacts remains limited. The paper recommends keys areas for investment: improving women’s leadership and decision-making in food systems, promoting equal and positive gender norms, improving access to resources, and building cross-contextual research evidence on gender and food systems.

Author : International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Page : 124 pages
File Size : 44,8 Mb
Release : 2021-04-13
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780896293991

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2021 Global food policy report: Transforming food systems after COVID-19 by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Pdf

The coronavirus pandemic has upended local, national, and global food systems, and put the Sustainable Development Goals further out of reach. But lessons from the world’s response to the pandemic can help address future shocks and contribute to food system change. In the 2021 Global Food Policy Report, IFPRI researchers and other food policy experts explore the impacts of the pandemic and government policy responses, particularly for the poor and disadvantaged, and consider what this means for transforming our food systems to be healthy, resilient, efficient, sustainable, and inclusive. Chapters in the report look at balancing health and economic policies, promoting healthy diets and nutrition, strengthening social protection policies and inclusion, integrating natural resource protection into food sector policies, and enhancing the contribution of the private sector. Regional sections look at the diverse experiences around the world, and a special section on finance looks at innovative ways of funding food system transformation. Critical questions addressed include: - Who felt the greatest impact from falling incomes and food system disruptions caused by the pandemic? - How can countries find an effective balance among health, economic, and social policies in the face of crisis? - How did lockdowns affect diet quality and quantity in rural and urban areas? - Do national social protection systems such as cash transfers have the capacity to protect poor and vulnerable groups in a global crisis? - Can better integration of agricultural and ecosystem polices help prevent the next pandemic? - How did companies accelerate ongoing trends in digitalization and integration to keep food supply chains moving? - What different challenges did the pandemic spark in Asia, Africa, and Latin America and how did these regions respond?

Author : Mahrt, Kristi,Herforth, Anna W.,Robinson, Sherman,Arndt, Channing,Headey, Derek D.
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Page : 41 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2022-05-06
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 8210379456XXX

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Nutrition as a basic need: A new method for utility-consistent and nutritionally adequate food poverty lines by Mahrt, Kristi,Herforth, Anna W.,Robinson, Sherman,Arndt, Channing,Headey, Derek D. Pdf

In most countries and globally, malnutrition rates exceed poverty rates. The World Bank estimates that about 9 percent (689 million) of the global population is poor, yet an estimated 25 percent (2 billion people) suffer from micronutrient deficiencies. Such a discrepancy begs the question: Do standard poverty metrics poorly reflect nutritional needs? The most prevalent methodology for measuring poverty in low- and middle-income countries – the cost of basic needs approach – estimates food baskets that satisfy a dietary energy standard while reflecting consumption patterns of poor households. However, poor households typically consume monotonous diets characterized by large quantities of calorically cheap staple foods that are poor sources of nutrients. This reality creates a circular logic whereby the cost of basic nutritional needs is estimated from populations who are consuming nutritionally inadequate diets. We argue that a healthy diet is a basic need and that the standard used to calculate cost of basic needs food poverty lines should be expanded to satisfy nutritional dietary recommendations, while continuing to reflect context-specific dietary patterns. We develop an approach to estimate food poverty lines that satisfies the food group proportionality associated with healthy diet recommendations while also adhering to observed within-food group consumption patterns of poor households. Furthermore, we address the limitation of estimating a single national food basket – which fails to capture variation in local consumption patterns driven by preferences, availability, and relative prices – by estimating utility-consistent regional poverty lines. We demonstrate the approach using data from Myanmar. Energy-based poverty lines significantly underestimate the cost of acquiring a healthy diet, are severely deficient in multiple micronutrients, and therefore result in a drastic underestimate of the rate of poverty based on a healthy diet standard. The resulting higher cost of basic needs also has important implications for inclusive economic growth strategies and nutrition-sensitive food policies and social protection.

Author : Headey, Derek D.,Bachewe, Fantu Nisrane,Marshall, Quinn,Raghunathan, Kalyani,Mahrt, Kristi
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Page : 21 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2023-03-24
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 8210379456XXX

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Food prices and the wages of the poor: A low-cost, high-value approach to high-frequency food security monitoring by Headey, Derek D.,Bachewe, Fantu Nisrane,Marshall, Quinn,Raghunathan, Kalyani,Mahrt, Kristi Pdf

International food prices have become increasingly volatile in recent decades, with “global food crises” in 2008, 2011 and most recently in 2022. The 2008 crisis prompted international agencies to ambitiously extend their monitoring of domestic food prices in developing countries to strengthen early warning systems and food and nutrition surveillance. However, food inflation by itself is not sufficient for measuring disposable income or food affordability; for that, one must measure either changes in income or changes in an income proxy. Here we propose the use of a low-cost income proxy that can be monitored at the same high frequency and spatial granularity as food prices: the wages of poor unskilled workers. While not all poor people are unskilled wage earners, changes in the real “reservation wages” of low skilled activities are likely to be highly predictive of changes in disposable income for poorer segments of society (Deaton and Dreze 2002). We demonstrate this by estimating changes in “food wages” – wages deflated food price indices – during well-documented food price crises in Ethiopia (2008, 2011 and 2022), Sri Lanka (2022) and Myanmar (2022). In all these instances, food wages declined by 20-30%, often in the space of a few months. Moreover, in Myanmar we use a household panel survey data to show that the decline in food wages over the course of 2022 closely matches estimate declines in household disposable income and proportional increases in income-based poverty. We argue that the affordability of nutritious food for “all people, at all times” is a critically important dimension of food security, and we advocate for monitoring the wages of the poor as a cheap and accurate means of capturing that dimension.